Hamilton Waterfront

[ScreamingViking]

Great photo! Can't wait to walk around that.

Originally Posted by thomax

Hamilton Waterfront Development Aerial by marinitweet, on Twitter

Full Size Image:

Hamilton Waterfront Development Aerial by marinitweet, on Twitter

[Beedok]

It really is a massive project. Going to be exciting to see it built. (Still not sure how much retail it will have?)

[Markus83]

Superb photo!

[craftbeerdad]

Great clarity on that shot.

Really a great perspective of how large a development Pier 8/9 will be when Bayfront looks relatively tiny in the background (and it is not a small park).

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by craftbeerdad

Really a great perspective of how large a development Pier 8/9 will be when Bayfront looks relatively tiny in the background (and it is not a small park).

It certainly didn't seem that large to me when it was home to a warehouse and whatever other buildings were there. The entire area being redeveloped probably is similar in area to Bayfront Park.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Beautiful! Bayfront. Pier 4. Best things the City ever done did. Hands down.

[ScreamingViking]

Update on the lighthouse next to the ship channel. I wonder how they're going to move it... block by block or secure it, lift it, and crawl it over inch by inch to its new site.


Historic Hamilton beach strip lighthouse to be restored — and relocated

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...relocated.html

Matthew Van Dongen
The Hamilton Spectator
Fri., June 25, 2021





The federal government is on board with a port authority plan to take over — and relocate — a historic beach strip lighthouse that local heritage lovers have long sought to restore.

The beach canal lighthouse was built 163 years ago to guide ship traffic into Hamilton Harbour — but it has been empty, dwarfed and hidden by the lift bridge and Burlington Skyway for decades. Efforts by a local group to take over the stone sentinel were stymied by Byzantine bureaucracy for nearly 20 years.

But this month, Fisheries and Oceans Canada issued a public notice that it plans to transfer ownership of the lighthouse this fall to an arm of the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority.

“That’s what we’ve been waiting for — and it feels like we’ve been waiting forever,” said Stewart Patch, an organizer with the Beach Canal Lighthouse Group formed in 2003.

Patch said a partnership with the port authority should finally allow needed access to begin restoring the 16-metre-high limestone tower and its nearby keeper’s cottage — with the goal of eventually reopening both to the public as part of a nautical-themed museum.

First, though, the port authority will look at “repositioning” the lighthouse onto its own land near the canal, said spokesperson Larissa Fenn — ideally, further out of the shadow of the looming lift bridge.

...

Fenn said a restored lighthouse is considered “an essential feature” of the port authority’s larger vision for a public revamp of the Fisherman’s Pier waterfront and canal area.

But there is plenty of work to do before the public can peek inside the keeper’s cottage — which is staying put — or climb the 79 steps to the iron lantern atop the relocated lighthouse.

For starters, the lantern and windows need to be replaced. A government crew in haz-mat suits was called in several years ago to remove bat and bird guano piled “several feet deep” inside the broken lighthouse, Patch said. Experts will also need to assess the interior structure and likely repoint the outside limestone blocks.

...

Fenn said a formal lighthouse transfer must wait for a three-month comment period. The port is aiming to formally announce details of its lighthouse plans in September.

full story here

[Dr Awesomesauce]

I swear I read that same exact article 20 years ago.

That area is the next development frontier for Hamilton. That canal could be a major destination. Something vaguely in the realm of a scaled-down Navy Pier or perhaps just a Granville Island type deal.

Double the width of the pier, load it with food and drink vendors, a weekend market, maybe give it a street food vibe, kayak and canoe rentals, and develop that land all the way back to the wasteland under the bridge.

Sounds simple to me but I guess it's not, otherwise it would have been done years ago...

[ScreamingViking]

Years ago the harbour commission didn't get along well with the city, and seemed to have a very limited vision of what was possible -- didn't think about anything except marine freight commercial opportunities and operations.

I recall they were pretty stiff about development of the parkland in the west harbour. That took a long time too.

Things seem to have opened up a bit when the commission changed to a port authority. And they're interested in new revenue streams.

The feds are also notoriously slow and very assertive when it comes to certain files, like the marine sector and related infrastructure. There's probably been a lot of angst internally about allowing public amenities next to a commercial waterway, even though there used to be an amusement park on that land decades ago. But the public amenity is exactly what's been in place informally for years... people walking along the piers that jut out into the lake, walking and fishing along the walls of the channel, ship watchers just looking to get close as one of the giants passes through, recreational boats using the channel, etc.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

The feds are also notoriously slow and very assertive when it comes to certain files, like the marine sector and related infrastructure. There's probably been a lot of angst internally about allowing public amenities next to a commercial waterway, even though there used to be an amusement park on that land decades ago.

True about federal lands and the proximity of freight traffic; that does differentiate it from the examples I mentioned.

[thistleclub]

...

[Crapht]

I was down at Pier 8 on my way home today and they are planting trees in park. Still work to do but getting closer to opening.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by Crapht

I was down at Pier 8 on my way home today and they are planting trees in park. Still work to do but getting closer to opening.

The flagstones they've installed look really great. I actually think they may finish by August/September as promised. It would be nice to use it before snow and cold comes our way.

[Crapht]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

The flagstones they've installed look really great. I actually think they may finish by August/September as promised. It would be nice to use it before snow and cold comes our way.

I haven’t seen flagstone but the pavers look great.

[SteelTown]

https://twitter.com/JasonThorne_RPP

[Hawrylyshyn]

I stand by my comment that the rusty steel look is awful

[ScreamingViking]

I don't mind the rusty look... once other things are built or installed or planted it won't be so striking. But, those panels will be a taggers paradise.

The loungers do look comfy though.

The tree planting was photographed in today's Spec:

https://www.thespec.com/photos/2021/...aterfront.html

[Berklon]

The rusted look... is that actual rust, a rust-like substance or just some formulation of paint?

And yes, if/when taggers get to these things - it will make everything look run down. When you're going for a rustic aesthetic, it needs to be neat and clean. A combination of the rusted look and tagging will make negate the whole intentional look and it'll just look like the industrial side of Hamilton.

I fucking hate taggers.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Berklon

The rusted look... is that actual rust, a rust-like substance or just some formulation of paint?

And yes, if/when taggers get to these things - it will make everything look run down. When you're going for a rustic aesthetic, it needs to be neat and clean. A combination of the rusted look and tagging will make negate the whole intentional look and it'll just look like the industrial side of Hamilton.

I fucking hate taggers.

I believe it's actually rust, meant as an homage to the industrial port and rusty old ship hulls. Hopefully that means a good power wash will wear away any tag paint and the patina will quickly redevelop.

Totally with you on that last point. I can appreciate artistic graffiti -- and there are many, many blank building walls in town that could use a mural -- but what the taggers do is just garbage... visual noise, like nails on a chalkboard.

[TheRitsman]

It's a bit of both. Rust actually protects metal from rusting further as it's an oxidized version of the metal. Many bridges and other surfaces are painted with a rust finish to protect them from rusting, and to make things look industrial.