Raise the Hammer

I bumped into Roy Adams at Hamilton Place just before Christmas, and was asked by him about the buses at Gore Park. I described how the process is underway, and where and when they would be gone. The next day I commented to someone on this encounter and said that I was sure he didn't hear what I said. Lo and behold the statement in this commentary.
So here it is again. The preferred plan was to build a $15 million dollar terminal building in the parking lot beside the Pigott building, and move the buses there. I fought this as some of the residents of the Pigott can attest, and in the end had the following plan approved by Council, costing between $3 and 5 million. Under this so-called "hybrid" plan some buses will move to a revamped terminal on MacNab Street, and others to the GO Station on Hunter, hopefully by the end of this year. The rationale is as follows: Connectivity with GO Transit is vital, therefore some routes will stop there at a platform that has already been constructed, at GO's cost. The MacNab site is already in place and easily expanded. A small service building for ticketing, etc. will be constructed on the east side of MacNab between King and Main.
The new arrangement should be in place as I said, later this year. This was all accomplished with no input as I recollect from the H.C.C.

Not unexpectedly there is no acknowledgement of $200 million dollars in new construction or renovation, accomplished through the Downtown Renewal Office incentives programs. The new Terraces on King, the new Simpson-Wigle offices at James South and Hunter, the Victoria-McKay heritage renovation at the Gore, the London Tap, the Chateau Royale, MacGillivray Partners Building at 33 Main East, Gowlings at Main and James, Staybridge Suites, and many more were all built and opened in the last 5 years, adding millions of dollars of assessment and tax revenue to the Core. The H.C.C.'s contribution if anything was negative, especially with its tacit endorsement of the Lister Project which will cost taxpayers 44 milion dollars over 20 years, perhaps the most expensive building per square foot ever built in Hamilton.

So, to sum up....BUSES GONE FROM GORE 2009 to MACNAB and GO STATION.