Comment 114645

By RobF (registered) | Posted November 05, 2015 at 11:21:46 in reply to Comment 114640

Personally, if redevelopment of Jamesville does happen i'd want to give the architects/urban designer a little more flexibility with permitted heights than the secondary plan allows. There is a big difference between allowing a few storeys of extra height to allow for better design than simply allowing 20 or 30 storeys, because developers might want it (Tivoli I'm looking at you). That said, you are correct to say that many view anything taller than their house as something to oppose.

With the Cotton Mill I totally agree and think it wise to watch closely what happens with the large industrial building on Wellington north of Hamilton General. It was bought recently for 4 or 5 million. I hope it is rehabilitated into urban lofts and craft work spaces like 270 Sherman North.

The problem with most old buildings is that they aren't viewed as historic or heritage until it's too late. I spend a lot time in archives or reading thru old newspaper clippings and so my perspective is shaped not just by what we think in the present, but by an awareness of what others thought, or at least were recorded saying, at various points in the past. In the 1950s and '60s the dominant thinking was that the Victorian past was something to leave behind and that it was necessary to rebuild cities for a new, more modern age (the Victorian city was described as dirty and unhealthy because it was too crowded and lacked adequate light and ventilation, etc). The context has changed (we don't burn coal and we are slowing rethinking automobility). We now are surrounded by what was built to replace the Victorian city and find it wanting in an oddly similar way. We need to develop a finer appreciation for 1950s and '60s modernism and preserve its best qualities, while retrofitting our cities to remove its excesses.

Comment edited by RobF on 2015-11-05 12:24:26

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