Gore Park

[thistleclub]

Detailed designs:

Central Garden (July 22, 2013)
Veterans Place (July 22, 2013)
Veterans Memorial Pieces (Oct 8, 2013)
Macdonald Square (July 22, 2013)
King East Pedestrianization (Oct 18, 2013)

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^And this will get done for the Pan Am Games?

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

^And this will get done for the Pan Am Games?

Bratina said after Pan Am Games but now the latest is if Royal Connaught development goes into full effect than it'll pressure council to fund the Gore Park Master Plan. Either way I don't foresee this happening until after the Games.

[mattgrande]

Even if it gets done in time for the Games, I'm willing to be Blanchard's buildings will either be gone with nothing replacing them, or in the exact same state they are today by 2015.

[CaptainKirk]

Pan Am games, Shman Am games.

It's just a soccer tournament, no?

[davidcappi]

Thankfully there are a few Maple trees that will remain. I'd love to see a whole mix of species. Red Maples, Oak, Birch, maybe crab apple trees or cherry blossoms as well. The city should invest in not only planting more mature trees, but doing something really creative with the landscaping in the park. As nice as the coverage is right now, underneath the trees are scraggly bushes and dirt. Its not very attractive to walk through. I'd love to see some grasses used, or fast growing perennials planted to help spruce up the park while the new trees grow. If we can't have the canopy, I'd at least enjoy some nicer gardens. Does anyone know when this is scheduled to begin?

[thistleclub]

MBTW Group's Gore Pedestrianization Initiative | Detailed Functional Plan Report (Feb 15, 2013) contains a lot of detail on what is anticipated to be a tri-phase, $6.6 million project. (Cost estimates are broken out in the Technical Memos appendix.)

The City's most recent update, from March 7, 2013, notes that: "A construction start date is yet to be determined. Public Works is currently working on construction drawings and documentation to facilitate the anticipated tendering of construction works."

These are possibly the design schematics linked to earlier, which are part of the MBTW plan.

As Mr. Norton has indicated, however, this project remains largely unfunded -- a hurdle that would need to be conquered before work began.

Gore was one of four substantial park redevelopments unfunded in the 2013 budget cycle.

[thistleclub]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Gore was one of four substantial park redevelopments unfunded in the 2013 budget cycle.

$550K-$1.65M of the Gore Master Plan is pencilled in for funding in the preliminary listing of 2014 Capital Projects, as is $3.91M toward Confederation Park redevelopment.

[SteelTown]

Yea they want to relocate the Sir John A MacDonald statue.

[SteelTown]

Sir John A. needs his space
Move afoot to relocate statue across the street

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/42...eds-his-space/

Flanked by cannons aimed at oncoming King Street traffic, he looks confidently satisfied.

But that slightly bemused expression is a bit of a façade these days.

John A. Macdonald, the Gore Park bronze, is feeling cramped.

Canada's first prime minister is squished into a tight spot at the corner of John and King.

"It's kind of a really tight, cramped spot for him, so we'd like to give him pride of place," Le'Ann Whitehouse Seely, the city's supervisor of landscape architectural services, said.

So the famous Scotsman is on the move.

The plan is to move Macdonald's office from his longtime pedestal so he can strike a new park pose on the other side of John.

There he'll find some shade and seating for admirers — in short, "a better spot for him to stand proud," Whitehouse Seely said.

That corner of Gore Park is to become a spruced-up forecourt to the old Connaught hotel, which developers plan to transform into condos.

The 8-foot-3 bronze statue made the trip from London, England to Hamilton in 1893. It stood at the King and Hughson crossroads until the city's fire chief died after his rig crashed into Macdonald's pedestal.

So in 1907, the city moved the former PM to Gore Park.

Moving the old Tory to a new spot is part of the city's Gore Park Master Plan, a major facelift of the downtown promenade that's been in the works for a few years.

On Jan. 11, 2015, the city plans to celebrate his 200th birthday.

The chair of Hamilton's Sir John A. Macdonald society hopes the park won't be ripped up around the time of the bicentennial celebrations.

"Because we're having a party," Robin McKee said. "Timing is everything."

Macdonald's future home seems to be a better spot, said McKee, but he cringed at the prime minister's cannons pointing west toward the park's cenotaph.

"You should not be pointing cannons at the veterans," McKee said.

Nor "up the backside of Queen Victoria," whose likeness presides a little farther afield at the corner of James and King, he added.

Whitehouse Seely said construction — and Macdonald's move — could happen next year, but there's no firm date.

The tendering process depends on city council approval.

So what will fill the void when the prime minister moves out?

The master plan calls for a smaller piece of public art in that space, Whitehouse Seely noted.

"It's too small for a large statue of a former prime minister."

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

[B]
The master plan calls for a smaller piece of public art in that space, Whitehouse Seely noted.

How about a statue of a steelworker father "passing the torch" to his two kids, a nurse and a an artist?

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

How about a statt of a steelworker father "passing the torch" to his two kids, a nurse and a an artist?

That's actually a pretty good idea.

[KDP]

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk

How about a statt of a steelworker father "passing the torch" to his two kids, a nurse and a an artist?

HAHAHAHA That's Brilliant!

[LikeHamilton]

REQUEST FOR PREQUALIFICATIONS NOTICE

Project Number: C14-01-14

Project Title: General Contractor Required for Phase One of Gore Pedestrianization Initiative

Closing 3:00:59 pm, Hamilton time
Thursday, February 6, 2014

PROPOSED SCOPE OF WORK

The first phase is estimated to be tendered in the spring of 2014. Substantial completion of phase one will be required by end-November 2014 with minor deficiencies being addressed in early 2015. Under no circumstances will construction in the area be permitted during the 2015 PanAm and ParaPan Games.

The goal of this RFPQ is to pre-qualify general contractors that will be permitted to submit bids in response to Request for Tenders for the first phase of this project.

Final details and project budgets have not yet been completed, the phase described in this
prequalification may involve:

Preservation of historic monuments and other existing elements to remain on site;
demolition and removals;
decommissioning of underground washroom building (which no longer operates);
roadway drainage grading;
electrical power and lighting retrofits and new installations;
vehicular and pedestrian grade hard surfacing;
Urban Braille path construction;
custom memorial and interpretive walls;
vertical sign features;
existing heritage memorial relocation;
site furnishings;
soft landscaping and irrigation;
tree removals and tree planting.

http://www.biddingo.com/*.main?toPag...tndrId=1011412

[SteelTown]

Excellent!!

[SteelTown]

You can see the Stakeholder presentation here, it highlights what is Phase 1

http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/...tion131114.pdf

Phase 1 is Gore Park from John to Hughson. Complete 2014. Veterans' Place Block

Phase 2 is Gore Park from Hughson to James. Complete 2016 (after Pan Am)

Phase 3 is Gore Park from the front of Connaught Hotel. Complete 2018

[SteelTown]

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I hope we can finally get cracking with this plan. Two things, however:

-not big on the Vietnam War Memorial-esque look of that stretch of the park and
-grass (out of place and unnecessary IMO)

[davidcappi]

I like it, but I agree in regards to the grass.

It'd be nice done in a concrete with pressed edging, and a long strip fountain running towards the central fountain.

Something like this

[thistleclub]

Gore Park promenade construction may take the froth out of patio season
(Hamilton Spectator, Carmela Fragomeni, Apr 29 2014)

The city's construction of a promenade on the south side of Gore Park has put having a beer on the patio of Chester's in jeopardy this spring and summer.

Michael Robis, owner of Chester's Beers of the World — in business for 42 years — recently got a letter from the city saying he has to close down his patio by the end of May and that it will be out of commission until September while construction takes place.

The letter said this move was necessary for the promenade construction to proceed.

But a hastily called meeting at Chester's on Monday between Robis, city officials, Ward 2 Councillor Jamie Farr, and other area business owners, ended with city staff and Farr trying to see if they can do something to keep the patio operating.

Robis and the other business owners along the stretch however, are still worried the construction will kill business during their most prosperous months.
Construction on the promenade, on the south side of the park along King Street — between Hughson Street North and John Street North — is scheduled to start the first week of June. The work includes raising the road so that it is on the same level as the storefront sidewalks and the park walkways.

Despite being around for 42 years, Robis is worried he could lose Chester's. He faced a long, slow winter, lost business to food trucks this past summer, and is now losing his patio for the season.

"The people who make all these closures don't do any commerce down here," he said. "I told the BIA (Business Improvement Area) we don't want the street closed, period. It's not good for business."

Read it in full here.