Celebrating the many lives of the Custom House

Several notable Hamilton companies inhabited the building at some point in its history including the Hamilton Board of Education, the YWCA, the Associated Charities of Hamilton, a Martial Arts Academy, a computer company and several different kinds of factories including a macaroni, doughnut and olive factory.

Downtown Adventures in Hyperreality

By Simon Orpana
A short while ago, I was watching a new superhero movie at the Jackson Square cinemas. The film was set in an unspecified American city beset by violence: muggings, drug use and organized crime crop up regularly in the film, and the main hero is a nerd-turned-vigilante who becomes a celebrity after a [...]

Mulberry St. Coffeehouse – The far future pushing closer all the time

By Vanessa Sage

On its first day of opening, August 9th, 2010, I am sitting in the Mulberry Street Coffeehouse in the old Hotel Hamilton building. It is raining outside and buzzing in here. I’m drinking sugar and caffeine and wish I wasn’t since I’ve already had too much today. I see the reflection of a [...]

Heart of the Hammer dishes up coffee & community

By Julie Gordon

The Heart of the Hammer Café on King Street East and Sherman opened in December 2009 and has become a popular gathering place in the community of South Stipeley. Part of the café’s success comes from owner Rebecca Doll’s commitment to providing the best quality coffee and food. More significantly, Heart of the [...]

Breaking down the creative catalyst

Originally published in H Mag Issue 28 • February 2010

The Imperial Cotton Centre of the Arts (ICCA) along with the City of Hamilton have unveiled a report that recommends the building of a creative catalyst in the downtown core. From the report: “A creative catalyst would occupy a large, iconic building downtown with an educational [...]

Roger Wood’s whimsical Klockwerks

By Kathy Bainas

Roger Wood is a creative visionary whose one-of-a-kind timepieces are fantastical showstoppers as can be seen on his website. A visit to his studio reveals a dizzying array of raw materials containing, in his words, “Drawers and drawers of precious little bits,” such as old camera parts and jewellery findings. Other drawers of [...]

A diverse wealth of stories

By Simon Orpana
Simon Orpana was so moved by our recent pieces on gentrification and neighbourhood renewal that he commented a few times on our website about his feelings on the subject. We’ve asked him to contribute his point of view to the discussion with a piece of his own.
I had the pleasure of living in [...]

A century of arts in Hamilton

The Carnegie Gallery has remained a strong symbol in the arts community through the support from its loyal members who rely on the gallery to give them inspiration. “This is a really important building that relates to humans. People come here and leave inspired,” said Libby Toews, a supporting member of the gallery.

Bernadette Rule | Life of Writing

She had never felt comfortable pushing her own work, but couldn’t imagine life without writing.

Go Gentle | An on-going series about Hamilton’s renewal

Urban renewal is problematic when existing residents and small businesses are pushed out to make room for profit-driven corporate initiative.