Comment 73442

By H+H (registered) - website | Posted January 28, 2012 at 10:27:33

When I was at the Open House on Wednesday night, I got into a "lively" debate with Don Hall, who manages all of the HWDSB facilities. I asked, if they had to come up to the mountain, why they didn't retrofit Crestwood. I was told that there were issues with the roof, HVAC, and asbestos. I was told the roof had been there since the 60's. I was asked what I thought it would cost to replace the roof. I said that I didn't know but thought it could be as high as a couple of million dollars, to which one of the Board reps said, "Don't you think that's a lot of money?" I said of course it was a lot of money, but it was still far less than the $31.5 million they will be spending to build a new TWO STOREY building on the Crestwood footprint. As HVAC, you have to pay for it whether you retrofit or build new. As for asbestos, you have to remediate before you tear it down or renovate. Of course, this is not to mention the fact that it appears the Board hasn't spent a dime maintaining Crestwood, or the Education Centre for that matter. Although both buildings are presently occupied, if not to capacity, this amounts to demolition by neglect but with the lights still on.

The Board wants shiny and new and tons of parking and not to be downtown. Nice vision. From our educators.

When I asked Mr. Hall how he got to the Open House he said that he drove there. I asked him how he would get here if he didn't drive. He told me that the second biggest transit terminal in Hamilton was over at Limeridge Mall. Just a few parking lots, strip malls away. He's the same guy who told me there would be 480 parking spots for 450 employees, "mostly they will not all be here at the same time." Trust is earned, not given. I'm still waiting.

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