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  #81  
Old Posted Jul 2, 2013, 10:27 AM
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In the fall of 1813, 7,000 British soldiers, native warriors and their families descended on Dundas seeking shelter, food and medical care. One of the buildings that provided shelter was 2 Hatt St.
^Wow! What a day that must have been. I wonder if they asked nicely or if it was a slightly more unpleasant affair.

It really is a miracle 2 Hatt St hasn't folded in on itself. It's a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of the time. And to think that trains used to rumble right past its front door each and every day.
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  #82  
Old Posted Jul 15, 2013, 6:30 PM
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Dundas convent could feature group home
(Dundas Star, Craig Campbell, July 11 2013)

A 35-person group home inside the Sisters of St. Joseph convent on Dundas’ rural Northcliffe Road was conditionally approved last week, despite opposition from City of Hamilton planning staff who say the proposed use is not appropriate.

Staff already told city councillors they felt the proposed use did not conform to existing zoning by-laws and official plans when they recommended opposing a Niagara Escarpment Commission proposal to allow several additional uses at 574 Northcliffe Rd., including a residential care facility or group home.

In a report on the Proposed NEC changes, planning staff stated the additional uses are not permitted in the Rural Hamilton Official Plan or Town of Dundas Official Plan, they are not permitted in the existing zoning by-law and are contrary to the May 2011 agreement which allowed for a private school dormitory in the building.

But after further negotiation, including deputations by IBI planning consultants John Ariens and Matt Johnston representing the Sisters of St. Joseph, city council agreed to permit a residential care facility use, as well as a dormitory use, in the convent building.

The property was recently used by Columbia International College for a student residence and classrooms.

An application for a minor variance was approved by the city’s Committee of Adjustment last Thursday to make the use official despite the existing zoning by-law.

In a report to the Committee of Adjustment, planning staff continued their opposition to the change.

“Staff remain consistent in their opinion that a new use cannot be introduced through the variance process,” the report states. “A rezoning application would be required in order to permit the use and to amend a number of other provisions in the by-law.”

Staff said adding a 35-space residential group home on top of a 36-student dormitory represents a further intensification to the property – a possibility staff opposed when the temporary dormitory use was applied for three years ago.
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  #83  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2013, 12:53 PM
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Take guided walk of Urquhart Butterfly Garden
(Dundas Star, July 30 2013)

Join naturalist Matthew Mills at Dundas’ Urquhart Butterfly Garden for a free guided Butterfly and Bird Identification Walk, on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 11. a.m.

Butterflies come in many sizes, some as big as your hand and others as small as a fingernail. Some butterflies are drab and shy; others are bold and colourful. Visitors who walk through the garden are likely to see nothing but cabbage whites, but those who spend some time in the area are often rewarded with unusual sightings.

The Aug. 3 guided walk is part of a series of educational events at Urquhart Butterfly Garden, funded by the Dougher Fund of the Hamilton Community Foundation. The educational series is the first of its kind at the 19-year-old Dundas landmark. The garden is located in Centennial Park, Cootes Drive and East Street North, and is accessible by bus or bike.

Parking is available adjacent to the Air Force Club off King Street East. Hikes will convene under the trees in front of the parking lot. Cameras and binoculars are recommended; please leave your dogs at home. The guided walks begin at 11 a.m. and continue every second Saturday in August and September. More details are available at www.urquhartbutterfly.com.
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  #84  
Old Posted Aug 13, 2013, 4:04 PM
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Craft brewery plan fermenting in Dundas
(Dundas Star News, Craig Campbell, Jan 24, 2013)

When Ed Madronich started looking for a place to base his new craft brewery within the Greater Hamilton Area, he knew Dundas would be a great location.

Madronich, owner and operator of Flat Rock Cellars winery in Jordan, was well aware of the Valley Town’s long brewing and industrial history – and how the Desjardins Canal helped build it into a larger and busier business area than its neighbour Hamilton.

So when he heard the Valley City Manufacturing buildings at 64 and 65 Hatt St. were available, he started working with owner Bob Crockford. Now a rezoning application will come to city councillors to permit a craft brewery at the former Valley City warehouse building at 65 Hatt.

Madronich thinks a craft brewery – focused on beer production and tourism – is a great fit for Dundas, and he’s aware there’s plenty of excited buzz around the project already.

Via @JoeyColeman: Planning approved. Council to vote on ratification Friday.
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  #85  
Old Posted Aug 17, 2013, 11:48 AM
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Cheers to Dundas craft brewery
(Dundas Star, Craig Campbell, Aug 15 2013)

Drinkers won’t be quaffing a brewed-in-Dundas craft beer quite yet, but Ed Madronich cleared the first hurdle this week towards placing his new craft brewery at 65 Hatt St. in the Valley Town.

City councillors on Hamilton’s planning committee unanimously approved a staff recommendation to rezone the former Valley City Manufacturing warehouse – across Hatt from the one-time furniture builder – to permit a craft brewery, Tuesday.

Once the zoning change is approved by full city council, Madronich still has to go through the design phase and site plan process, then receive Ministry of Environment approvals.

“I’m nervous to speculate (on an opening date),” said Madronich, who owns and operates Flat Rock Cellars Winery in Jordan. “Once we’ve got all the administrative stuff done we’ll get going on the brewery itself. It’s an exciting project for Dundas. We’ve had so much more support than opposition.”

Count City of Hamilton staff among the supporters – though they placed a holding provision on the new zoning by-law that will be lifted once Environmental Compliance Approval is received from the environment ministry. A noise impact study will also be completed during the site plan stage.

A city staff report states the ECA will ensure that any potential odour and noise emissions from the brewery are controlled, and will not adversely impact surrounding properties. Madronich said mechanisms will be in place to ensure there are no impacts on neighbours, and Dundas councillor Russ Powers, along with councillors on the planning committee, weren’t concerned.

”I’ve visited a number of micro breweries,” Powers said. “The Whistler, B.C. one – if you were told there was a brewery in the area, you would never know.
“The impact on the neighbourhood will be minimal. I’m very supportive. Looking forward to this becoming a tourist draw.”

Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson said he wanted the micro brewery in Ancaster.

Staff determined there is no need for the brewery to have off-street parking because of nearby municipal parking lots and an anticipated small number of on-site employees.

Relief from providing a loading zone was also granted. The few expected large truck deliveries are planned to be handled from a ‘No Parking’ area on Hatt Street alongside the building. Smaller deliveries will drive directly into the building through the Hatt Street loading door.

“The proposed craft brewery use, which includes a commercial and tourism component, more closely aligns to the goals of the “Mixed Use – Medium Density” designation than the previous warehouse…is located in close proximity to the Dundas Community Core and, therefore, complements the goals for this area with its retail presence, pedestrian accessibility, and tourism component,” the staff report states.

“The proposed craft brewery, which will reuse the existing building, is consistent in terms of built form with the surrounding neighbourhood and also with the policies…that encourage buildings to be located close to the street, with minimal surface parking,” the staff report states.

Staff also state that Madronich supplied information about odour and emission, in response to two letters from the public that raised the issue. The report indicates a majority of emissions are water vapour. Emissions from fermentation are piped into a foam trap and any potential odours are dissolved in the trap and removed.

“These methods of reducing and mitigating odour concerns will be reviewed as part of the ECA review process, and any required mitigation will be identified through that process,” the staff report states.

Madronich said similar craft breweries exist in both smaller and larger communities, and mechanisms are in place to control any emissions and odours.

“Basically, a brewery has the same emissions as a bakery,” Madronich said. “It’s yeast, barley and water. It’s not anything that’s toxic. It’s a very natural product.”

Most of the public feedback was supportive – even encouraging – of the proposed brewery. Even so, staff noted the questions of noise and emissions will receive further scrutiny before the process is done.

A drawing of the potential craft brewery design included in the staff report shows the loading door facing Hatt Street and the main entrance on the north end of the building.

But Madronich said that was a drawing completed early in the process to give city planners an idea of what the facility could look like. A more detailed look at the design and layout of the brewery will take place during the site plan review.

He said one possible beer recipe is already being reviewed, with the guidance of a brewing consultant, but details of the brewery’s name, products and logo are still to be decided.

Once a site plan is approved by the city, construction work inside the former warehouse is done, and all the equipment is set up, Madronich will bring on a brewmaster and get the operation running.
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  #86  
Old Posted Aug 17, 2013, 4:19 PM
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^ All the signs point to a successful opening of the new brewery. Hoping it's up and running before Christmas!
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  #87  
Old Posted Aug 18, 2013, 8:43 PM
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Dundas residents still battling escarpment condo
(CBC Hamilton, Julia Chapman, August 17 2013)

Concerned Dundas residents were at city hall Friday to oppose a proposed development they say will ruin escarpment views and add unwanted density.

The development, which in its original proposal would see a six-storey, 48-unit building at 24 Brock St. N, is now in the hands of the Ontario Municipal Board. After council shut down that proposal from Eco Building Inc. in September, the developer appealed to the OMB.

Since then, local councillor Russ Powers said the developer has come back with a new plan. City council passed a new motion Friday to keep the details of that new proposal confidential until council gives the final approval, because it is part of compromise settlement negotiations.....

The battle for the residents started last year when in September, they lobbied council to shut the development down.

“It's taking away what Dundas is proud of,” said resident Adele Barrett. “We're not opposed to development, but it needs to be a proper density.”

Barrett and about a dozen other residents who attended Friday's meeting represent HEARD (Heritage, Escarpment and Responsible Development). She said the development is too dense, and too close to their backyards — the condo building was planned just 4.4 metres from a townhouse development on Brock St.

After Eco Buildings went to the OMB and drew up a new proposal, Powers said the developer solicitor had a friendly meeting with a city solicitor who later decided the new proposal was worth a review. The city's planning committee unanimously voted in late May to consider that new proposal.

HEARD has seen the new proposal too, but isn't legally about to speak about it either, Barrett said.

Powers said process is now in pre-hearings with the OMB, series of moderated, more causal meetings with the parties involved. If all three parties can't come to an agreement, a full-blown OMB hearing will have to take place.

“No one wants that to happen,” Powers said. “It'll cost about $250,000 on all sides to take on a full hearing.”

Powers said the pre-hearing scheduled in July was cancelled so HEARD could have more time to review the new plans with their lawyer. He expects the next one to take place in September or October. If a full OMB needs to happen, that will be six months to a year after, he said.
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  #88  
Old Posted Sep 12, 2013, 2:59 PM
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Time running out on EcoPark grant as work begins
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Sept 12 2013)

The first phase of the Dundas EcoPark on the Desjardins Canal is underway thanks to the timely availability of 20,000 cubic metres of clean fill at virtually no cost to cap the site’s contaminated soil.

Yet the good news is tempered by the possibility the Hamilton Conservation Authority will lose half of a $502,000 federal cost-sharing grant for the gateway project because of a requirement to spend the money by March 31.

Authority directors last week approved the awarding of a $498,000 contract to prepare the former Veldhuis Greenhouses property for the fill, which is being excavated at nearby McMaster University to make way for a new liberal arts building.

The Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund grant, announced by Conservative MP David Sweet in January, will cover half the cost of the preparation work, which includes perimeter fencing, removal of asphalt slabs and construction of a concrete buffer to secure a remnant chimney that is a nesting spot for endangered chimney swifts.

Tony Horvat, the authority’s director of land management, said he expected work to begin this week to allow the site to start receiving the Mac fill by Sept. 27.

If all goes to plan, the one-metre cap will be graded and ready for seeding with native grasses by mid October – an interim measure until the authority comes up with its share of the money for final grading using topsoil.

The $2.4-million park will eventually feature walking paths, a tented boardwalk and viewing area, floating islands, a restored wetland area and gravel nesting areas for turtles by the canal’s banks.

But Horvat said he doubts the park’s final grading can proceed before next March because the construction season is quickly ending, jeopardizing the balance of the federal grant.

He said although the authority submitted its grant application 15 months ago, it only received Ministry of the Environment approval on July 26 to cap, rather than remove, the Veldhuis property’s soil, which is contaminated with heavy metals.
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  #89  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2013, 6:57 AM
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Yet the good news is tempered by the possibility the Hamilton Conservation Authority will lose half of a $502,000 federal cost-sharing grant for the gateway project because of a requirement to spend the money by March 31.
I get the reasoning behind funding deadlines, though I do think there should be more consideration for the challenges that so many projects face.

But I'd be interested to know just how many of these good-news "Canada's Economic Action Plan"-type announcements have ended up losing part of their funding because those challenges meant that deadlines could not be met.
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  #90  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2013, 3:12 PM
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Crooks’ Hollow master plan takes ‘low-key’ approach
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Sept 19 2013)

Already thriving after last year’s radical surgery, the Crooks’ Hollow Conservation Area is poised for the next step in its rehabilitation.

A proposed $156,000 master plan expected to go out for public consultation in October focuses on improving the 43-hectactare park’s trails and highlighting the area’s significance inCanada’s early industrial development.

They are the finishing touches on a $1.4-million restoration project that removed the area’s dam and reservoir, returning Spencer Creek to a more historic, meandering flow.

“This isn’t a real big plan, lots of money. We’re trying to manage an area,” said Sandy Bell, manager of design and development for the Hamilton Conservation Authority.

“It’s really for someone who’s interested in the walk,” he said. “I think it fits with what the community wants to see for this area, a more low-key area.”

Bell said the plan will add several informal side trails to the main, two-kilometre route that follows Spencer Creek between Christie Lake Conservation Area and Webster’s Falls.

Upgrades include improved trail surfacing, a new section of boardwalk, two new stairways, more signage, and erosion, drainage and trail bridge repairs. The plan also proposes to phase out a side trail along Crooks’ Hollow Road and return a small, grassy secondary parking area to nature, shifting vehicular access to an expanded and upgraded main lot.

Bell said the overall goal of the trail plan is to keep people away from sensitive spots on the south side of the creek while letting them enjoy nature’s charms. He said he expects some resistance to removing the trail by the road on the north side, but it has bridges that are difficult to maintain.

“I know some people still use it and it may be hard to change minds there about that,” he said during a presentation to the authority’s conservation advisory board, which endorsed a staff recommendation to consult the public on the plan.

“It may be one area that the community there may not agree with, but that’s how we’re trying to keep it to the one-trail corridor through the property.”

The plan also earmarks $46,000 to upgrade six historical ruins and sites in the Crooks’ Hollow area, a former industrial hub that once boasted a gin distillery, saw mill, cooperage, linseed oil company, paper mill and flour mill.

Work will include removal of graffiti and vegetation that threatens their foundations, and updated interpretive signage with QR codes to allow visitors to learn more about their history via smart phone.

One of the proposed new stairways will lead to the remnants of the Cockburn dam and mill. The authority will also consider how to best preserve the 1813 Darnley Grist Mill, which later became the Greensville Paper Co. and was destroyed by fire in 1943.

It is defaced with graffiti in several areas despite being fenced off from the public.
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  #91  
Old Posted Sep 22, 2013, 11:57 PM
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The plan also earmarks $46,000 to upgrade six historical ruins and sites in the Crooks’ Hollow area, a former industrial hub that once boasted a gin distillery, saw mill, cooperage, linseed oil company, paper mill and flour mill.
It's really interesting to me how, with this big natural harbour that was a huge reason Hamilton later began to flourish as a centre of industry, our industrial history actually lies in places along the escarpment like Crooks' Hollow, Albion Mills, Ancaster, and Dundas.

The same can be said for many towns throughout Ontario, but it's a history I wish we would celebrate more than we do.
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  #92  
Old Posted Sep 24, 2013, 8:54 PM
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Carnegie Gallery ready to shine again
(Hamilton Spectator, Craig campbell, Sept 24 2013)

A beacon for the Dundas community will shine again on Friday.

Not that the Carnegie Gallery really went anywhere. Despite having to shut down for about eight months during construction, the nonprofit art gallery was temporarily relocated to the Dundas Conservatory of Music.

But with its metamorphosis nearly complete, the folks behind the scenes are ready to let the butterfly spread its wings. Board chair Nancy Gray and gallery administrator Barb Patterson were excited to show off the new and enhanced space while workers were installing a new sprinkler system.

Carnegie relaunches during Culture Days this weekend. The celebration slated for Friday starts at 7 p.m., and a Collage Party will happen on Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. with instruction provided by artist Judy Joseph. Children must be accompanied at the party by an adult.

Gray said last year's Culture Days Collage Party was a success and they decided to try it again.

The new space successfully maintains the building's entire original south facade, which can be viewed from the new glass atrium.

The atrium was built to provide additional exhibit space and sheltered access to the elevator, which before the renovations was only accessible from outside the building.

Along with the new elevator, the atrium has an administrative office overlooking the new foyer.

"It's the first office we've ever had," Gray said. "We had to adapt around the counter. It's not efficient."

There was some early question around how the addition of the atrium might affect lighting within the gallery, but a few alterations to the original plan by Dundas architect Fred Vermeulen of Perkins & Will ensured open spaces and lighting will always be strong elements of Carnegie Gallery.

"As artists, light and space are very important (to us)," Gray said, admiring the view through the old Carnegie building and through the modern new addition. "So how these windows worked was a real concern."

Lights in the sidewalk along Ogilvie, and in the windows of the atrium, will ensure the Carnegie sparkles for years to come.

The project has also allowed the creation of a new oversized loading door, which will make setting up exhibitions easier.

An updated kitchen will serve the basement meeting room, which can also be used for small music performances or other events.

"It means our programming can be more flexible," Gray said.
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Old Posted Oct 5, 2013, 2:27 AM
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I was driving up King Street in Dundas Today and noticed on the DQ sign is said closed for season Condos and New DQ coming soon. It caught me off guard so I didn't get a picture of it.
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Old Posted Nov 1, 2013, 11:35 PM
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HCA seeks input on controversial Dundas Valley lease bid
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Oct 30 2013)

The Hamilton Conservation Authority is hosting an open house this Tuesday on a contentious proposal to lease its former Dundas Valley outdoor education centre to a private school.

Chief administrative officer Chris Firth-Eagland said the open house, which runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the Ancaster Old Town Hall, is the first step in a public consultation process on the fate of what is now called Maplewood Hall.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to the clarity this will bring to help us all determine what to do with Maplewood, built with taxpayer dollars,” he said. “That place has been a struggle for quite a while.”

Formerly known as the Resource Management Centre, the Artaban Road building served as the home base for outdoor education between 1970 and 1993, when it was forced shut by provincial funding cuts.

After vehement public opposition killed two previous proposals to lease the centre to private groups, the building was rebranded as a banquet hall in 2003 under its current moniker.

But it’s mostly sat empty for the past two years because its septic system no longer meets regulatory standards for weddings and other large functions.

The latest proposal would lease the hall to Strata Montessori Adolescent School of Dundas for 15 years and allow up to 60 students in Grades 7 to 9 and eight staff.

Tony Evans, the school’s director, has said the plan is “an ideal situation” for both sides because of a shared commitment to environmental conservation.

He told authority directors earlier this month the school hopes to limit its impact on the environmentally significant area, including by have students walk, rather than being bused, up Artaban Road and use compostable toilets.

The school will also explore the possibility of using alternate energy sources to run the building on its own power, he said.

“We have a profound respect for the environment,” Evans said. “This is who we are.”

But Catherine Beattie, who lives in the area, urged directors to heed a staff recommendation in February to demolish the hall and return the 13-hectare property to nature because urban growth is putting more stress than ever on the valley.

Dundas resident Joanna Chapman also objected to the lease, contending the school’s plan for an organic garden with chickens and barnyard animals will require fencing to keep other animals out.

“I don’t that think you teach young people about nature and the value of the outdoors by going into an area, encroaching on nature and destroying it,” she told directors. “This oversteps anything I’ve ever seen proposed before.”

Firth-Eagland said while senior staff supports the lease proposal, demolition would return a significant amount of the site to green space because it would remove the hall, a house, two cabins and two parking lots.

But he said the authority has taken several steps already to reduce its foot print in the valley, apart from relocating its works yard to Millgrove.

These include removing a garage near the site of the demolished Merrick Field Centre and the pending demolition of a house it once leased on Mineral Springs Road. A barn there has already been torn down.

Plans are also underway to remove four school portables near Christie Conservation Area because they are no longer used by the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board for outdoor education, he said.

“By the end of the year we will have taken down seven significant structures in the Dundas Valley,” he said.

The Maplewood proposal is scheduled to go the authority’s conservation advisory board on Dec. 12. Any recommendations it makes will go to the board directors on Jan. 9.
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Old Posted Nov 8, 2013, 9:37 PM
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New light, new life for Carnegie Gallery in Dundas
(Hamilton Spectator, Jeff Mahoney, Nov 6 2013)

Standing in the lobby, it was good to see Nancy Gray lit up with the autumnal champagne-coloured light that the Carnegie's glass-clad atrium drank in, from a crisp morning sky.

It was just the other day. But it threw me back almost 10 years to another time when Nancy and I met, near this same spot, under different circumstances. Indeed, it was during one the gravest crises in the down-and-up life of what is perhaps Dundas's signature building.

At that time, 2005, I found Nancy distraught by the terrible news she'd just received. The newly amalgamated city had taken inventory of public heritage buildings in what were formerly its suburbs and decided to put the Carnegie Gallery building up for sale.

Thinking it a fait accompli, Nancy initially plunged herself into a state of reluctant resignation.

"I told myself, 'You've had 25 good years (the Carnegie Gallery was opened in 1980), and if it has to come to an end, it has to come to an end," says Nancy. "Then I paused and thought, 'But I want it to go on.'"

With all the fight she had left in her, Nancy joined with several other key players, including Councillor Russ Powers, to pull off one of the biggest turnarounds I've ever seen in a community institution as imperiled as the Carnegie was.

They formed a plan, involving all levels of government, to reconstitute the ownership and control of the building and gallery.

After an enormous and highly successful fundraising campaign, with matching government money, the Carnegie team found itself able to proceed with an impressive building renovations/expansion.

Now it's done — well, almost.

The results are spectacular. The most prominent feature is the steel, wood and glass atrium alluded to above, sandwiched handsomely between the old building and a new wall with perfectly matching brick.

The flanking wall helps frame the scope of the new within the tradition of the old, the wall's colour completing the synaptic connection with the original back of the building and its beautiful bay window, now paradoxically both interior and exterior. In fact, this play between ideas of interior and exterior is a theme running through the project.

Aside from the atrium there are many upgrades to the old interior — it's beautifully, sleekly laid out, with an additional entrance which re-exposes a great old window that had been hidden. There's a new elevator, a kitchen downstairs and more.

One of the strongest touches is the open office which pulls together the atrium and the old building. It straddles both spaces and looks out on the gondolas of lights and pipes that span the addition and at the far end, the globular bocce lights, seemingly suspended in mid air.

"There's not a lot left in the kitty but we're hoping to put in electric curtains" because there's so much light coming in through the atrium that, working in the new office, one almost needs "sun hats and sunglasses," says Nancy.

In the atrium lobby there's a rough sketch of the expansion plan mounted on a plaque, a transfer from the napkin on which architect Fred Vermuelen originally put down his vision for the place eight years ago. It's remarkable how true the finished product is to the original vision.

Standing in the atrium lobby on a sunny day, anyone would seem haloed by the light. It's fitting that it's Nancy, who in 1979, at another time when the old library building faced mortal threats, was among the bold community pioneers (along with Joanna Chapman and others) who came up with the idea of an arts and crafts gallery.

"Can you imagine downtown Dundas without this building?" Nancy asks.

No. I can't. I really can't. It wouldn't be Dundas anymore.
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  #96  
Old Posted Nov 11, 2013, 8:52 PM
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Last edited by thomax; Dec 7, 2013 at 6:50 AM.
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Old Posted Nov 23, 2013, 9:37 PM
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Study hopes to tame, if not reroute, Spencer Creek
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Nov 21 2013)

If it had its way, Spencer Creek would use King Street to get through Dundas.
That’s just one of the challenges facing the Hamilton Conservation Authority as it tries to find ways to control flooding and improve the overall health of the creek’s watershed below the escarpment.

Hazel Breton, manager of water resources engineering, said a class environmental assessment begun earlier this year has already determined lower Spencer Creek isn’t dependent on groundwater from the upper watershed for its flow.

It’s instead a delta river system fed by surface water, one rerouted to higher ground as Dundas developed and whose storm surges are now controlled by engineered solutions, like channelization and a large drop structure by Market Street, she said.

“In the old days when they had floods, it wasn’t from the creek, it was from the water coming down the escarpment and heading down King Street,” Breton said during a presentation on the study to the authority’s conservation advisory board.

“The stream doesn’t want to be there. It absolutely doesn’t want to be where it is today. It wants to be going along King Street,” she said.

“It’s going to fight you and it will try to erode everything because when you deprive it of its natural floodplain, what you’re doing is building up a lot of energy within that very small plain.”

Breton said complicating matters during major storms is that Highway 403 hampers flow from Spencer Creek into Cootes Paradise and beyond.

“Dundas is like a bathtub and the kind of constriction at the 403 is filling up that bathtub up more,” she said. “You have metres more flooding because of the constriction.”

Breton said although Spencer Creek can’t be returned to pre-settlement conditions, it is an ideal candidate for adaptive measures to create “a novel ecosystem that is sustainable.”


In full here.
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  #98  
Old Posted Dec 6, 2013, 5:57 PM
thistleclub thistleclub is offline
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Grant kicks starts 50-year Dundas Valley vision plan
(Ancaster News, Richard Leitner, Dec 4 2013)

A 50-year vision project to preserve and enhance the Dundas Valley is a step closer to taking root thanks to a $171,600 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Scott Peck, director of watershed planning and engineering for the Hamilton Conservation Authority, said the money will allow his agency to hire a strategy manager to coordinate action plans on 10 initial goals to be completed by 2019.

The goals were developed in consultation with the public and several will require the help of outside groups, including four official partners, because they go beyond the authority’s traditional mandate, he said.

These include promoting green business practices, developing a valley-wide sustainable tourism business plan and working with farmers to promote locally grown food, the latter seen as a way to preserve the valley’s rural features.

“This person is critical to us because we don’t have the staff person here that we could dedicate to this project,” Peck said.

“To have the funding provided so we can have that dedicated person certainly gives the project the life it needed to move to that next phase.”

The 10 goals include traditional conservation targets, like protecting rare and at-risk species, enhancing the connections between natural areas, preserving escarpment vistas, and protecting and enhancing the health of streams, watercourses, and waterfalls.

But they also seek to preserve the valley’s architectural heritage and support the city’s implementation of “special character roads” that maintain its rustic charm.

The grant provides three years of funding for the strategy manager, whose task will be to try to implement the goals during the project’s first phase, which runs from 2014 to 2019.



Partnering on the project are Dundas Valley Historical Society, Manorun Farm, Giant’s Rib Discovery Centre and Dundas in Transition.
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  #99  
Old Posted Dec 12, 2013, 3:41 PM
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Survey does little to settle Dundas Valley centre debate
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Dec 12 2013)

About the only clear result from public consultation on a Hamilton Conservation Authority proposal to lease its former Dundas Valley outdoor education centre to a private school is that there’s little support for mothballing the facility.

Just one of 106 people who chose to submit questionnaire responses and written comments following a Nov. 5 open house favoured putting Maplewood Hall into storage, one of four options offered for the Artaban Road building.

Leasing to Strata Montessori Adolescent School got the most support, with 57 respondents choosing that option, but only 18 of those indicated they weren’t connected to a Montessori school.

Thirty-one people preferred demolishing the building, formerly known as the Resource Management Centre, while 14 wanted it upgraded as a rental facility at an estimated cost of $218,000.

One respondent needed more information before making a choice, while another argued for a fifth option – partnering with the public school board to once again offer outdoor education there.

Chief administrative officer Chris Firth-Eagland said he’s surprised more people didn’t participate and the authority will continue to accept public input until directors meet to determine the fate of Maplewood Hall on Jan. 9.

“It doesn’t give any definitive direction on its own,” he said, suggesting those with a strong opinion were more likely to take part.

“There may be a difference of opinion on when Maplewood has reached its serviceable lifespan.”

The survey results comes as the authority’s conservation advisory board meets at 7 p.m. tonight to consider which, if any, of the options to recommend to the board of directors.

As of Monday, eight people had registered to make a deputation, including the Montessori school’s principal, Tony Evans, and Thomas Beckett, a retired judge and former Ancaster deputy reeve who helped found the authority, serving as its first chair.

Beckett, one of the few survey respondents to consent to have his name made public along with his comments, opposes the lease proposal, which will generate an estimated profit of $400,000 over 15 years.

His submission calls the plan “a breach of faith” with the Anglican diocese, which sold the building and 13-hectare to the authority in 1968 for $30,000 – “a fraction of its market value” that reflected the desire to keep it “open space available to the public in perpetuity.”

“The Conservation Authority is not a business where making a profit is the object,” wrote Beckett, who supports a staff proposal earlier this year to demolish the hall and return the area to nature at an estimated $138,000 cost. “It has a very different mandate.”
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  #100  
Old Posted Mar 21, 2014, 4:34 PM
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Call to save Dundas Valley centre gets short shrift
(Dundas Star, Richard Leitner, Mar 12 2014)

The Hamilton Conservation Authority expects to demolish a former Dundas Valley outdoor education centre by this fall now that plans to rent it to a private school are officially dead.

Directors unanimously approved a recommendation from their conservation advisory board (CAB) to raze Maplewood Hall after voting to receive without comment an 11th-hour appeal to save the 96-year-old building.

A 75-signature online petition submitted via email by a group calling itself Friends of Artaban Camp/Maplewood Hall urged directors to instead upgrade the building to allow it to again be used for outdoor education, as it was from 1970 to 1993.

The petition did not provide a contact name and was signed by Change.org, which describes itself as “the world’s largest petition platform.”

Forty-one of the signatories identified themselves as Hamilton residents, with most others being from Ontario, although two were from Italy.

Authority chair Brian McHattie said afterwards he didn’t look at the petition “too deeply.”

“I’m not a big fan of petitions, as a politician. They’re just all too easy to orchestrate and people sign them without thinking very deeply about an issue,” the Ward 1 councillor and mayoral candidate said.

“This issue’s been before CAB and the board for many, many months as well, and my sense is that all the folks that were concerned about it made their views known,” he said, noting a number of people also met with him privately to voice concerns.

“I think that’s the way to intervene on issues like this.”

Chief administrative officer Chris Firth-Eagland said the petition is the only feedback the authority has received since CAB voted unanimously on Jan. 16 to recommend the building be torn down.


Read it in full here.
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