41 buildings that are about to be demolished
 

In a few weeks, the City of Brantford, Ontario is set to demolish 41 buildings regardless of their state of repair or heritage value. I took some shots in Brantford a few years ago, and although the city has fallen on hard times, I was extremely impressed with the size of its downtown area and it's quantity and quality of Victorian and early 20th Century architecture. It's a real shame things have come to this.

The full Brantford tour: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=123197

Let's take one last look.

Everything on the right side of the street will be wiped out. There are no plans to do anything with the empty lots that will result.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00001.jpg

Every single building shown in the following photos will be gone in about a month or so. Sadly, it is reported that many of the buildings are structurally sound, and many have apartments in the upper storeys.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00052.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00010.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00013.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00053.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00015.jpg

The buildings are on a hill, the fronts are 2-4 storeys and the backs are 5-8 storeys.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00023.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00028.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00032.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00037.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00043.jpg

I guess this was Brantford's attempt to do something with the buildings.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00057.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00055.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00058.jpg

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00059.jpg


The empty lot in the foreground is now a public square, the buildings in the background are among those to be demolished.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...ford/00115.jpg


Thanks to SABBATICAL! for bringing this to our attention...

depressing news.

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Very sad, and crazy to demolish these buildings instead of renovate them, that would have created a great atmosphere. Why have the downtown area fallen in disrepair? And how does the rest of the downtown look, the buildings that will be preserved?

What reason is the town giving for doing this?

Very disturbing turn of events. Especially since it seems that the upper floors of the buildings are (or can) be occupied for residential uses. In this case I might even be in support of main floor residential conversion.

Apparently, they just consider the buildings to be eyesores and want to get rid of them. There are no plans to redevelop the land.

Brantford is an old industrial city of about 90,000 about 15 minutes southwest of Hamilton. Its downtown is quite substantial, but it's one of the most depressed in Canada. The city suffered from industrial decline over the past 30 years, typical of the rustbelt. In recent years the economy has picked up, but all the new development is along Highway 403 and the downtown has been left to rot.

The full downtown tour is here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=123197

If I still lived in the area, I definitely would have taken some new photos.

Depressing.

A town still stuck in the automotive era, I see. :( Those buildings are so beautiful.

What the hell?! Really, what a pathetic turn of events.

No, seriously, WHY?

This is horrifying! :(

I'm appalled

Pretty town for what it's worth now

Senselessly criminal, blindly ignorant, and desperately near-sighted. Pre-war commercial street frontage is a desperately limited resource that gives identity to a community. A city erasing such a large portion of it's downtown like this is akin to a person cutting off half their face. The lessons of the post-war decades are still not learned.
The city of Brantford is making a colossal mistake. Regardless of the chance that they may someday see new life, a row of dilapidated old buildings is always superior to a giant hole in the ground, especially downtown.
Few of the individual buildings are anything special on their own, but a long row like that is the face of the city, whether anyone likes it or not.
Once it's gone it's gone. If anything eventually replaces it, it is guaranteed to be inferior.

Thanks for capturing this, Flar. Soon photos will be all that's left when someone asks "What used to be here?"

R.i.p

Seems kind of stupid to demolish them without even having a plan with what to do with the land. Empty lots with weeds growing in them are an eyesore as well.

I can't believe the whole town is not in an uproar over this. How can they let this happen? These buildings are not an eyesore they are gorgeous. Do the people in this town think parking lots are more attractive? I would probably lose my mind if they did this to a whole block of historic structures in Los Angeles today. I thought this irresponsible destruction of cities on this level was history... I guess not.

Well said Tt, and shame on Brantford's officials for allowing this to happen.

Absolutely mental...welcome to N America.

source: Hamilton Spectator http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/714151

wow, what a shame! you're lucky to have captured it while it's still standing.

Of course they didn't. This is what slum landlords do.

What an ass.:yuck:

Maybe this will get somewhere.

Or maybe the Mayor thinks they can be the new Brampton or Bramalea. "I'll take Suburbs Starting With Bra, Alex." Wrong answer.

Wow, thats awful. :( That must be close to half of the downtown!