Pan Am precinct

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

The school’s current owner also had an appraisal done. He says the building, which he bought for $1.2 million a year and a half ago, is worth $6 million as is. However, if he moves forward with plans to resurrect it as a 207-unit retirement home, he says it will be worth more than $47 million.

I love living in the world of fantasy, don't you?

I also loved that 'idea' of turning Scott Park into the National Art College of Canada. What was it again? A school specialising in the arts and, ummm, football? Sweet Jesus, who are these people??

But the Board selling this property for a few bucks and then turning around a few years later and getting reamed trying to re-purchase it takes the cake. Complete morons.

Soon Delta will fall, reduced to a pile of rubble. And soon after that, a freshly asphalted parking lot.

[movingtohamilton]

And Board Chair Tim (Doofus) Simmons is so out of it he thought the Province's $32 million included the expropriation cost. The entire Board needs to sit in on a math class.

[palace1]

The proposed project plans list "A community centre attached to the school with a two-tank pool".

So the Jimmy Thompson Memorial Municipal Pool built for the 1930 British Empire Games is going to landfill too?

[movingtohamilton]

Just in: City of Hamilton and HWDSB jointly sign an agreement with North Korea. In a deal valued at $10,000,000,000, North Korea gains an off-shore nuclear missile test site. Hamilton agrees to vacate all residents to Grimsby.

Mayor Bratina is quoted as saying "this is a great day for Hamilton. We take care of all our demolition projects at the same time. The whole city will get the make-over we've wanted ever since Jackson Square".

HWDSB Chair Simmons was ecstatic. "We can finally get the knock-down done on that list of schools! We made a deal for 10,000 portables to be on sites after we're allowed back in to the District."

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by palace1

The proposed project plans list "A community centre attached to the school with a two-tank pool".

So the Jimmy Thompson Memorial Municipal Pool built for the 1930 British Empire Games is going to landfill too?

I hadn't thought about that. I hope that's not the case.

A lot of good infrastructure built for those games:

The original Civic Stadium


http://www.hamiltonpostcards.com/pages/sports.html

Jimmy Thompson Pool


The apartments across the street were built as athlete accommodation

[movingtohamilton]

This must be an iconic building in Hamilton, of significant historical interest. Palace1 mentioned the "proposed project plans". Where are the plans available for viewing? Thanks.

[lucasmascotto]

Jimmy Thompson’s family fights to keep pool — and dad’s memory — alive
By Molly Hayes
Hamilton Spectator

Jimmy Thompson's family is determined to preserve the legacy of "Mr. Swimming."

As the city moves toward the design stage of a $17-million high school and community centre facility near the east end pool, his family is worried his namesake will be torn down.

Though the city has not yet made a decision on its future, the daughters of the gold medallist are seeking heritage designation for the pool to ensure it stays put.

Jo-Ann Young says she basically grew up there. Her dad was hired as the city's pool manager in 1932, and taught more than 60,000 children to swim, she says. After Thompson's death in 1966, the city renamed the King Street East pool in his honour.

The pool — with old viewing stands that seat 1,200 — was built for the first British Empire Games, held in Hamilton in 1930. It's now the only surviving structure built for the Games.

This history alone is reason enough to give it designation, Young says. She also feels it would be environmentally irresponsible to demolish a "perfectly good building which is still fully used."

"We seem to throw away things in our city," the lifelong Hamilton resident said.

Instead of going to the city's heritage committee, Young and her sister Patty Bogumil went straight to Michael Chan, Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, seeking designation for the building under the Ontario Heritage Act.

"Hamilton is not known for passing out heritage designations," she said — and Councillor Brian McHattie, who sits on the city's committee, agrees.

"This is a symptom of a lack of respect for heritage in Hamilton … we haven't designated a property in four years," McHattie said.

He said part of the problem is a lack of resources. He says staff's time is consumed with requests for permits to alter or repair properties with designation — and therefore no time is left over to review new properties for designation.

In the case of Jimmy Thompson pool, the city's director of neighbourhood development strategies said Friday there is no plan yet to tear it down. The city has not entered the design phase for the new school and rec centre, Paul Johnson added.

"I can't say entirely this (demolition) won't be something that would be discussed, but at this stage we're not into design yet," he said.

Scheduled to open in 2016, the $17-million facility site will include the former Scott Park High School property — which is being expropriated by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board — Scott Park Arena, and the pool.

Johnson understands some of the language used by the city so far in terms of the project being a "replacement" for the pool might have suggested its time is limited, but again, "there's been no design work done so certainly there's been no demolition talk at this point."

However, he also said the pool does not meet Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requirements.

"And in terms of usage, it's more heavily weighted toward rental and not community use," he said.

One of the things they will be looking at is how to improve community access to the space.

"I'd certainly love to see an adaptive reuse, at minimum. This is where the creative design should come into play," McHattie said.

Adaptive reuse is when sites are used for purposes other than what they were built or designed for.

The finance plans for the project will go to the General Issues committee on July 8. From there, if all goes as planned, "we'd be in a position where we'd be ready to begin some of that design stuff … and then we could start having a series of meeting with folks," Johnson said.

[SteelTown]

That the Mayor and City Clerk be directed to confirm in writing to the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board that the City will contribute up to $17 million towards the construction of a joint secondary school/community centre on the land bounded by Cannon Street East, King Street East, Balsam Avenue North and Melrose Avenue North

http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...CM13006_a_.pdf

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

That the Mayor and City Clerk be directed to confirm in writing to the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board that the City will contribute up to $17 million towards the construction of a joint secondary school/community centre on the land bounded by Cannon Street East, King Street East, Balsam Avenue North and Melrose Avenue North

http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...CM13006_a_.pdf

I'd much rather see money put into modernizing and adding to Delta, an historic school.

[SteelTown]

Hamilton councillors defer decision on $17M on Scott Park complex

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/stor...cott-park.html

City councillors put off making a decision on whether to spend $17 million on a joint high school and community centre in the Pan Am precinct.

Councillors held a special general issues committee meeting Thursday to examine a memorandum of understanding for a joint facility at Scott Park with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board. The board is currently trying to expropriate about one acre of land in the precinct.

The project would include a community and seniors centre, a soccer pitch, a multi-lane pool and access to the high school's triple gym. But councillors only saw the signed agreement on Thursday, and the city still isn't sure where it will get all the money.

Many said they weren't comfortable moving forward, so the issue will come back to a meeting in August or September.

“I have some huge concerns,” said Coun. Brenda Johnson.

“(The agreement) was just handed to me, and it's hurry up, hurry up, let's go.”

The agreement is contingent on the board's ability to expropriate Scott Park, the site of a high school it closed in 2001. It sold the land in 2004. It is now owned by Jamil Kara, who is fighting the expropriation.

The board has received $31.8 million from the province to build the school, but that money is contingent on the school opening in September 2016. Board chair Tim Simmons said he doesn't believe the referral will kill the project, but the timeline is tight. Board staff will discuss it.

“We're disappointed,” he said. “We're going to have to look at that hard timeline the ministry gave us to be open. If things are delayed past August, that's going to put more pressure on us to make sure we can make that timeline.”

The complex would be located mostly on land currently owned by the city, which has already identified a need for better recreation facilities in the Pan Am precinct.

Staff are recommending finding the money through various reserves with some of it possibly being added to future capital levies.

Kara said he is planning to build a 207-unit residential seniors care facility on the property, but he can't get city approvals because of the plan with the school board. He's already spent about $900,000 on the project.

The land is worth $47.5 million, he told CBC Hamilton on Thursday. Unless the city can offer him a usable 200,000 square foot building, which he has in the former Scott Park school, he's not interested in changing his plans.

“They figured if they buried me in legal fees that I would curl up and walk away,” the Vancouver developer said. “I'm willing to throw another million dollars in legal against this.”

The board is sold on the Scott Park location because it suits the needs of the community, which said it wanted it there, Simmons said. He would not elaborate on whether the board has a plan B.

The new high school will replace Sir John A. Macdonald, Parkview and Delta schools, which are scheduled to close.

[bigguy1231]

Good luck to the owner of the former school trying to fight expropriation. The building is currently vacant and has no real value other than for the property it sits on. He has no chance of winning a court battle.

[SteelTown]

Pay for Pan Am precinct with west harbour cash: Merulla

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/38...-cash-merulla/

Councillor Sam Merulla says he has a solution to plug the multimillion-dollar funding gap facing the Pan Am precinct improvements.

Merulla says the city should take the proceeds from the sale of the west harbour lands — which the city originally purchased for the stadium before settling on a rebuild of Ivor Wynne — and spend them on the east-end stadium precinct.

Last week, councillors were asked to commit $17 million to a joint school and recreation centre near the new Pan Am stadium without knowing how to pay for it. Staff had recommended several sources for $9.5 million of the estimated $17 million in city funding needed for the project, but didn't know where the remaining $7.5 million would come from.

Merulla says now that the city is about to sell the vacant west harbour lands to developers, that cash should be used to cover the shortfall. Those proceeds were originally intended to go into the Future Fund.

"Everyone's talking about where are we going to get this money from, when we already have money dedicated to Pan Am at the west harbour," Merulla said.

He points out that the land, which the city purchased in 2009 for $10 million, has climbed in value over the past several years.

"People are lining up for that parcel of land. We paid $10 million, but it's worth far more now," he said. "I'm being told it could be worth over $20 million."

[SteelTown]

No! The money from the West Harbour should be directed towards the West Harbour master plan.

They money from the Ti Cats should go towards the Pan Am precinct improvements. The City is getting $1.2 million per season from the Ti Cats for 20 years. That's $12 million in ten years, $24 million in 20 yrs.

[mattgrande]

It should go back to the Future Fund so it's not completely depleted.

[drpgq]

Originally Posted by mattgrande

It should go back to the Future Fund so it's not completely depleted.

I like this idea. Also the Board should screw this project and make MacDonald and Delta work.

[matt602]

So basically they expropriated all those homes and demolished the Rheem factory to build a stadium in a different location. Nice.

[flar]

Originally Posted by drpgq

I like this idea. Also the Board should screw this project and make MacDonald and Delta work.

Everyone at the school board should be fired. It's just incredible that they are trying to expropriate land that they sold less than ten years ago to build a high school in the exact place they closed a high school less than 15 years ago.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by flar

Everyone at the school board should be fired. It's just incredible that they are trying to expropriate land that they sold less than ten years ago to build a high school in the exact place they closed a high school less than 15 years ago.

It boggles the mind how they lack any sense of long-term planning. It's all about the needs of the day and the quick buck.

Is there any reason they can't lease some of these buildings instead? Are there any provincial rules on that matter?

If intensification takes off in the lower city, we'll be shaking our heads about the same issue at various other former locations of elementary and secondary schools.

[lucasmascotto]

Pay for recreation centre with Future Fund: Merulla
The Hamilton Spectator
By Matthew van Dongan

Council should overrule the board of the Hamilton Future Fund and dip into hydro legacy cash for a new Pan Am precinct community centre, says Councillor Sam Merulla.

Merulla is bringing forward a notice of motion Monday calling for the city to use $7.55 million from the fund for a joint school and recreation centre near the new Pan Am stadium.

The city has entered a memorandum of agreement with the public school board to pursue the joint project, but council balked at committing cash in July after staff could only find concrete sources for about $9.5 million of the $17-million total.

The Future Fund advisory board, which oversees the shrinking pot of money left over from the sale of Hamilton Hydro, rejected a city cash request in May for the project.

But the final decision on the fund always rests with council, Merulla said.

"We can overrule (the board) if we need to, but I'm not sure why we'd need to," he said Friday. "We've already committed (Future Fund) money to a stadium precinct — in the west harbour. There's no reason why we can't transfer that commitment to the east city."

The city spent almost $8.4 million buying 20 homes and businesses in the Barton-Tiffany area in 2010 in anticipation of a planned west harbour stadium that was never built.

Eventually, the city will sell that land, Merulla said — and part of the proceeds should go to the new Pan Am precinct, rather than back into the Future Fund pot.

Councillor Brian McHattie, who is also a Future Fund board member, said there are pros and cons to the motion.

"The fund is there for community legacy projects, and this is certainly an opportunity to pull something positive out of our stadium decision," said McHattie, who preferred the abandoned west harbour location. "But it's likely the (Future Fund) board won't be pleased, because it's going to look like we're raiding the fund once again."

The Spectator couldn't reach board chair Tom Weisz on Friday, but he told the newspaper in May the board was "being polite" in receiving the city request.

The legacy hydro fund, which started at $137 million, is projected to have less than $40 million available in 2016, minus cash recouped by any sale of west harbour lands.

McHattie said many board members would prefer to spend only the interest generated on the fund, "rather than constantly eating into the capital."

The fund took its biggest hit when council opted to take about $60 million out for Pan Am purposes in the form of a grant, rather than as a loan.

Councillor Lloyd Ferguson, also a Future Fund board member, said he's still mulling over the value of the joint school and rec centre project.

City staff will answer more questions about the project at a special meeting in September. "We do need to do something in the Pan Am precinct. The question is whether this project is the right something."

[SteelTown]

This is a ver preliminary look of what school could look like at Scott Park



https://twitter.com/SamCraggsCBC/sta...067456/photo/1