Historian Bill Manson is outraged that Hamilton council is encouraging developers to demolish the 82-year-old Lister Block, which the city has designated as worthy of protection under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Manson, a retired educator, author of local histories and member of The Spectator's Community Editorial Board, said yesterday: "It looks like the city is going to allow this group to tear it down. The politics and finances don't concern me, but from a heritage standpoint, I'm very, very disappointed."
He was commenting on council's decision Monday to lease half the space in a new, six-storey building on the Lister site proposed by the Hi-Rise Group and Local 837 of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA).
Hi-Rise owns the new federal building on Bay Street North. LIUNA's Hamilton property investments include Liuna Station, the restored CN railway building on James Street North. It's also part of a group planning to restore the Royal Connaught Hotel.
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