City hall or city centre

[hamstroll]

City hall has moved to the old Eatons Centre and is paying $9 a sq ft.
The Lister Block if leased could have been as high as $37 (so 9X5=40).
Two taxpayer respecting (an oddity) alderman suggest:
"Two municipal politicians think council should scrap plan for a renovated city hall.
Bob Bratina and Terry Whitehead believe the city would save taxpayers' money and help the downtown by cancelling the nearly $70 million renovation project now under way.
They two say the city could stay in its current temporary location at the City Centre (former Eaton Centre), where staff have moved during construction work.
Bratina says council could look at a new city hall when the municipality is doing better and the downtown has been revived."


So we make no money off the land city hall sits on at present or in the future.
We pay over $70 million to renovate the structure.
An intersting idea from a Mr. Bill Dunphy is renovate the Lister Block and built a pedestrian bridge to the city centre.

Hamilton should set the example, a city hall is basically to regular staff a 9-5 operation with evening council meetings. So why all the flash with no cash. Think like a business and think about the city and taxpayers.
Jackson Square/City Centre is showing some life now and is viable jobs for downtown merchants.
One comment was that the Mayor 's office is next to a discount department store. Well the people that work there pay taxes and so does the store.
Maybe it makes the city representatives more connected to the people by using the same coffee shops.
Some people ask; What is City Hall to them?
I have lived here 13 yrs and have never been closer than cutting across the front court yard. So the polititcians are isolated from the masses.
So what value is a Taj Mahal to the commmon person in town.
All: ALL city staff need is a nice office in a safe, sound and healthy building, with a phone, computer, fax machine and internet.
So what is so wrong about the City centre? There are food courts and area to walk and shop at lunch. Staff can pick up fresh produce and vegetables for supper.
Visitors don't even need a coat to walk from the Sheraton to the offices.
As for meetings there is Hamilton Place and Copps and there must be space that can be adapted or build in there.
So we could save millions for a while.
Some numbers to consider is sell the land for $2 or more for building included.
Liuna mentioned a figure of renovate and sell Lister Block for $25 million and the province may thro in $7 million.
Sell off the property to McMaster and get an urgent care or doctors offices there, Condos across from Copps and Hamilton Place. I believe the old Bell building sold fast. Just wait for GO service.
So maybe the others in council should look at the big picture and a chance to reduce taxes.

[Sean]

I think that the City Centre should become the permanent City Hall.

Why?

1. Location
City Centre is literally at the centre of downtown. City hall used to be there, and it's actually the correct spot for city hall. Current city hall is CLOSE to downtown but it does not have the right presence. It doesn't feel like part of the city.

2. Price
Clearly, the cheapest route is to stay there. Existing city hall building/land could be turned into cash.

3. Space
Plenty of space and even some room to grow. That block was built to accommodate future towers above Jackson, so if space becomes an issue, no teardown is necessary, space can be added upwards

4. Revitalization
Having all city staff in that area would be a catalyst for downtown development. It will encourage city staffers to walk to local merchants and will allow them to actually have some interest and pride in Hamilton, especially the downtown area which needs it most. Property values surrounding the site will go up, and maybe LIUNA will finally realize the value of lister and put high class condos in there!

5. Puts councillors "on the streets"
City staffers will become part of the city as they should be, not cooped up in a box which is physically separated form the city and its people.


How?

The exterior along James needs more windows. Blow some windows in the walls and tidy up the facade with a nice clock tower and it will be an awesome addition to that block of James. Have the central entrance from James dressed up in a majestic fashion, and even have ground floor retail flanking it on either side (open to the street).

The interior should have offices built to the railings on the second and third floors. These offices would have windows overlooking the edge toward the basement level. The bottom level should be planted as a lush indoor atrium and used as public space (food court can stay and other retail will be sure to move in). The interior facing offices will then feel like they have windows to the outside even though they are facing in.

As many city department offices as possible should be moved to the new city hall to streamline operations, make it easier for citizens to get all their city business done in one place. This will also free up the scattered lands for sale or rental for more income for the city.


These are the meat of my ideas, hopefully some of you can come up with some arguments for/against and further suggestions!

[id]

it at least provides some possibility of recovery from 'eaton centre' syndrome. what a shame, but at least there is some possibility of it ending well. look at chatham. they did the same thing, and their downtown is strip joints and plywood. these are ultimately the successors to the gang of idiots who approved the fiasco in the first place, so leave them there. don't ever see it happening though, they will spend LARGE on new offices unless people scream at them for it. i don't begrudge my taxes, since i think the services here are the best in ontario (i've lived in toronto and haldimand), but politicians like new offices...