Larry's Corner

The Lister Saga Continues

By Larry Di Ianni
(posted January 8, 2008)  

When I was running for Mayor in 2003 I met with the Boards of the downtown BIA and the International Village BIA. I also met separately with representatives of the James St. Merchants’ group. I heard a litany of complaints about municipal neglect regarding the downtown core. I listened to stories about crime, litter, and an overabundance of needy people roaming the downtown streets especially after 5 p.m. But most of all I heard about three buildings, eyesores all, that those who were investing their livelihood and coming to earn a living in our downtown wanted the civic government to act on. And these BIA reps were not in any mood for idle promises. They wanted action: swift, effective and transformational action. The three building were the Lister, the so-called “Spallacci” building near Denninger’s, and the infamous crack-house on King Street, across from the Spallacci building. There were others of course, but these three were singled out for strong action because of repeated promises made by previous administrations which reportedly came to naught, and because of the buildings’ iconic standing in the community. I promised then to help our downtown generally, and to use whatever city muscle we could muster to deal with these three buildings.

Working closely with Hamilton Housing and some Federal programs, we managed to work out a deal for the Spallacci building which would see some retail at the ground level and housing above the retail. The work is proceeding nicely today. Problem number one solved.

Working very closely with our Police Service and the provincial Attorney General’s office, the crack-house on King Street where drug crimes were reportedly committed daily and where even murder occurred, the province took over the building using brand new legislation and then quickly turned the building over to the city for a toonie. The building is boarded up, and my plan was to work with the police and staff to find an excellent civic use for the building. My hope is that these plans are continuing. Problem number two partially solved.

The toughest nut to crack turned out to be the Lister Block. I was determined to give it a try, however. Firstly, I had been told and came to believe that the Lister had become the symbol of a decaying downtown. If one walks past its crumbling façade in the summertime, one is overcome by the stench of pigeon excrement wafting into your nostrils from the sides of the building and the sidewalk below. And this was the least of the problems. Vandals repeatedly broke into the building by crashing through the plywood sheets used to impede access. People spoke of drug and alcohol binges as well as fires being lit inside for the interlopers to keep warm. These were problems that had to be addressed. As well for me there was a much more personal reason, my first pair of glasses had been purchased at the Lister. To this day one is able to see a fading Tait-Gibson’s Optometrists sign advertising a business location, like all the others, long gone. I remembered the good days of the arcade and the building. It was a shame to see the rot continue. I had become Mayor to restore Hamilton to some of its glory, and this was a challenge I couldn’t pass up. I also figured that if the Lister was the symbol of a decaying downtown, its improvement would be a symbol of a resurgent core, sending out a clear message of optimism to investors and our citizens.

The process I used to launch an assistive attack on this decaying icon was to first ask Council to approve a list of initiatives I wanted to take on as Mayor. Some changes were made to the list based on my discussions with Councillors. The Lister featured prominently in the list of ten items I published after meeting with individual Councillors. Prior to asking Councillors, I had gone to senior staff and asked for advice on what to put my time into in order to assist the city. Some items on the list of ten actually came from staff. Senior staff also indicated that fixing the Lister was a must for our city and downtown.

I then quietly spoke with our real estate staff and Tim McCabe, who is now General Manager of Economic Development and Planning, to work on the project. We arranged for our staff to meet with LIUNA representatives and a deal was worked out.

I recall that there was overwhelming support by Council on the deal that was presented to them. I think only three Councillors voted against the plan: the two from Flamborough, one who is no longer on Council and just seemed to hate Hamilton, and the other, to her consistent credit, who just didn’t like the finances. The surprise opponent was the downtown Councillor who should have been jumping up and down with enthusiasm at fixing this downtown eyesore. He took a contrary position, which was not an unusual political stance for this Councillor. I couldn’t quite understand it until today when I heard him state in the media that he doesn’t consider the Lister to be an important downtown building. Let me just state that this news is shocking to me, and it might be shocking to other downtown enthusiasts. Be that as it may, all members of Council for whatever reason are entitled to their opinion and to vote in a way that they feel best represents the citizens of this city.

I recall at that meeting that Mr. McCabe stood in front of all of Council with a replicated rendering of the Lister. Even though a restoration was possible, the picture which Councillors were shown was clearly of a ‘new’ Lister built to look like the former but with an entirely glass façade. Council supported this plan. I will not quibble with some of Council who thought that restoration was still possible, because it was according to the report, even though unlikely because of the extra cost. This too was made clear by the rendering and explanations given.

After Council’s decision, much pressure was put on Councillors to ensure that restoration would be the only option. I was specifically told by members of the Heritage committee that only restoration was acceptable to them. I cautioned everyone to wait for the Heritage assessment which the developer had to provide to see what it might say. Needless to say, this report recommended demolition and replication. It also promised a full replication of the existing building using modern materials made to look like the original. Again the heritage community went wild. The report didn’t ask the right experts to render judgment. The report always had one solution in mind. Those who favour replication don’t care about our heritage. Those who favour this sweetheart deal are just engaging in cronyism. The deal was struck by mysterious negotiators in the back rooms. And even worse allegations were made by some on Council that a law suit was launched by LIUNA, which may still be active for all I know. I, of course, was chagrined at the level of discord and the noise which was created. I felt then and I feel now that Hamilton never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity and I was witnessing it first hand. For me restoration was absolutely fine; as was replication. I just wanted the eyesore gone.

The real shock of course came when one of the Councillors appealed to the province and its newly minted legislation on protecting buildings where the province saw a ‘provincial interest’. The final arbiter of provincial interest would be the Minister of Culture after receiving a report from the Ontario Heritage Trust. I had received assurance from the Minister of Culture that the Province did not interfere unless provincial interest was tantamount and palpable. Unfortunately this minister was given a bigger portfolio and by the time the Lister issue was appealed, a new minister was installed. A minister who apparently helped write the new legislation. For its part the Heritage Trust found the most tenuous of reasons to declare the Lister as having provincial interest. They did so without the Trust ever meeting. And they did so dismissing most of the outdoor features of the building but resting their case primarily on its use as Ontario’s first indoor mall, and its arcade. The beloved Lincoln Alexander, who chaired the Trust, had the ironic pleasure of announcing the result to the public.

I could have still pushed for demolition and dared the province to stop the city, but after a long and testy telephone conversation with the Minister, the Premier’s office, our own MPP’s including our cabinet minister, I decided to present to Council, after they had voted to approve the demolition, a one month grace period to discuss the potential restoration of the Lister and its implications to the city and the owners. The Minister agreed to this strategy and promised to fund some heritage architectural experts to provide advice to the city. They also appointed a wily intermediary to help us with the discussions. The way I looked at it was that the exercise would be worthwhile in further hooking the province into the process. If they were going to play a role in the building’s fate, I knew that they would be paying more than just the cost of a couple of architects.

After some bellyaching about the committee’s make-up, we began to work in earnest. I must say that I was personally thrilled with the kind of expertise the architects provided. One was Canadian, the other American from Buffalo. Each was masterful in the restoration work they had done, and each passionate about buildings. I did regret that LIUNA had not engaged this level of expertise beforehand. We could have saved a lot of aggravation and time.

The negotiations were interrupted by a summer break and an election which did not go well for me, but we had made great headway. We all decided that restoration would serve everyone’s interests. When I left office the city was on board with the lease and the amount being paid for it. The developer wanted to extend the lease by 5 years and I had said no fearing that it would reopen the whole process again. The only sticking point was the total cost of the restoration project. We all knew it would be higher. I thought that the province would pick up any additional cost, as they announced they would by contributing $7M dollars.

All we needed to do after that announcement was work out the details.

And now the deal appears dead. Why has it taken so long to do the financial analysis? Why was there no urgency in bringing this deal to Council’s attention earlier? Why has Council shut the door even before the Province has had the chance to verify the developer’s costs? At least Council should have waited for that to see if the developer was snowing them, as some had purported? What consequences will LIUNA now face in light of this aborted attempt to fix the eyesore? Is there a hero on a white steed waiting in the wings? Will Council impose punitive measures on LIUNA as some are demanding?

The soap opera will continue. Many may be entertained. Those who wanted to preserve the Lister may have indeed only preserved an eyesore, which is a pyrrhic victory at best. But for sure, those BIA heroes who continue to invest their dollars and time in our downtown core have once again received a big fat zero from their municipal government, at least as far as this building is concerned.

And the ghost of Joseph Lister, is it smiling because the building, such as it is, has been preserved? Or are the entrepreneurial memories in its bony frame shedding a sad tear because the industry and commerce that defined this building may escape the Lister for many generations to come?

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