re: Public school board HQ
This past Saturday I was privileged to receive a Heritage Volunteer Award from the Hamilton-Wentworth Heritage Association during the Heritage Day ceremony held at City Hall. As I watched people from heritage and historical societies get their awards, I had a bird’s-eye view of the Education Centre. The irony cannot be escaped.
This landmark is set to be torn down. Citing maintenance costs, the need for more room and lack of parking, the management of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board has set its sights on a Mountain replacement. At the same time they are ready to close schools because of low enrolment and unused space.
The Education Centre was designed to allow for more stories to be built onto it — to accommodate future needs. The centre is at the core of downtown and accessible by almost every bus route; parking should not be an issue.
What is an issue is yet another significant building being lost. This time it’s not an abandoned one, not one that is crumbling, not one that has been vandalized and is an eyesore. It is a jewel and should be treated as such.
Too much of our heritage has been demolished or stands in disrepair. Let’s work to save the Education Centre that our children might one day have a 100-year-old building to admire.
Lee Gowers
President, Hamilton Mountain
Heritage Society