Dirty Old Town, at Dawn!
Nov. 6th, 2008 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pyatAs promised to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
paka, some photos of Hamilton's downtown core, taken at 6:30 AM on a misty November morning. This morning, in fact.
North side of Gore Park, looking west toward Stelco Tower and Jackson Square. Look, a cheque cashing place, a government employment office, and a tattoo parlour!
If it's November in Canada, it must be time to start advertising Cuban vacations.
Treble Hall has always fascinated me. It's not the most interesting building in the city, but it's unique in that it has not be remodeled or renovated, yet somehow clings to a trickle of commercial life.
The top three floors seem to be empty and crumbling, and assorted businesses appear and disappear in the bottom floor. Du Placey's barbershop was here for years, a curiously retro little place where the barbers wore white smocks and used hot towels, even though half the clientele were on welfare. It moved to the ground floor of the Crown Plaza Hotel in the early 2000s.
Detail of facade.
War Memorial in Gore Park, looking north. Look, a Salvation Army Thrift, a cash lending place, and some temp employment agencies. Also a shoe store, and Cheapie's, the best place in town to buy music.
Looking north east across Gore Park. Just outside the left side of the frame is Christopher's, once the cheapest diner in town, and still a good place to grab greasy food under flickering neon, in the company of retired bus drivers and people in scooters.
Looking west, toward the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Stelco Tower, Jackson Square, and Hamilton Place.
Gore Park fountain, looking southwest.
West end of Gore Park, looking east toward the Hong Kong Bank of Canada and some bars and clubs. The statue is of Queen Victoria, described as "QUEEN AND EMPRESS. MODEL WIFE AND MOTHER. The Women of Hamilton, In Affectionate Admiration Have Raised This Monument."
Top floors of the Piggot Building. When we were kids, we thought this was the building in Ghostbusters.
Looking into the lobby of the Piggot Building. You can see my reflection. It's all condos now.
Stain glass windows in the lobby, depicting scenes from Hamilton, circa 1920s.
The old Standard and Loan building, now a web company.neosis works here - and he used to live in the tower in the background, Landmark Place, until the mid-90s the tallest residential building in Canada.
paka, some photos of Hamilton's downtown core, taken at 6:30 AM on a misty November morning. This morning, in fact.North side of Gore Park, looking west toward Stelco Tower and Jackson Square. Look, a cheque cashing place, a government employment office, and a tattoo parlour!
If it's November in Canada, it must be time to start advertising Cuban vacations.
Treble Hall has always fascinated me. It's not the most interesting building in the city, but it's unique in that it has not be remodeled or renovated, yet somehow clings to a trickle of commercial life.
The top three floors seem to be empty and crumbling, and assorted businesses appear and disappear in the bottom floor. Du Placey's barbershop was here for years, a curiously retro little place where the barbers wore white smocks and used hot towels, even though half the clientele were on welfare. It moved to the ground floor of the Crown Plaza Hotel in the early 2000s.
Detail of facade.
War Memorial in Gore Park, looking north. Look, a Salvation Army Thrift, a cash lending place, and some temp employment agencies. Also a shoe store, and Cheapie's, the best place in town to buy music.
Looking north east across Gore Park. Just outside the left side of the frame is Christopher's, once the cheapest diner in town, and still a good place to grab greasy food under flickering neon, in the company of retired bus drivers and people in scooters.
Looking west, toward the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building, Stelco Tower, Jackson Square, and Hamilton Place.
Gore Park fountain, looking southwest.
West end of Gore Park, looking east toward the Hong Kong Bank of Canada and some bars and clubs. The statue is of Queen Victoria, described as "QUEEN AND EMPRESS. MODEL WIFE AND MOTHER. The Women of Hamilton, In Affectionate Admiration Have Raised This Monument."
Top floors of the Piggot Building. When we were kids, we thought this was the building in Ghostbusters.
Looking into the lobby of the Piggot Building. You can see my reflection. It's all condos now.
Stain glass windows in the lobby, depicting scenes from Hamilton, circa 1920s.
The old Standard and Loan building, now a web company.
neosis works here - and he used to live in the tower in the background, Landmark Place, until the mid-90s the tallest residential building in Canada.
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Date: 2008-11-06 07:34 pm (UTC)