Century Manor | ? | 3 fl | Proposed

[SteelTown]

Indwell vows to bring creepy, crumbling Century Manor ‘back to life’
Decaying remnant of the Hamilton Asylum for the Insane on the Mountain brow now expected to be restored and turned into supportive housing

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...7fd649dca.html

Non-profit Indwell says it can restore crumbling, creepy Century Manor for affordable housing despite years of neglect and a haunted heritage of trespass tourism.

The striking Victorian Gothic manor — a remnant of the Hamilton Asylum for the Insane on the Mountain brow — closed to the public in 1995, more than 130 years after it was built.

Heritage advocates, fearing demolition by neglect, have long lobbied the province to restore the designated-but-decaying building. A proposal by Mohawk College to do just that was axed in 2018 when Ontario controversially pulled out of an agreed sale that also involved the city.

But last week, The Spectator exclusively reported on a provincial deal to sell the coveted Fennell Avenue West land to long-term care home developer Schlegel Villages — with Indwell on board as a partner to redevelop Century Manor into roughly 40 supportive housing apartments.

“The building can certainly be brought back to life,” said Indwell development director Graham Cubitt, who confirmed the agency has had access to the inside of the otherwise shuttered and bolted building to do initial due diligence.

The province has not yet officially announced details about the complicated land sale — that involves plans for a college expansion, long-term care and retirement homes and affordable housing — so it’s not yet clear how much each element of the project will cost, or how they will be funded. But as far back as 2018, Mohawk College estimated restoring Century Manor for educational uses would cost around $9 million.

Indwell’s commitment to resurrecting the circa 1884 manor is welcome news for heritage advocates, many of whom worried that a parade of trespassers — combined with mould, asbestos and flaking lead paint issues identified by Infrastructure Ontario — would eventually make the building unsalvageable.

In 2020, The Spectator reported the dilapidated manor was seeing routine break-ins — and occasional plundering — by urban explorers drawn to the history of a gothic asylum once featured in the horror movie, “Skinwalkers.” (The province later beefed up security at the site.)

“It’s just terrible that they let vandals basically ruin the inside of that beautiful building,” said longtime Mountain heritage advocate Diane Dent.

But Dent said Monday she was “delighted” to learn of plans to resurrect the heritage manor. “I think that it is just brilliant … Indwell is going to be the saviour of that building, that history,” she said, pointing to the housing provider’s “track record” of heritage adaptation.

“They do good work, so I think we can breathe a sigh of relief,” added Shannon Kyles, who heads the local branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, which alongside local New Democrat MPP Sandy Shaw has formally lobbied the province in recent years to do more to preserve Century Manor.

“There was a real danger that nothing would be done.”

Over time, both heritage advocates and urban explorers have suggested rescuing the crumbling asylum will be a big job.

In 2020, photos shared with The Spectator showed years of satanic-themed graffiti, collapsing floors and ceilings and spreading mould that prompted at least one illicit adventurer to wear a N95 respirator for his visit.

By email, Indwell CEO Jeff Neven noted Indwell has amassed “significant experience” working on 10 major heritage-preserving redevelopments over the last decade.

“During this time, we have developed an incredible team of experts and consultants who have experience in how best to carry out this work, in the most cost-effective way possible,” he said.

He pointed as an example to Harvey Woods Loft, a former textile mill in Woodstock “left abandoned for decades” before being successfully converted to affordable housing. “It is a much bigger scale compared to Century Manor, at more than double the size,” he said.

More information on the Century Manor project — and other apparent affordable housing destined for the lower city — will likely have to wait for a formal announcement. Via email last week, the province said it will say more about the deal “in due course.”

[ScreamingViking]

Hopefully it all comes together, and the ghosts approve

And that Mohawk College ends up able to build something somewhere else on the site close to Fennell too, as part of the whole deal.
EDIT: though the campus still has all that parking lot space, unless it's spoken-for in future plans?

[Chronamut]

Lol can't wait to hear the stories of hauntings of people who move into this if it goes through..

[ScreamingViking]

City Hall will get the blame

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

City Hall will get the blame

Can you imagine if they weren't actually TOLD? Thatd be like someone moving into the site of auchwitz if god forbid it was ever redeveloped - I know.. an extreme example.. but still.

[SteelTown]

Operator eyes March groundbreaking for Mountain brow long-term-care homes
Schlegel Villages seeks permit to demolish old hospital buildings to deal with contamination.

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...49a8c30c8.html

Schlegel Villages aims to start construction on two long-term-care homes on former Hamilton Mountain brow hospital lands by March as part of a wider, multi-partner redevelopment of the sprawling site.

Work on the connected 256-bed nursing homes on the Fennell Avenue West property is expected to wrap up within three years, bringing a crucial influx in spaces to the area amid a sector shortage, Brad Schlegel says.

“That is an aggressive date we’re working towards,” the vice-president of design and construction with the family business told The Spectator.

“And we’ll do our level best to try to meet those timelines,” he added, noting Ontario’s Ministry of Long-Term Care has set the deadlines as part of the province’s arrangement for the surplus lands.

But before the foundations can be poured, two non-heritage buildings at the old psychiatric hospital site must be demolished to deal with contamination in the ground.

The long-term-care operator awaits city approval to raze the brick powerhouse, which dates to 1958, and trades building, 1960, to get at the soil and open up the space.

Overall, five non-heritage buildings on the Fennell Avenue West lands next to the St. Joseph’s Hamilton Healthcare West Fifth campus are to be levelled to make way for the 28.8-acre site’s transformation.

The hospital lands’ redevelopment was spurred by a provincial minister’s zoning order to fast-track changes to local rules and allow for long-term-care facilities and residential homes on the property.

Schlegel Villages bought the 290 Fennell Ave. W. land from Infrastructure Ontario for roughly $24.3 million in August 2024 with a plan to build the 512 long-term-care beds.

A second stage of the project envisions a “village concept,” which includes a retirement home and various levels of accommodation for older adults, Schlegel noted.

Plans for the former hospital lands include a few moving parts and players.

Indwell, a local non-profit, plans to restore Century Manor and turn it into supportive housing.

The fate of the deteriorating Victorian Gothic manor, which was part of the original 1875 Hamilton Asylum and closed to the public since 1995, has been a focus of concern for heritage advocates.

Mohawk College has also secured land on the west side of the grounds, across from its campus at Fennell Avenue West and West Fifth.

Land registry documents show some of the land was transferred to Mohawk from Schlegel Villages for $7.3 million.

“I need to think about what is Mohawk going to need in five, 10, 15 or 20 years,” president Paul Armstrong told The Spectator last year. “It’s long-term planning for Mohawk.”

The plan is to partner with the college on education programs for personal support workers and registered practical nurses in the future long-term-care homes, Schlegel noted.

That will allow students to gain practical experience with residents and “rub shoulders with health-care professionals in the field,” he said.

A private developer that would build market rental housing on the property has yet to be determined, but discussions with “potential partners” are planned, Schlegel said.

“This kind of constellation of partners coming together to develop a site like this in an urban area, I think, is rare and frankly a great example of how things can get done.”

Schlegel Villages’ request to demolish the powerhouse and trades building was before the city’s heritage permit review subcommittee in June.

They’re not heritage buildings, but because the site is designated under provincial legislation, their demolition requires special permits.

That requires a few levels of approval, with council having final say.

Schlegel says his company hopes to submit a site plan to the city planning division for review in the next couple of months.

[Innsertnamehere]

Schlegal villages look all almost identical.. expect something like this here:

[ScreamingViking]

Just needs a clock on top.

The ghosties won't know what to haunt!

[SteelTown]

More than 500 long-term-care beds coming to Hamilton

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...c2a7a88c1.html

The province is expected to announce two new seniors’ homes on the west Mountain brow lands.

Two new long-term-care homes are expected to be announced Thursday for the brow lands that used to house Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital.

[SteelTown]

Former Hamilton hospital site to become 2 new long-term care homes, additional housing
Ontario government says it will use lands owned by the province for new housing solutions

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...lton-1.7598774

The Ontario government is supporting the construction of two long-term care homes and housing by selling the former Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital through the Surplus Lands program, it announced on Thursday.

The proceeds will be used to develop the long-term care homes with a combined 512 new long-term care beds as well as more than 1,000 additional homes, the province said.

Speaking at a news conference at the site on the Hamilton Mountain, Minister of Long-Term Care Natalia Kusendova-Bashta said it is critical that Ontario and its seniors be protected by building the long-term care capacity needed to meet increasing demand.

.....

According to the province, the Surplus Lands program also allows for excess lands to be repurposed for the benefit of Ontario families, including for housing, health care and educational facilities. Once fully developed, the Hamilton site will consist of:

* 512 new long-term care beds through the construction of two 256-bed homes.
* 41 affordable housing units and 270 seniors' housing units.
* 832 market housing units.
* Seven acres of land dedicated to Mohawk College.
* Seven acres of land for municipal conservation use.
* The preservation and conversion of Century Manor, local heritage building, into housing.