Good buildings make for livable cities

THE SPECTATOR’S VIEW

There has been the predictable rumble of consternation accompanying the high-profile demolition of All Saints Church in Hamilton this month.

Some say the loss of the building, built in 1872 at King and Queen streets, is not just unfortunate but unnecessary. Could it not have been preserved or adaptively reused? The answer is yes — and no.

Anything is possible, and there are many examples of adaptive reuse here in Hamilton and around the world. But it doesn’t come cheap. It requires imagination, determination and money, and many developers lack the capacity — or the stomach — for such projects. Meanwhile, as a 2014 Spectator investigation revealed, there are dozens of Hamilton churches facing the same fate. How many can we save?

There are lots of good reasons to preserve our history and heritage, but many arguments are not about saving the past but creating something worthwhile in the present. In other words, will whatever replaces All Saints be better — or worse?

Unfortunately, history in Hamilton indicates the latter. We do not have a skyline dotted with remarkable modern buildings. Nor have they been integrated well into our existing streets and sidewalks. We regret many redevelopments, and there is a general — and unfortunate — feeling that what is old is better simply because new buildings tend to be so ugly.

That need not be the case.

Many projects are opposed by community or heritage groups because “they don’t fit in.” Some simply don’t like change, some don’t understand economics and feel redevelopments are “too big” and will change the neighbourhood. These are not good arguments.

Greater density is necessary and inevitable, and neighbourhoods will change whether we like it or not. Bigger is not necessarily better — but neither is it necessarily worse.

The key is good, thoughtful, forward-thinking design. We need designers and architects — and not insignificantly, developers willing to pay them — who learn from the mistakes of earlier buildings. Designers who think of buildings as more than just places to dwell, but instead as an integral part of the streetscape and the fabric of the community. Developers who focus not just on the bottom line, but the beauty of the city as a whole, and its future economic prosperity.

Good buildings make for good, livable, desirable, prosperous cities. Most good developers have enough money, but too few have left any significant legacies.

Hamilton is lucky to have both a municipal planning department and a design review panel that understands the importance of our built environment, and indeed both have reviewed the All Saints Church redevelopment.

Let’s hope their insights will resonate.