Lister decision group stacked with demolitionists
July 2, 2006

A stakeholder group charged with determining the future of the Lister Block appears heavily stacked against preservation and restoration of the historic building. The group excludes the downtown councillor who has fought to save it, but includes a Stoney Creek councillor who was the only member of the city's heritage committee to vote for demolition of the building.

Ward 10 councillor Maria Pearson is identified as the representative of LACAC, the municipal heritage committee that voted 12-1 in May against demolition. Pearson cast the dissenting vote. The other councillor on LACAC is Brian McHattie, an outspoken opponent of demolition.

LACAC was represented at the June 12 council meeting on Lister by its chair, Diane Dent, who strongly opposed the demolition. There is no record of a public decision by LACAC to appoint Pearson as its representative on the stakeholders group.

The group has been set up in response to intervention by the province that has delayed any start of demolition of the Lister Block until mid-August. Council voted 11 to 4 on June 14 to approve a demolition permit request from LIUNA, but it was widely expected that provincial minister of culture Caroline Di Cocco would veto the decision.

Instead, a deal was struck minutes before the council meeting to delay the start of demolition by 60 days in order to allow for consideration of other options. The stakeholders group charged with doing that has now been set up - without public notice - and has met at least once - in secret. Neither the terms of reference of the group, nor any potential role for the public have been announced.

CATCH has learned that the group is comprised of nine individuals, six of whom are definite advocates of demolition. In addition to Pearson, they include Joe Mancinelli of LIUNA, as well as a representative of the Hi-Rise Group, LIUNA's partner in the plan to demolish the Lister and construct a replica office building.

Other supporters of demolition on the group are Mayor Larry Di Ianni (or his designate) and Tim McCabe, the city's director of development and real estate who authored the report recommending acceptance of the demolition application even though it didn't meet city requirements.

A sixth member is Kathy Drewitt, the executive director of the downtown BIA. Drewitt and BIA chair Tim Bullock spoke in favour of demolition at the June 12 public meeting of council addressed by nearly 40 people.

Downtown councillor Bob Bratina, however, is not part of the stakeholders group. Bratina has been an outspoken supporter of preserving and restoring the Lister Block - to such an extent that Mancinelli has demanded that he resign from city council or be sued by LIUNA. Mancinelli gave Bratina two weeks to quit. Exactly 14 days after the threat, Bratina received official notice of the lawsuit from LIUNA's Toronto law firm.

The other three people on the nine-member group appear to be opponents of demolition. Anthony Butler is with the Architectural Conservancy of Hamilton; Grant Head leads the Heritage Hamilton Foundation; and Brian Henley is a retired librarian and local historian. Head was the only one of the three who spoke publicly in defence of the Lister Block at the June 12 council meeting.

If the demolition proceeds, LIUNA and Hi-Rise plan to construct a 100,000 square foot replica building at an estimated cost of $28-30 million. The city has agreed to provide $32.3 million to lease 60% of the building for 15 years. Opponents of the deal argue the leasing rate is nearly twice the amount the city is paying for other office space.