A Day in...Hamilton?

You don’t go to Hamilton; you end up there.

I looked over the notes for this Challenge, and I realized that I would have to choose a place that I know too well. Tokyo was a temptation, as was the East End of London, Queens, New York, and a place called Ontario, California (strange to know that there is another Ontario out there). But no, I had to pick something close to me; a place that I cannot escape from.

So, what do you want to know about Hamiton? That the first professional hockey goalie pads were made and sold there? That Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Jason Jones and Neil Peart all hail from that city? That the first Tim Hortons was built there (and still stands)? No, I doubt that these are the reasons why you would want to visit the place. As I said, you do not visit such a place. Somehow, the world conspires to send you there, as it did to my own family and relatives over fifty years ago. For them, it was an up-and-coming town that had a great future ahead of it. Well, we are still waiting for that great future, but I think that I can take you on a tour of the real city that may make you see something that was once there; some glimmer of what that city could be.

We start on the Escarpment. Most residents will refer to it as the mountain, but this is geographically false. An escarpment is basically a piece of land that erupted above another piece of land many years ago…actually, that does sound like it is a mountain, but it’s not. Instead, we have a city with a little downtown that you have to travel to by heading off the escarpment…and the best way to do that by foot will be via the Bruce Trail. There are several stairwells that will guide you through the rough green passage through trees and the hilly and rough ground. That can take you deeper into the woods, or to the Chedoke Golf Course. It would be best if you paid close attention to the signs warning you of the potential of being concussed by a golf ball. And please do not try to reach the rest of the city by crossing over the open green expanse while there is a single car still parked at the club house (believe me when I say this: it is not worth it).

We will head east and make it down the trail to Aberdeen Avenue and Locke Street. Heading north on the latter, you will pass some of the best cafes and shops in the city centre. The true unfortunate thing is that it is one of the few places in the city which still contain such places that are not crammed into a mall. And with a heavy heart, we have reached King Street. I can honestly say that it is terrible to compare Locke and King, at least at this section of the city. We continue east and discover that the hard concrete and ugly architecture end with the discovery of Jackson Square, a large multisectioned mall that connects the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Convention Centre with the downtown’s main shopping centre. I should feel misty-eyed about the place. I have memories of the Hamilton Public Library’s Central Branch, both as a patron and as a worker, and the Farmers’ Market – after the Bruce Trail – is one of my favourite places in a city that is rapidly losing places where I can see what I once loved. Copps Coliseum, built when I was teenager, now has a new name (TD Coliseum), and we still use it for concerts and hockey games that do not include the NHL (the farm team of my beloved Montreal Canadians was once based there). We can walk through it, eventually finding the main exit to the corner of King and James Streets. Everyone in the city knows this area, even if they no longer visit this spot.

I do have a story about this spot. My brother once warned me that if he ever caught me on that corner, he would beat me about the ears until I returned home. It was hard to keep my word, since most of the buses would stop nearby at Gore Park. Now, with the bus terminal moved into its own terminal next to the Convention Centre, the park has become even more unimpressive than it was when I was forced to wait there for the bus ride home. There were always people there who would be talking to themselves, ignoring their personal hygiene, or giving off the threat of danger if you happened to make eye contact. Now, it seems that things have been taken to an extreme level. The homeless have now taken it over, with food distributed weekly there among the statues devoted to the war dead, the water fountain that was removed, reinserted, and abandoned, and the festive decorations that are a bitter reminder of Christmas and the stresses of the season (please do not visit the place in the winter).

We can go to the Hamilton Train Station and see how the trains are never used. The buses continue to run for Go Transit, just don’t ask for any help with you bags, or ask where you can find a taxi (the stands were removed and the drivers just want to get away from the city, as will you).

So, finally, we will take a very long trip east again, this time on Main Street, past the secondhand shops, old buildings and the general decay that was once my childhood playground to get to Gage Park. This is the real heart of the city for me, and the once spot too large to be spoiled by city government or the common malaise of the city. There are gardens, functioning fountains, pathways, the Roselawn Lawn Bowling Club, greenhouses, the bandshell where I saw k.d. lang perform for the first time at an It’s Your Festival celebration. It might be a little hard for me to the leave the place once I start to think back on that and other moments. But what are you going to do, try to find your way back?

Oh, right. I almost forgot. I'm your guide.

It might sound like you are with someone who is possibly the worst representative for this raw and hardheaded gem of the Golden Horseshoe. It might sound like I would not want any of you to visit the place that made me.

But please consider this...

It is now late in the day. We are in a park and the best way out will be to head over to the Skyway Bridge to Burlington and look at just how large and beautiful Hamilton can be once you step back and consider what you have just seen. It does have its charms, and you may find a few other gems that could not be gathered in just one day.

Enjoy it!

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