41 buildings that are about to be demolished

[wolkenkrabber]

That's really sad!

I saw this clip on rundown buildings in some "east-german city" where the landlords and the city decided to rent out the buildings for free to young entrepreneurs & artists for the first 5 years as long as they renovated on their own.
IIRC that area became very young and vibrant quickly! I remember one person started a enviromental soap-factory.
THAT is what should be done in that area IMO!

tearing those gems down, rundown as they may be is a crime!

[flar]

Brantford Expositor: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/Art...aspx?e=2367857

Demolition contract to be awarded

City officials expect to award a contract Tuesday afternoon to one of 13 bidders seeking the right to tear down 40 largely derelict buildings on the south side of downtown Colborne Street.

The preparatory stages of demolition could begin immediately, with scaffolding set to go up hours after that on the south side of Colborne from Grand River Hall to Icomm Drive.

"We're on a tight time frame to get this work done," said Coun. Mark Littell, chairman of the South Side of Colborne Task Force, a political group overseeing the expropriation of 41 properties from Grand River Hall to the Icomm Drive intersection, demolition of buildings and redevelopment.

...

Coun. John Sless, another critic of the process, said Monday expertise is needed to tell the city which buildings could be saved and given new life, and time is needed to hear the ideas.

"When things that are done in haste and not a lot of thought, we get a lot of ad hoc decisions and an ad hoc results that we may come to regret," he said in an interview in a restaurant where some south Colborne defenders had gathered.

...

Littell said he and a majority of councillors are prepared to push ahead to ensure a speedy demolition, because a $1.38-million grant from a federal stimulus program could be jeopardized if that amount of work is not done by a deadline of March 31, as stipulated in an agreement.

Littell also confirmed Monday that the city has settled with four remaining residential and commercial occupants in the stretch.

My-Thai and Krisjen's Café have been given a compensation settlement including relocation costs and have until Feb. 20 to vacate their premises.

...

The two residential tenants, Gail Flemington and John Podiotis, also accepted settlements.

"We appreciate that this has been difficult for Mr. Podiotis," said Littell.

"I am compassionate with the fact that he has been living there 56 years and we were able to reach an agreement that I believe is fair to both of us."

[BnaBreaker]

Judging by this absolutely idiotic decision, Brantford's biggest problem are the stupid fucks that are calling the shots there.

I'm absolutely at a loss. How big a moron do you have to be in order to think that mowing down half your downtown and replacing it with a giant swath of mud will "bring new life to the downtown"?

[BnaBreaker]

BTW, here are the email addresses for the city-council members who voted FOR demolition:

mhancock@brantford.ca
MLittell@brantford.ca
MCeschi-Smith@brantford.ca
jkinneman@brantford.ca
rcarpenter@brantford.ca
jbradford@brantford.ca

[rockyi]

I remember driving through Brantford back in '79 and remember a very nice, cozy victorian city. While it looks like it's hit hard times since, I still see lots of potential in pretty much every building in those photos.
What a horrible plan. We went through hard times here with empty buildings, horrible economy and such also but didn't even think about bulldozing half the town. Now, we're seeing many of our historic empty buildings finally being restored.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rockyi

I remember driving through Brantford back in '79 and remember a very nice, cozy victorian city. While it looks like it's hit hard times since, I still see lots of potential in pretty much every building in those photos.
What a horrible plan. We went through hard times here with empty buildings, horrible economy and such also but didn't even think about bulldozing half the town. Now, we're seeing many of our historic empty buildings finally being restored.

Brantford is, in my mind, one of the ultimate auto-centric towns in southern Ontario. The downtown gets short shrift by most people there as they spend their money on King George Blvd or Wayne Gretzky Pkwy. There has been little residential gentrification near the core and density is a bad word (its all about parking).

I hope that there is a happy ending to all this but based on my experience of people there, most would say those buildings are an eyesore.

[mthq]

What a shame.

Thanks for taking the time to document what's there (and may soon be lost). Who knows how many buildings over the century were demolished without any care from anyone to at least preserve its memory in pictures.

[Xing]

are you serious? Those are some beautiful buildings.

[vid]

Originally Posted by BnaBreaker

mhancock@brantford.ca
MLittell@brantford.ca
MCeschi-Smith@brantford.ca
jkinneman@brantford.ca
rcarpenter@brantford.ca
jbradford@brantford.ca

I just looked up where these councillors live. They all live near downtown. It's the suburban councillors opposing this!

[Muji]

I wont' be saying anything new here but that is just beyond tragic. There are thousands of towns across America that would kill to have so much of their historic downtowns still standing! A small town/city main street with an intact street wall of old buildings is such a rarity nowadays! For shame.

[softee]

It's good thing I don't live in Brantford because if those buildings are demolished I'd be so disgusted I think I'd have to leave town and move somewhere more enlightened, where local heritage and urban fabric is actually respected.

[vid]

Originally Posted by softee

somewhere more enlightened, where local heritage and urban fabric is actually respected.

You already live in a community like that.

[photoLith]

This should be a crime worthy of the death penalty. Seriously, whose fucking brilliant idea was this, I thought urban renewal was over with, especially in a country that I thought was more enlightened and liberal like Canada. Seriously, if I lived there I'd have to cut the brakes to anyone who wanted these buildings gone. I just emailed all of those fuckers up there and I told them how dispicable they all are, and how ashamed they should be. One day that city will look back and wonder how so many people could have been so careless with their town.

[crooked rain]

how retro-1960's!!!

[flar]

According to the Brantford Expositor, the demolition contract has been awarded: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/Art...aspx?e=2386128

btw, how many of you have actually emailed Brantford's city councilors?

[LMich]

Originally Posted by flar

btw, how many of you have actually emailed Brantford's city councilors?

You really brought this to us a bit too late that emails would have made a difference, no? That's always been a pet peeve of mine about so many preservation groups. Many of them don't pop up and say something until it's too late to stop the bureacracy. This is a done deal. You just posted a thread showing this that the contract has already been awarded. Do you realize how rarely demolition contracts are broken?

As for the contract, it looks that at least there was no secret motive behind this. In Detroit, they'd have rewarded the contract to the highest bidder, and then came up with some bullsh$t excuse as to how and why that happened, when in reality, it'd be because the contractors were friends of someone in city government. Hell, it'd have probably been a no-bid contract.

[flar]

Originally Posted by LMich

You really brought this to us a bit too late that emails would have made a difference, no? That's always been a pet peeve of mine about so many preservation groups. Many of them don't pop up and say something until it's too late to stop the bureacracy. This is a done deal. You just posted a thread showing this that the contract has already been awarded. Do you realize how rarely demolition contracts are broken?

As for the contract, it looks that at least there was no secret motive behind this. In Detroit, they'd have rewarded the contract to the highest bidder, and then came up with some bullsh$t excuse as to how and why that happened, when in reality, it'd be because the contractors were friends of someone in city government. Hell, it'd have probably been a no-bid contract.

Admittedly I did post this too late, but I'm curious nonetheless (more from a sociological point of view).

There is actually a small bit of hope for these buildings from a bureaucratic angle. Certain politicians tried to ram this through so quickly they failed to do things like public consultations, heritage and environmental assessments. They also expropriated property without a plan for development, or at least the plan when the property was expropriated fell through. I'm not sure where the law stands on that, but I think the expropriation may have been illegal and certain former owners may have legal recourse.

[Braddale]

I live in Toronto and have been through Brantford a few times over the past 10 years or so, and have always thought it must have had a great downtown at one time. Will be very sad to see all this building stock taken away.

The downtown in Brantford is really laid out nice, with what seems two long main streets and sidestreets that connect them that are commercial too.

The people who supported this wholesale destruction will see the errors of their ways.

[touraccuracy]

Originally Posted by wolkenkrabber

That's really sad!

I saw this clip on rundown buildings in some "east-german city" where the landlords and the city decided to rent out the buildings for free to young entrepreneurs & artists for the first 5 years as long as they renovated on their own.
IIRC that area became very young and vibrant quickly! I remember one person started a enviromental soap-factory.
THAT is what should be done in that area IMO!

tearing those gems down, rundown as they may be is a crime!

this idea deserves another mention.

the buildings are there, empty lots won't make money. rent them out in exchange for renovations.

[softee]

Originally Posted by vid

You already live in a community like that.

It's nice to know someone is aware of the progressive nature of NB, most people (mostly from Southern On) who've never been here just assume that it's a backward, redneck hellhole. It must be the name.