Hamilton will be taking over the restoration of the historically-significant Auchmar Estate and the vast property located on the west Mountain.
The hoped-for saviour for the structure in the form of the 13th Battalion’s proposed $20-million proposal to redevelop Auchmar that was made to council in 2018 has been left behind by staff and councillors.
The 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust had been attempting to convince the city to agree to a 99-year lease agreement for Auchmar for $1 a year to maintain and operate the city-owned facility.
The trust had proposed a five-phase, $20.4 million restoration plan that the group said would take about five years to complete.
But the group’s business plan required private donors to come forward with significant amounts of money to make the plan work. As of the beginning of 2019, there was no funding available to convince the city to support the group’s proposal.
“The heritage community seems very supportive of the City of Hamilton moving forward with a business plan for the site,” said Ward 8 Coun. John-Paul Danko at the Jan. 15 general issues committee meeting.
City staff are proposing a $10-million restoration program over a 10-year period to reuse the building and the grounds that will allow the public to use the property, while also attempting to earn enough revenue to make the Auchmar Estate a self-sustaining operation.
The fallback decision has always been to have the city take over Auchmar’s restoration plans, which was encouraged and applauded by heritage advocates.
Robin McKee, president of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society and member of the Friends of Auchmar, said the structure will further benefit from city ownership.
“It’s gone from a diamond in the rough to a diamond,” he said. “Auchmar is a gem.”
Over the last few years Hamilton has been encouraging private and public groups to make an offer to restore Auchmar Estate.
The city even held a request for proposals for the project, but the variety of proponents failed to generate any business plan that met heritage staff’s guidelines.
The non-partisan think-tank Cardus offered to purchase the property, but councillors and heritage activists opposed such a plan.
“We’ve had so many offers,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. “The reality of the costs has been daunting for them even though they had vision.”
Various Hamilton staff and councillors have struggled to determine how to restore and use Auchmar since it was acquired by the city in a land swap arrangement with a developer in 1998.
Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson suggested Mohawk College may have an interest in Auchmar. But Danko said after talking with officials at the education institution, Mohawk College “has zero interest for this site.”
Hamilton hasn’t completely shut the door on reviewing possible future bids from the private sector to restore Auchmar. Jason Thorne, general manager of planning, said any “unsolicited proposals” will be presented to council.
In the meantime, heritage staff will be presenting to council a restoration plan for Auchmar later this year.
City staff in a report to council in 2016 stated it would cost about $10 million in capital funding to make Auchmar suitable for public and private use.
The money would go toward installing air conditioning, renovating the Coach House interior, addressing the interior design and restoration of the main house, installing fire separation doors and adding parking spaces.
The city has spent an estimated $2.5 million in capital funding on Auchmar, including for new windows, wall and roof since about 2008. The city has also been contributing $22,000 in annual operating expenses for the structure.
The report stated that if the city operated Auchmar, it could cost the city about $109,000 to operate the facility in the first year, rising to about $136,485 in the fourth year. In an adoptive reuse proposal, such as rental uses, Auchmar could earn about $65,000 in the first year, increasing to about $129,500, in the fourth year of city use.
Heritage staff had concluded in the report that Auchmar could be a sustainable operation if the right reuse model is implemented.
The Friends of Auchmar have identified heritage reuse models that Hamilton could adopt to save the building, such as the Bell Gairdner Estate on Lakeshore Blvd. in Mississauga where a private company helped fund the restoration of the historical structure. It is now used by the city for weddings and other events.
Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark suggested staff examine establishing a leadership centre at Auchmar, along with relocated heritage staff into the building.
“I think we can do that over a period of time,” said Clark.
Hamilton will be taking over the restoration of the historically-significant Auchmar Estate and the vast property located on the west Mountain.
The hoped-for saviour for the structure in the form of the 13th Battalion’s proposed $20-million proposal to redevelop Auchmar that was made to council in 2018 has been left behind by staff and councillors.
The 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust had been attempting to convince the city to agree to a 99-year lease agreement for Auchmar for $1 a year to maintain and operate the city-owned facility.
The trust had proposed a five-phase, $20.4 million restoration plan that the group said would take about five years to complete.
But the group’s business plan required private donors to come forward with significant amounts of money to make the plan work. As of the beginning of 2019, there was no funding available to convince the city to support the group’s proposal.
“The heritage community seems very supportive of the City of Hamilton moving forward with a business plan for the site,” said Ward 8 Coun. John-Paul Danko at the Jan. 15 general issues committee meeting.
City staff are proposing a $10-million restoration program over a 10-year period to reuse the building and the grounds that will allow the public to use the property, while also attempting to earn enough revenue to make the Auchmar Estate a self-sustaining operation.
The fallback decision has always been to have the city take over Auchmar’s restoration plans, which was encouraged and applauded by heritage advocates.
Robin McKee, president of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society and member of the Friends of Auchmar, said the structure will further benefit from city ownership.
“It’s gone from a diamond in the rough to a diamond,” he said. “Auchmar is a gem.”
Over the last few years Hamilton has been encouraging private and public groups to make an offer to restore Auchmar Estate.
The city even held a request for proposals for the project, but the variety of proponents failed to generate any business plan that met heritage staff’s guidelines.
The non-partisan think-tank Cardus offered to purchase the property, but councillors and heritage activists opposed such a plan.
“We’ve had so many offers,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. “The reality of the costs has been daunting for them even though they had vision.”
Various Hamilton staff and councillors have struggled to determine how to restore and use Auchmar since it was acquired by the city in a land swap arrangement with a developer in 1998.
Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson suggested Mohawk College may have an interest in Auchmar. But Danko said after talking with officials at the education institution, Mohawk College “has zero interest for this site.”
Hamilton hasn’t completely shut the door on reviewing possible future bids from the private sector to restore Auchmar. Jason Thorne, general manager of planning, said any “unsolicited proposals” will be presented to council.
In the meantime, heritage staff will be presenting to council a restoration plan for Auchmar later this year.
City staff in a report to council in 2016 stated it would cost about $10 million in capital funding to make Auchmar suitable for public and private use.
The money would go toward installing air conditioning, renovating the Coach House interior, addressing the interior design and restoration of the main house, installing fire separation doors and adding parking spaces.
The city has spent an estimated $2.5 million in capital funding on Auchmar, including for new windows, wall and roof since about 2008. The city has also been contributing $22,000 in annual operating expenses for the structure.
The report stated that if the city operated Auchmar, it could cost the city about $109,000 to operate the facility in the first year, rising to about $136,485 in the fourth year. In an adoptive reuse proposal, such as rental uses, Auchmar could earn about $65,000 in the first year, increasing to about $129,500, in the fourth year of city use.
Heritage staff had concluded in the report that Auchmar could be a sustainable operation if the right reuse model is implemented.
The Friends of Auchmar have identified heritage reuse models that Hamilton could adopt to save the building, such as the Bell Gairdner Estate on Lakeshore Blvd. in Mississauga where a private company helped fund the restoration of the historical structure. It is now used by the city for weddings and other events.
Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark suggested staff examine establishing a leadership centre at Auchmar, along with relocated heritage staff into the building.
“I think we can do that over a period of time,” said Clark.
Hamilton will be taking over the restoration of the historically-significant Auchmar Estate and the vast property located on the west Mountain.
The hoped-for saviour for the structure in the form of the 13th Battalion’s proposed $20-million proposal to redevelop Auchmar that was made to council in 2018 has been left behind by staff and councillors.
The 13th Battalion Auchmar Heritage Trust had been attempting to convince the city to agree to a 99-year lease agreement for Auchmar for $1 a year to maintain and operate the city-owned facility.
The trust had proposed a five-phase, $20.4 million restoration plan that the group said would take about five years to complete.
But the group’s business plan required private donors to come forward with significant amounts of money to make the plan work. As of the beginning of 2019, there was no funding available to convince the city to support the group’s proposal.
“The heritage community seems very supportive of the City of Hamilton moving forward with a business plan for the site,” said Ward 8 Coun. John-Paul Danko at the Jan. 15 general issues committee meeting.
City staff are proposing a $10-million restoration program over a 10-year period to reuse the building and the grounds that will allow the public to use the property, while also attempting to earn enough revenue to make the Auchmar Estate a self-sustaining operation.
The fallback decision has always been to have the city take over Auchmar’s restoration plans, which was encouraged and applauded by heritage advocates.
Robin McKee, president of the Hamilton Mountain Heritage Society and member of the Friends of Auchmar, said the structure will further benefit from city ownership.
“It’s gone from a diamond in the rough to a diamond,” he said. “Auchmar is a gem.”
Over the last few years Hamilton has been encouraging private and public groups to make an offer to restore Auchmar Estate.
The city even held a request for proposals for the project, but the variety of proponents failed to generate any business plan that met heritage staff’s guidelines.
The non-partisan think-tank Cardus offered to purchase the property, but councillors and heritage activists opposed such a plan.
“We’ve had so many offers,” said Mayor Fred Eisenberger. “The reality of the costs has been daunting for them even though they had vision.”
Various Hamilton staff and councillors have struggled to determine how to restore and use Auchmar since it was acquired by the city in a land swap arrangement with a developer in 1998.
Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson suggested Mohawk College may have an interest in Auchmar. But Danko said after talking with officials at the education institution, Mohawk College “has zero interest for this site.”
Hamilton hasn’t completely shut the door on reviewing possible future bids from the private sector to restore Auchmar. Jason Thorne, general manager of planning, said any “unsolicited proposals” will be presented to council.
In the meantime, heritage staff will be presenting to council a restoration plan for Auchmar later this year.
City staff in a report to council in 2016 stated it would cost about $10 million in capital funding to make Auchmar suitable for public and private use.
The money would go toward installing air conditioning, renovating the Coach House interior, addressing the interior design and restoration of the main house, installing fire separation doors and adding parking spaces.
The city has spent an estimated $2.5 million in capital funding on Auchmar, including for new windows, wall and roof since about 2008. The city has also been contributing $22,000 in annual operating expenses for the structure.
The report stated that if the city operated Auchmar, it could cost the city about $109,000 to operate the facility in the first year, rising to about $136,485 in the fourth year. In an adoptive reuse proposal, such as rental uses, Auchmar could earn about $65,000 in the first year, increasing to about $129,500, in the fourth year of city use.
Heritage staff had concluded in the report that Auchmar could be a sustainable operation if the right reuse model is implemented.
The Friends of Auchmar have identified heritage reuse models that Hamilton could adopt to save the building, such as the Bell Gairdner Estate on Lakeshore Blvd. in Mississauga where a private company helped fund the restoration of the historical structure. It is now used by the city for weddings and other events.
Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark suggested staff examine establishing a leadership centre at Auchmar, along with relocated heritage staff into the building.
“I think we can do that over a period of time,” said Clark.