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[SteelTown]

Fromer mayor Bob jumps into City Hall campaign
Limestone lovers rally for grander facade

November 21, 2008
Paul Wilson
The Hamilton Spectator

Mary Louise Pigott was just a girl when her grandfather died. But she knows he was a meticulous man. Detail mattered. So she believes that J.M. Pigott, head of what was Hamilton's best-known construction company, built City Hall right some 50 years ago.

And she's sure he would be deeply troubled by what's happening over on Main Street now. Specifically, that vote last month by council to violate its own heritage rules and replace the Hall's marble exterior with concrete slabs.

But this isn't about a family connection. "I'd still be every bit as devastated by this decision," Pigott says.

She thinks we'll end up with a City Hall that looks like a big box store. A cruel fate for a building that a National Post article last week described as "a masterpiece, one of the most beautifully executed modernist buildings in Canada."

So Pigott started calling people and that has led to a rally at the front steps of City Hall at 11 tomorrow morning, an attempt to see the building emerge from its $74-million restoration with walls of real stone.

At least two mayors like stone -- the present one and the one who spent longer than anyone else in the chair of the chief magistrate. They're in on this 11th-hour push, too.

Meanwhile, the project manager wants everyone to know D-Day is near.

"The design work for pre-cast concrete is taking place as we speak," says Gerry Davis, in charge of capital planning for the city. He says the concrete is supposed to be ordered by Dec. 12.

Council voted for concrete and aluminum window trim because it was cheapest. Putting marble back up would cost $8 million more than concrete. Few thought that could fly in this struggling city.

In the middle, there was limestone, the kind quarried in Wiarton and used on the Canadian Embassy in Washington. It has natural veining like marble, and is less likely to show stains from pollution. Complete with stainless steel trim instead of aluminum, the limestone option would cost $3 million more than concrete.

When council rejected that compromise, E.R.A. Architects withdrew from the City Hall job.

"The pride of the citizens of Hamilton in their City Hall has been let down," they said, "and by just how much will emerge as the precast concrete weathers and soils without the dignity of natural stone."

Mayor Fred Eisenberger couldn't sell council on limestone, but now he's trying to raise the money other ways. To that end, he's tapped none other than Bob Morrow, who arrived at City Hall in 1970 and didn't move out until 2000. For 18 years he was mayor, a record.

Morrow thinks limestone is what Hamilton City Hall must have. He says there are still details to finalize with Eisenberger, "but I'll work in whatever way is useful."

There's a precedent in Hamilton for this, Morrow says. He remembers his mother fundraising for the new Hamilton Place in the early 1970s, one sponsored seat at a time. Morrow still sees City Hall every day from his 19th-storey highrise home. "I know when the clock isn't working. I know when the Christmas tree is up."

He'll watch tomorrow's rally from his balcony. He says his job, a judge in citizenship court, makes it unwise to attend.

Dave Kuruc, a rally organizer and James North shop owner, admits he had to learn to love City Hall. It now has his respect.

"In the 1950s, Hamilton was still a conservative, blue-collar town," he says. "It's amazing this building got built."

Mary Louise Pigott called her city councillor, Brian McHattie, about a fundraising campaign and he's working on a plan where people could buy a piece of limestone.

There are 46,000 square feet in all. The hope is some big guns could purchase a generous length of that.

And the average citizen might be able to sponsor a square foot for $65 or so, with recognition of some sort in the front foyer. And there could be a certificate under the Christmas tree proclaiming that the bearer now owns a piece of City Hall.

"I don't have tons of money, but I'd be happy to give till it hurts," Pigott says.

She realizes not everyone is a fan of Hamilton City Hall's style.

"But I was at the AGH with my kids a couple of weeks ago, when I caught a glimpse of City Hall through the window of the upstairs sculpture gallery. I saw the relationship of the council chamber to the tower in a whole new way.

" It was like seeing it for the first time. I guess that's why I love it. After all these years, it still hasn't lost the capacity to surprise."

[realcity]

Let's have a contest who can get named more in the Spec. Dave Kuruc or Ryan McGreal?

Well done Dave.

"admits he had to learn to love City Hall. It now has his respect."
EXACTLY how I feel, that's a good way to put it.

[raisethehammer]

I'd happily pony up $65 for a piece of history in the making.
Let's do it!!

[highwater]

Too bad Bob Morrow doesn't feel he can join in. Guess he doesn't want to appear to be condoning things if the rabble get ugly. C'mon down Bob! We promise to be good!

If this fails, he'll have a front row seat for the destruction. I don't envy him.

[block43]

Originally Posted by hmagazine

Just watched Regular or Super: Views on Mies van der Rohe doc on TVO for the 3rd time tonight!

Fantastic and if you listened and watched carefully - you would start to understand what makes a building like City Hall so special. We are lucky to have such architecture here...

http://blog.talkoftoronto.com/?p=317

I love his Barcelona chair

[raisethehammer]

dang. I missed it!

[oldcoote]

Hey now! Good article!

Good to see the PR machine working.

[crhayes]

Originally Posted by realcity

Let's have a contest who can get named more in the Spec. Dave Kuruc or Ryan McGreal?

Well done Dave.

"admits he had to learn to love City Hall. It now has his respect."
EXACTLY how I feel, that's a good way to put it.

Haha same here....I used to look at Toronto's and think "why couldn't ours be like that". After I started reading around and found out that it was a heritage building etc. I started to appreciate it more

I used to think anything old was shiet....but I have definitely changed my mind about that.

[highwater]

Leave no stone unturned

November 22, 2008
Robert Howard
The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 22, 2008)

Hamiltonians have said they don't want concrete slabs replacing the heritage-designated marble on their City Hall. But are they willing to put their money where their mouths are?

We mean that in the most positive sense: it's up to us. Do Hamiltonians care enough about City Hall to buy it a new suit of clothes?

Hamilton council made a decision at the end of October to choose concrete panels to replace the deteriorated marble that has clad City Hall since it was built in 1960. It was purely a financial decision. To put up new marble would have cost $6 million to $8 million more than concrete. Substituting limestone would only be an extra $2.5 million.

It is hard for us here to criticize council's decision. Fiscal responsibility is badly needed, especially in hard times. Council has to make hard decisions in order to keep the municipal property tax increase as low as possible. Hamilton homeowners are already paying among the highest property taxes in the country; a large increase will be the straw that breaks the camel's back for some residents already struggling to hang on to their homes.

But we share the concerns of many Hamiltonians that concrete panels will reflect badly on this city. City staff said in a report to council that the concrete panels are more prone to stain. They say it is a "utilitarian" material that would "degrade" the value of City Hall.

City Hall is the most prominent emblem of Hamilton. Its appearance tells people thinking of living or doing business here what this city thinks of itself. It is also a spectacular building that, like so many modernist designs, is not yet widely appreciated. But it remains a building Hamiltonians can be very proud of.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger, unsuccessful in convincing council to spend the extra money for limestone, arranged an online poll on his website. Of 508 respondents, only 60 wanted concrete. Marble got 253 votes, limestone 195. An equally unscientific poll on thespec.com brought in similar results. A rally set for the City Hall steps this morning should give another indication of public sentiment.

The idea to "save" the look of City Hall -- as The Spectator's Paul Wilson wrote yesterday -- is to mount a public campaign in which Hamiltonians could sponsor a piece of limestone. (Replacement marble, because of the cost, is essentially off the table.)

A square foot of limestone might be about $65; City Hall needs 46,000 square feet. It won't happen without a lot of people buying into the idea -- and a few people with deep pockets helping out as well. But it's worth the effort.

If the concrete lives up to its makers' claims and if it is regularly and scrupulously cleaned, it may look OK. But bad luck or deferred maintenance could also create an aesthetic disaster and yet more costs.

This City Hall is the one we're going to have for a long time. We should leave no stone unturned to keep it a building to be proud of.

[highwater]

The editorial cartoon's good too.

http://thespec.com/Opinions/article/470678

The only thing that's missing is the St. Lawrence Cement logos on the cement trucks.

[emge]

Good turnout today at City Hall (with a good variety in age too...) , and great job done on the "save city hall" posters and by those able to speak. i'm impressed how well this was put together (in a seemingly short span of time)

thanks to those who worked on this... guess we'll see where it goes now.

[crhayes]

Yup it was good, hopefully we all changed some minds

[raisethehammer]

awesome event today. Last count I made was around 150 people in attendance.
Nice to meet some of you too.
Great job by all who organized.

[hmagazine]

Thanks to all who made it out today!

I apologize for the confusion at the end about pledges - Brian McHattie is the one to speak about that if you didn't hear. It was a little overwhelming to see the show of support from a very diverse group of Hamiltonians!

Kudos - this is far from over!

[flar]

I was there for a short time, couldn't stay long, my mother was in town for a visit. I didn't bring my camera because I was carrying my daughter, but my wife snapped a few pics on her point and shoot.

[highwater]

Mayor raising money for City Hall limestone

November 22, 2008
The Hamilton Spectator

Mayor Fred Eisenberger says he is looking for “major benefactors” to quickly come up with $3 million to put limestone, instead of concrete, on the outside of City Hall, and more cash to add a “wow factor” to the plaza in front.

He told a crowd of about 150 at a rally in front of the vacant, fenced-off building Saturday that council’s vote to relace the 58-year-old marble facade with precast concrete panels in stead of limestone was “very shortisghted and unfortunate.”

Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie said he is collecting pledges at the rate of $65 per square foot to cover the extra cost of limestone on the renovated structure, and the mayor urged him to continue, saying such public support might help convince major donors to contribute.

“I’m doing all I can in the background,” he said, “to pursue some major players to see if we can get them to do two things:

— One, to provide about $3 million to do the limestone on the building, which I think is the right way to go . . . .

— And sponsorship to do the forecourt, which needs to have a wow factor that says we are proud of our city, we are proud of our major civic institution, we hold it in high regard and we want to let the entire city, and not only the entire city, but the entire province and Canada know that Hamiltonians have enormous civic pride, and in my view, putting concrete on this building doesn’t demonstrate enormous civic pride.

Gerry Davis, the city’s manager of capital planning, said last week the concrete is due to be ordered Dec. 12, and Eisenberger said, “I’m asking for more time, but not getting more time,” that the money is needed in the next month or so.

McHattie is asking supporters to e-mail pledges to him at bmchattie@hamilton.ca or to phone his office at (905) 546-2416.

[SteelTown]

^ That's the kinda of leadership I would like to see more often. Hope him all the best.

Anyone contact McHattie about purchasing a slab of marble? If so let us know. I want to contribute.

[highwater]

They're just taking pledges at the moment. They can't take actual $$ just yet as they can't guarantee that they will have funding in place in time to prevent the ordering of the concrete. (The fact that the next 40 yrs or so in the lifespan of this building could be held hostage to a Dec. 12 project deadline boggles my mind. Alot of the 'facts' surrounding this decision boggle my mind, but I'm not gonna go there tonight.)

As for me, I still have to talk it over with my SO, but we will be pledging for more than one sqft of limestone. My plan is to "give till it hurts". And for Xmas presents, I will be asking my family members to give me a sqft of limestone. This issue is hugely important to me. It's one of those 'line in the sand' issues that should be important to all Hamiltonians.

[emge]

there was a little blurb on CHCH news tonight about the rally.

I talked with McHattie but e-mailed Bob Bratina since I live a bit further downtown -- I already got a response, e-mailed back, and got another response from him on his plans.. he's got a good perspective on retaining the heritage attributes as well.

[highwater]

I'd love to know what that is . Care to share?