31 John Street N

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

This is coming along really well

[craftbeerdad]

great shots! from across the street the perspective with the old fire hall station is beautiful.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by craftbeerdad

great shots! from across the street the perspective with the old fire hall station is beautiful.

That station is a jewel.

The renovation of 31 John is looking really great.

[Chronamut]

CORNIIIICE! *foams at the mouth*

went by here yesterday - then dentils are looking great! (thats those little blocks at the bottom - which are meant to emulate the wood beams sticking out of how temples were built before stone) - the cornice supports I kiiinda wish were a little more ornate - or even to have had some nice stencil imprints in them like the ones on king william closer to james did, but I am not complaining.

I am interested to see what kind of treatment they do with the ledge. I am also fairly impressed, as they either seem to simply either just be instinctually doing it or actually restoring pretty much the type of cornice that was ACTUALLY originally there. The original cornice is pretty much identical to the treble hall, as are the pillars. I wonder if the same architect did both.

Upon saying that, unfortunately most of the Corinthian colomn head leaves did not survive the passage of time, and they appear to have taken off most of the remnants left on these which is sad. I would love to see an iron worker remake the Corinthian heads to place on the tops of these. Does anyone even do that sort of work anymore?

The top is a bit more of a mess - the brick and yellow banding needs a lot of revitalization, it's almost completely faded in parts. I do enjoy the fact that the arches below have been restored so nicely though.

The building beside it is a mess though - they haven't really tackled that part yet (the part with the giant square hole in it_ also the part beside THAT they appear to have started to tackle a bit - some of the basement window coverings have been ripped off - it should all be quite interesting to see when it is done, and for sure will be the nicest its ever looked during the time any of US have been alive at least!

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

That station is a jewel.

The renovation of 31 John is looking really great.

The station was immaculately restored not too long ago historically, to the point it still looks new

[eatboots]

couple new shots on Twitter

https://twitter.com/BobBerberick/sta...63439019659264

[ShavedParmesanCheese]

Gorgeous. What a great little corner this is shaping up to be.

[urban_planner]

Originally Posted by eatboots

couple new shots on Twitter

https://twitter.com/BobBerberick/sta...63439019659264

I'm glad you shared this. I posted a reply with my wide angle .

[ScreamingViking]

That looks really nice! Posting smaller versions here for ease of viewing.





Source

[Crapht]

That is looking super pretty. A pleasant surprise. I'm almost sure it will be a restaurant but I wonder if they are doing the upper floors as well. I remember there was a club up there in the 90's?? Anyone remember that? Not sure how long it lasted.

[TheHonestMaple]

Couldn't imagine investing in a restaurant during the covid lockdown era. Good luck getting a loan or line of credit approved when you tell the bank it's for a restaurant.... I really hope our city makes it out of this in good shape.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

Couldn't imagine investing in a restaurant during the covid lockdown era. Good luck getting a loan or line of credit approved when you tell the bank it's for a restaurant.... I really hope our city makes it out of this in good shape.

Plenty of restaurants have opened during Covid. Downtown Hamilton's restaurants are all packed before Covid and even now. You have to book days in advance, even now, and before. The demand is way outstripping supply so banks are definitely willing to loan to restaurants in Hamilton. The business is booming.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

This is the Windsor Hotel, right? Lookin' good.

Now wouldn't it be nice if someone bought that row of buildings on the south-east corner of John and King William? They really need some love...

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

Plenty of restaurants have opened during Covid. Downtown Hamilton's restaurants are all packed before Covid and even now. You have to book days in advance, even now, and before. The demand is way outstripping supply so banks are definitely willing to loan to restaurants in Hamilton. The business is booming.

oh absolutely. I'm one of the people going to them. I miss going out on a Friday night so much. That's not at all what i'm saying. What i'm saying is banks will be hesitant to loan to restaurants knowing a government can shut them down at a moments notice for covid, which almost certainly will continue to happen for the next couple years.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

oh absolutely. I'm one of the people going to them. I miss going out on a Friday night so much. That's not at all what i'm saying. What i'm saying is banks will be hesitant to loan to restaurants knowing a government can shut them down at a moments notice for covid, which almost certainly will continue to happen for the next couple years.

I'm doubtful of that. My guess is we may have one more lockdown in late March, early April, then we should be done with grey zone at least. The speed at which vaccinations are being issued is speeding up, and likely to speed up even more. I wouldn't be surprised if we never had to go above orange zone after May or June.

[TheHonestMaple]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

I'm doubtful of that. My guess is we may have one more lockdown in late March, early April, then we should be done with grey zone at least. The speed at which vaccinations are being issued is speeding up, and likely to speed up even more. I wouldn't be surprised if we never had to go above orange zone after May or June.

I seriously doubt that. We will have another one next winter no doubt. This will be an on and off thing for years to come.

[Hawrylyshyn]

Originally Posted by TheHonestMaple

I seriously doubt that. We will have another one next winter no doubt. This will be an on and off thing for years to come.

I doubt it. Vaccines are increasingly being administered. Once that's done there'll be no excuse for lockdowns.

On topic: the restoration is awesome this is what we need more of

[Chronamut]

The black does indeed look awesome - I hope they eventually do re-add the corinthian metals at the top of the pillars though as the bare strips where they used to be looks a bit odd tbh.. but those things are super fragile and crumble over the years so I get why they took off whatever was left.

The sad part is we'll never see quality ironwork like this built in the city ever again - we basically can only restore what is left. This stuff is what brings character to the city.

[Markus83]

Taken April 23, 2021 :

[TheRitsman]

This seems like one of the types of projects that would be shut down as a result of the lockdown. Likely won't see progress on this for a few weeks...

[Chronamut]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

This seems like one of the types of projects that would be shut down as a result of the lockdown. Likely won't see progress on this for a few weeks...

Wish theyd rip off those fake pediments and restore what actually used to be there..