Waterfront sellout: Lots of condos but where's the vision?
Piers 7 & 8 are a big opportunity so why are the city's plans so average?
Included are the Barton-Tiffany lands assembled for the Pan Am stadium, Piers 7 & 8 to the east of Sarcoa on the waterfront, the 17-storey, and now half empty, Ken Soble Tower across from Bayfront Park, the townhouse complex on the west side of James Street North, north of LiUNA Station, and even more lands to the east.
But can you see the water?
The only public 'waterfront' space left would be a walkway on the perimeter of the site along the water's edge.- Graham Crawford
Case in point, the proposed design for Piers 7 & 8 which was presented at the last public meeting at the storefront location on James Street North created with money from Evergreen/CityWorks (creators of the Brickworks in Toronto), the Hamilton Community Foundation and the City of Hamilton.
The plan calls for 100% of the land we own on the waterfront being sold to developers to build 6-8 storey residential buildings on 9 blocks in a traditional grid pattern. At its centre, would be a multi storey parking garage. The only public 'waterfront' space left would be a walkway on the perimeter of the site along the water's edge.
Why on earth would we sell 100% of the land we own and receive a pathway with some trees in return? Where is the public space? Where is the sightline(s) to the water's edge? Where is the important public statement about what we stand for as a City, today and into the future? You know, the kind of public statement our very own Thomas McQuesten might have proposed? He of the High Level Bridge, Gage Park and its fountain, the RBG, etc. Something your grandchildren's children would thank you for having helped create.
An opportunity to add an important legacy: Crawford
Where is the important public statement about what we stand for as a City, today and into the future.- Graham Crawford
We have an opportunity to add to an important legacy here. Instead, we're proposing a 9-block grid that could be built anywhere in Hamilton. But this isn't anywhere in Hamilton.
It's our one, and only, waterfront.