Raise the Hammer
Councillor Dave Mitchell of Glanbrook just sent out an email to staff asking for a report on the possibility of taking the marble cladding off City Hall and putting it up for sale.
"There may be a lot of residents who would want a piece of historic heritage," he writes in the email, adding, "the options are endless and can be the centre of conversations for years."
He suggests helpfully that the marble can be used for counter tops, door stops, ashtrays, entry steps, candle holders, picture frames and modern art among the "endless" possibilities.
Floating a possible selling arrangement, he states:
I would like the option of looking at a pile of [marble pieces] and picking out a piece to put on my fireplace mantel that would be unique because of its shape.
He concludes by asking for a report on whether this can be done as the heritage-designated marble is removed from City Hall to be replaced with preformed concrete.
By gotta be kidding me (anonymous) | Posted October 31, 2008 at 15:06:54
You should have titled the article "Hick Hawks Hamilton's Heritage".
By shadysammy's (anonymous) | Posted October 31, 2008 at 16:32:02
This sounds alot like when Councillor Merulla was trying to convince council to sell old lamp posts, water fountains (shorty greens), park equipment, etc. from the city's inventory. I think he even proposed setting up a shop somewhere to rid the city of its "junk" to the highest bidder...
These guys are hucksters not politicians. Why is it that we are stuck with such a backwoods mentality here?
Dave "Auction House" Mitchell has to go!
By jason (registered) | Posted October 31, 2008 at 21:57:24
why in the world would the NHL get the impression that Hamilton is a 'minor league' town. Wow. Just wow.
By g. (anonymous) | Posted November 01, 2008 at 18:34:20
can someone please explain to me, i missed this part somehow, why the marble is being replaced?
By Balance (anonymous) | Posted November 03, 2008 at 15:33:19
So I guess from all this Mitchell bashing you all recommend sending it to the landfill? Or spend millions reusing it on the refurbished Silly Hall. I'll give Mitchell credit for trying to do something to raise revenues rather than cry like the rest of them to the province for more funding all the time.
By unbalanced? (anonymous) | Posted November 03, 2008 at 17:32:10
Do you think for a minute that any of us want the marble to go in a landfill?
We want the best for the city - but this "idea" by Mitchell is just another reason to think that we have the WORST council in the history of Hamilton working for us. This is comedic cold - but Mitchell isn't joking - this is truly who he is...
At least whatever they do to City Hall will still make it ten thousand times better than Stoney Creek's City Hall...
By Frank (registered) | Posted November 04, 2008 at 10:48:59
What exactly would be done with the marble, considering that they don't plan on using it on the new city hall? I'm sorry, name calling doesn't fly. City people calling city people hicks....that's hilarious! You don't the first thing about living in the country! As for hawking...someone just plain old doesn't know the definition of the word. As for hick, in the words of Jeff Foxworthy, a hick is someone with a glorious absence of sophistication. The fact that the note was emailed flies in the face of that definition! If I'd seen a ripped up cardboard box with these words scrawled in black marker stapled to the telephone pole at the corner of James and King then I'd say ya, a hick! City people certainly don't know what hicks are!
By Frank (registered) | Posted November 04, 2008 at 10:50:36
As for selling it and all the other crap the city has to store...why not? Bring old fire hydrants to the scrap yard, get rid of/recycle the crap you're not going to use anymore. No sense in being pack rats.
By block head (anonymous) | Posted November 04, 2008 at 15:22:04
I believe the contractor gets first dibs on the removed marble.
Hey, check out my new hero Bill Manson in today's letter to the Spec:
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Marble and barbarians
Bill Manson
The Hamilton Spectator
Nov 4, 2008
Re: 'Marble loses -- it's concrete for City Hall' (Oct. 30)
The Romans invented concrete and subsequently used this material to construct magnificent public buildings befitting their advanced civilization.
The Romans also clad these structures in marble, which the barbarians later ripped off.
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I <3 Bill Manson!
By markwhittle (registered) - website | Posted November 07, 2008 at 14:39:27
I was also wondering the same thing as Councillor Mitchell when the renovation costs began to skyrocket, as they usually do when the city of Hamilton is a stakeholder, like the Lister Block for example.
As I recall, the original problem was these marble panels coming loose and falling off.
Millions were spent repairing the defective installation by the builder. Why can't the panels be removed and reused, with only a minimum of new material to make up for the panels that are not re-usable?
Since city hall has decided to use concrete, those marble panels are worth millions in value to the taxpayers who are footing the bill for the renovation of city hall.
By Chris (registered) | Posted November 08, 2008 at 10:17:27
Any city or town larger than a few thousand people has to have disposition policies programs or a department depending on size. I don't know which department at city hall manages this function in Hamilton but I am positive that it exists. Councillor Mitchell's comments are either based on his ignorance of existing systems or he hopes to be credited with the idea of implementing one many years after the fact. Of course marble cladding or ANY disposed items of value must be sold and revenues recovered to offset property taxes. Mitchell is either oblivious or so desperate for publicity he is taking credit for inventing the wheel
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