BRUCE COMES TO DOWNTOWN HAMILTON
I’ve been thinking about getting people downtown. I talk to a lot of people, in and around the city, every day. I’m getting a good vibe! Hamiltonians love their city!!
They really do. I speak with them when I say, “It is hard to understand how a municipal government can allow the graffiti that besmirches and defaces a Hamilton Landmark such as The Lister Building, to go unaddressed for more than a decade!!” Not once, since they boarded the place up, which must be fifteen years ago, have they so much as put a coat of paint on it? What’s with that? Are they blind? Don’t they care? This corner, James Street and King William Street, is the very centre of our city! It is an ugly eyesore! This is what a visitor staying at the Sheraton sees! This is what Bruce Springsteen saw last night! This is what people living on the mountain see!! Bruce loves the inner-city and so do I! We can do something about it! It would cost nothing to put a clean coat of bright paint on the plywood panels at the Lister Block and invite our Hamilton School Children to paint happy scenes upon them. Perhaps have a contest?
Everyone I talk to says, “A stronger Police presence, on the ground, would make folks feel safer and would discourage some of the street crime.” Policemen walking the beat, or how about Policemen on horse-back? (It would be a novelty and help to bring people downtown.) People have been saying this very same thing for, once again, fifteen years! Give the people what they want!! Why has it not happened? We could have got the money from somewhere. I’m not buying that, “We’re broke”, routine! If our City Fathers don’t care, or can’t see, or don’t ever go downtown themselves, how can they expect the rest of us to?
I have traveled extensively in this country from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island and everywhere, I see people taking pride in their community. There is a small town on Vancouver Island called Chemainus. Their motto is “The Little Town That Did”
They were struggling and were about to go under for lack of employment, when the city planners decided to paint giant murals on the sides of downtown businesses. Their town is now a tourist attraction, with people coming from miles around to see these beautiful murals! Check out…….. chemainus.com ……It’s a real success story!! Giant Mural Art is very popular. A lot of cities have done this. We already have a couple in town. I would like to see Hamilton have a “Mural Festival” to tie in with beautifying the Downtown Area. I will personally volunteer to head a committee to run this festival. We just need a small grant from the city and some buildings to paint and away we go!! I know, we talk, talk, talk but nothing gets done. It’s time to take action!!! Come on Fred, we’re all behind you; lead this city to glory! Cheers Sonny











