Posted Jun 20, 2008, 11:06 AM
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It's Hammer Time
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Hamilton
Posts: 20,304
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Lister hairball ready to be coughed up?
June 20, 2008
Andrew Dreschel
The Hamilton Spectator
You know it, I know it, Mayor Fred Eisenberger knows it: Lister Block fatigue is everywhere.
The endlessly unresolved fate of the vacant and dilapidated historic building in the downtown core is sticking in everyone's craw.
But the hairball may finally be dislodged Monday.
That's D-Day, the day council has to decide whether to buy the building from LIUNA for about $25 million or see the offsetting $7-million grant from the province slide off the table.
If they vote yea, municipal taxpayers will be on the hook for roughly $18 million.
In return, Hamilton will get a fully restored 1924 architectural gem for housing city staff, the promise of a second-phase seniors' residence project and a symbolic and widely expected concrete catalyst for downtown redevelopment.
If council votes nay, the city will lose the $7 million from the province, the Lister will stay in limbo, the eyesore in the core will remain, the debate will go on ad infinitum -- and local taxpayers will get to keep $18 million.
A city staff report on negotiations with LIUNA and its partner, Hi-Rise, will be out by today with an expected recommendation to purchase.
But it's hard to say which way the actual council vote will go.
Eisenberger, who strongly believes buying will be good for the city's psyche and economy, is furiously lobbying councillors for support.
He thinks he has the votes to win.
"At this point, I sense and believe there's going to be majority support," he says. "But will we know for sure until we get there? Never."
The deciding factor for some councillors may be the promised second phase, which would elevate the purchase into a future investment in terms of tax assessment and commercial activity in the core.
But they want more than a promise. They've asked LIUNA VP Joe Mancinelli for a financial guarantee the second phase will go ahead.
Mancinelli says he's offered $250,000, but he admits city negotiators were pressing for more.
"They don't think the $250,000 is enough; we think it's too much," says Mancinelli.
Whatever the final number is, Mancinelli vows Phase Two will happen.
"It's not a matter of if; we're going forward for sure," he says.
What may change, however, is the scale of the second phase.
Originally, Kingsway Arms Retirement Residences talked about owning and operating two residential towers next to the renovated Lister, one a rental retirement home for seniors, the other a condominium marketed to seniors.
Mancinelli now says it may be one tower instead of two because of market conditions.
"But the only concern is how big the project will be, not if the project will go forward."
Still, any potential changes could make swing council votes nervous.
The recently released Ontario Heritage Trust report could also influence the dynamic of the debate.
The report, solicited by the provincial government, triggered the intervention that saved the Lister from demolition in 2006 and set the stage for the $7-million provincial grant.
Much of its contents were previously known or implicitly understood.
The full document, however, explicitly says, if Hamilton doesn't protect Lister, the province should designate it a heritage property and seek federal funding.
Councillor Brad Clark says the report clearly proves the province should be taking the lead in preserving Lister, not local taxpayers.
"The $7 million from the province is just a drop in the bucket," says Clark. "I'm saying the municipal taxpayer shouldn't be on the hook for the rest of it."
It remains to be seen which vision will win out. But Mayor Fred and his camp have no time to spare.
Unless the city inks a purchasing deal with LIUNA by June 30, the McGuinty government's $7 million goes bye-bye.
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