HERITAGE RISING – Heritage places are rising stars!
Two Friends of Auchmar board members will present the City of Hamilton Tourism and Culture staff report that explains that the Auchmar Operations Plan is a Council-directed study which analyzes an adaptive re-use concept for the Estate which mixes public, community and private use.
The meeting will take place at The Hamilton Club.
May 18 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
The Hamilton Club,
6 Main St. E.
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 1E8 Canada
RSVP required.
Since 2008 the public has spent $2.5 million keeping Auchmar together, including about $800,000 from the Future Fund.
If you want to wade into Hamilton’s predicament over Auchmar, now’s the time to speak up.
On Thursday, the public is invited to discuss city staff’s operations plan for the 162-year-old vacant heritage property, which requires up to $8 million in repairs.
The meeting is at the Tourism Hamilton centre inside — appropriately enough — the restored historic Lister Building on James Street North.
The plan calls for keeping the manor and grounds in public hands and adapting it for use by community groups, city staff and private companies who might rent it for weddings, film shoots and conferences.
It’s hoped that the revenue generated will cover the annual operating costs for the property at the corner of Fennell and West 5th — the only city-owned designated heritage site on the Mountain.
The tail in the gate is $6 million to $8 million are needed for capital repairs. Where are those big bucks going to come from?
Don’t forget, taxpayers have already invested a lot of money in keeping Auchmar together. Since 2008, $2.5 million, including about $800,000 from the Future Fund, has been spent on capital projects for the debilitated building.
The city acquired Auchmar in 1999 to save the 3.8 hectare (9.5-acre) property from being turned into a subdivision. Faced with the challenge of preserving the past while trying to make present ends meets, council has spent years chasing its tail on what to do next.
The last four years in particular suggest the city has been trying to bake cookies in a cold oven.
In 2012, staff was directed to complete an operations plan for future use. In 2013, council then told staff to pursue expressions of interest from the private sector. A year later, council ordered staff to fully scout out private sector partners who were interested in conservation and adaptive reuse. While that was going on, staff’s own plan went on hold.
When the two private sector submissions that were received didn’t past muster, council directed staff to get busy again while also seeking out prospective buyers. That parallel train went off track in 2015 when council suspended talks with private sector interests for six months until staff could finish its work.
If that’s not muddled enough, staff now intends to ask council to delay resuming talks with potential private bidders for another six months until it finishes the plan being floated with the public on Thursday.
That brings us back to the nitty-gritty millions needed to fully restore Auchmar.
In October, staff paid KCI Ketchum Canada $38,000 to put together an action plan and list of prospective donors and sponsors for both Auchmar and city-owned St. Marks church on Bay Street, which itself needs about $2.3 million in repairs.
Anna Bradford, director of tourism and culture, says she hired KCI in order to answer potential council questions about fundraising support in the community. In other words, is the necessary financial support out there or will council be forced to either return to the tax levy or finally sell Auchmar?
At this point, all we can say with certainty is a couple of years ago the Heritage Hamilton Foundation set up the Auchmar Challenge Fund in which it committed to match public donations up to $25,000. According to president Diane Dent, the challenge has only raised about $13,000 to date.
Is that a fair gauge of community support? Dent doesn’t think so. She notes HHF has been hesitant to push the challenge until it’s clear whether Auchmar will remain publicly owned. Dent has high hopes KCI will put “flesh on the bones” of staff’s potential plan.
If you want to hear all about it, Thursday’s meeting at the Lister includes two sessions. There’s an informal discussion with staff from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and a formal presentation with feedback from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Article by Andrew Dreschel
The Hamilton Spectator
Please join us at THE FRIENDS OF AUCHMAR Annual General Meeting taking place on Thursday October 29, 2015 — 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm at the Scottish Rite, 4 Queen St. S. Hamilton
Discussion Topic: “Reclaiming The Past!”
“Successful Adaptive-Reuse of the Bell-Gairdner Estate, owned by the City of Mississauga”
Admission is FREE and is open to the general public as well as FOA Members
Everyone is welcome.
Donations gratefully accepted.
Our Panel of Speakers:
Alexander Temporale, ATA Architects Inc., Award of Excellence, Adaptive Reuse, Bell-Gairdner
Julie Mitchell, Facility Manager, City of Mississauga
Lalita Goray, Architect and Project Manager, City of Mississauga
Attention FOA Members: Your Annual Membership is now due (except new members who joined after May 1, 2015).
RSVP — Patricia Saunders: members@friendsofauchmar.ca
Bell-Gairdner-Estate-Mississauga
October 9, 2014, Hamilton, ON
MINUTES
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Diane Dent – President
Robin McKee – Vice-President
Patricia Saunders – Membership Co-Ordinator
John Buchanan – Treasurer
Eric Lootsma – Secretary
John Kajaste – Member-at-large
Doug Farraway – Member-at-large
Call To Order
Diane Dent, Chair, Friends of Auchmar, called the Annual General Meeting to order at 5:15pm on October 9, 2014 at the Scottish Rite in Hamilton, Ontario.
Greetings & Administrative Notices
Diane Dent, President, welcomed members and guests. Made members aware that if they had not yet voted to do so in the foyer.
Monique Taylor, MPP Hamilton Mountain, brought greetings from the Province. She explained that when she first visited Auchmar during Doors Open she knew that it needed to be preserved.
Minutes of the 2013 Annual General Meeting
Eric Lootsma, Secretary, notified members that minutes from the AGM would be emailed and posted on our website. He asked members to email friendsofauchmar@gmail.com if they were not receiving notices.
Minutes from the 2013 Annual General Meeting were read by Eric Lootsma, Secretary, FOA.
Motion to move the 2013 AGM minutes.
Moved by: Eric Lootsma
Seconded by: Robin McKee
None opposed. MOTION PASSED
President’s Report
Diane Dent gave a summary of the ongoings and work that the Executive has been engaged in over the past year. Some highlights include: RFI submission, members meetings, current work at Auchmar, RFP writing and submission, investigation of and Auchmar Land Trust, Concession Street Fest, heritage association events, Norris Podetz’s artwork and thank you to Bob Gill for his website work and Richard Allen for his support as videographer/photographer and RFP editor.
Membership Report
Pat Saunders presented the updated membership list. Currently there are 112 memberships and 146 members. The membership committee was rather dormant this year but took part in a number of community events such as: Concession Fest and Chris Charlton’s Canada Day Picnic.
Executive Elections
Terri Mines, Chair of the Nomination and Election Committee, announced nominated Executive. President Diane Dent, acclaimed, Vice-President Robin McKee, acclaimed, Secretary Eric Lootsma, acclaimed, Membership Coordinator Pat Saunders, acclaimed
Keynote Address
Keenan Louis, Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, introduced keynote speaker Jason Thorne. Before doing so he explained that he sees quality of life as the most important indication of economic vitality and that heritage is an integral piece of that.
Jason Thorne, General Manager of Economic Planning and Development for the City of Hamilton, presented an informative talk on city building. He specifically mentioned the importance of heritage in city planning. Further, he noted that he had the opportunity to tour Auchmar and was amazed at the “grandeur” of the estate and grounds.
Lloyd Ferguson, Hamilton Councillor for Ward 12, thanked Jason Thorne on behalf of the FOA. He noted that he helped save the Hermitage building in Ancaster and saw heritage as in important part of city culture.
Closing Remarks
Terry Whitehead, Hamilton Councillor for Ward 8, brought closing remarks. Specifically, he stated that on a recent tour to Europe he realized how important historical building were for cities and their citizens. He has vowed to help protect and preserve Auchmar and keep it in public hands.
Adjournment
With no further business, Diane Dent, President FOA, adjourned the 2014 AGM at 7:30 pm.