City hopes to sell sprawling Hamilton public works yard on Barton Street West

The city hopes to sell a public works yard not far from Hamilton's evolving west harbour as part of a plan to move operations elsewhere.

This week, councillors directed staff to sell 125 Barton St. W. along with empty parcels on Burlington Street East and an old yard in Flamborough.

The goal is to use the proceeds to buy another property councillors haven't yet disclosed amid an ongoing effort to shed underutilized public works sites.

I think we're trying to modernize and consolidate our public works operations," Coun. John-Paul Danko told The Spectator.

Since amalgamation, the city's massive public works department has counted many facilities from the former municipalities in its inventory.

We've never really drawn them all together, so that's part of what we're trying to do," said Danko, who's chair of the public works committee.

The plan calls for tapping $1.46 million from a capital reserve to make the purchase and replenish it after the property sales.

Councillors discussed the real estate moves in camera during Wednesday's general issues committee meeting. Their direction to staff needs final approval next week at council.

Once that happens, the newly acquired property will be public, Rom D'Angelo, director of energy, fleet and facilities management, said in an interview.

The 125 Barton site - which includes a sprawling warehouse between Caroline and Bay - is home to public works' facilities operations and maintenance shop, carpenter shop, and its parks, structure and equipment section.

The idea is to move them to the future location, a parcel that created some land synergies and some operational efficiencies," D'Angelo noted.

The city has already purchased land on Brant Street in the industrial sector to build a 400,000-square-foot HSR maintenance and storage building to complement its cramped Mountain location.

That transit project is estimated at $250 million. We're in a holding pattern until we get different levels of government funding," D'Angelo said.

Meanwhile, public works' move from 125 Barton is expected to vacate it for bigger opportunities" in the area. There's been a lot of interest in that land there."

Last year, the city sold nearby properties in the Barton-Tiffany area - where homes were flattened for a failed west harbour stadium scheme - to a consortium aiming to build a film studio.

While we do not have formal direction on what to do with this property, given the future film studio development on the Barton and Tiffany lands, an expanded or complementary use for the film industry could be an option," Norm Schleehahn, the city's director of economic development, said in an email Friday.

Coun. Jason Farr, who represents Ward 2, said he'd like something that works for the vision" of the area to take root there.

A smaller warehouse behind the public works building that has been turned into a community centre will remain, Farr said. I'm really quite pleased about it."

Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com