Neighbours ‘quite excited’ as work to transform industrial wasteland into park continues
The massive silos and towering stacks of Dominion Glass that loomed over homes in east Hamilton for decades came crashing down six years ago.
The demolition of the old glass factory was one step in the city's plan to turn the sprawling site north of Barton Street East into a park.
The city's goal is to start construction on the roughly 11-acre green space next year as it continues to conduct environmental studies to deal with contamination on the fenced-off, rubble-strewn property.
Coun. Nrinder Nann predicts the project will be totally and fully transformative" for a part of Ward 3 with sparse park land.
How often is it that you see an old industrial factory get turned into green space?"
Just that alone is an incredible climate and environmental justice story," Nann said.
The multimillion-dollar plan in an area dominated by commercial warehouses and auto-parts businesses calls for a turf sports field with lighting, spectator seating, change rooms and washrooms.
It also features trees, gardens, a recreation path, spray pad, playground, sun shelter, skateboarding area and outdoor fitness equipment.
The rectangular parcel is hemmed in by Lottridge Street to the west, Gage Avenue to the east, CN railway tracks to the north and Lloyd Street to the south.
The yet-to-be-named Stadium Precinct Park" is meant to compensate for the loss of Brian Timmis Stadium, an outdoor soccer facility, to accommodate the reconfigured football stadium, Tim Hortons Field, south of Barton, after a land-swap deal between the city and public school board.
The arrangement also led to Bernie Custis Secondary School and Bernie Morelli Recreation Centre at the former Scott Park. It was the ambition of Bernie Morelli, the longtime Ward 3 councillor who died in 2014, to turn the derelict Dominion Glass property into recreational space.
I really think it's going to be an energizing space and a wonderful amenity for the people in the neighbourhood," Cynthia Graham, the city's manager of landscape architectural services, said in a recent interview.
The area has been short green space for years, partly because it predates modern parkland standards and city planning policies, Graham said.
We are playing catch-up, and so the ability to create green space here is really an opportunity that doesn't come around very often."
The city bought the site of the former glass factory from a numbered company for $5.5 million in 2014, according to land registry records.
So far, the city has spent $561,600 on environmental studies as part of the ongoing risk assessment it must submit to the province. Overall, the consulting work is expected to cost about $730,000.
Last year, council approved a revised budget for property acquisition, demolition and environmental remediation of about $12.4 million. The city says the construction costs haven't been determined yet.
Brian Echlin, who has lived on the south side of Lloyd Street since 1987, looks forward to seeing the industrial wasteland across from him turn green.
We're quite excited about it."
The 64-year-old says he'll take his grandchildren to play there and anything that brings up our property value, of course, makes sense."
He didn't ever imagine Dominion Glass turning into a park one day.
I never thought of it. Not back in the day, no."
An industrial fixture since 1912, for decades, Dominion Glass provided steady, blue-collar jobs, including for Echlin's mom and dad. That's how they met."
Dominion Glass became Consumers Glass after a merger in 1988. It was the only glass container producer in Canada when the company shuttered the plant in 1997.
The bid to keep other Canadian operations competitive with counterparts in the United States meant the loss of 400 local jobs. At its height, the factory employed 2,000 workers.
There were so many opportunities, and Dominion Glass was one of them," Echlin says.
The gradual decline of heavy industry in Hamilton has been reflected in empty storefronts and deteriorating buildings on poverty-stricken Barton Street East over the years.
In recent years, real estate values across the city increased, an upward march punctuated by a surge amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Echlin says he bought his house for $58,000 in 1987, but he figures he could fetch $450 easy" for his place.
In fact, a neighbour recently sold for $439,000, and the new owners are gutting it down to the bones."
But the longtime east-ender and loyal Ticats fan has no plans to sell.
I'm not going. This is money for my kids."
Around the corner on Lottridge, Marie Liddycoat also has family ties to Dominion Glass.
Years ago, my mother used to work there."
Like Echlin, Liddycoat also says she'll stay put after seven years despite a $400,000 pitch for her house.
Rents have also skyrocketed in Hamilton in stride with the spiking real estate values, contributing to an enduring homelessness crisis manifested in urban encampments.
An encampment at a small nearby park is one reason Liddycoat says she looks forward to seeing the glass factory site transform into green space.
Then the kids don't have to go over here where all the tents are."
The city has already bought homes on the north side of Lloyd Street with yards that back onto the brownfield.
One is boarded up. Another has been demolished, leaving an empty tooth in a row of two-storey homes over which the giant silos and stacks once towered. Currently, 51 Lloyd St., is advertised for sale at $579,900.
Late last month, council authorized real estate staff to draw on funds to pursue another undisclosed property as part of the city's land assemblage for the park project.
Nann declined to speak about specifics, but said, the goal, of course, would be to have all willing partners."
When the dust settles, she'd like the legacy of the old glass factory to be reflected somehow through public art on the site.
My hope is that we're going to be able to give a serious nod to the immigrant working-class community that so much of Hamilton is rooted in."
Nann said she expects a staff report to update council on the project in May.
Teviah Moro is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: tmoro@thespec.com