David Crosby: Remember My Name Documentary Turns Honest Lens on a Rock And Roll Legend
By David McPherson
Time is not on David Crosby’s side.
If this is indeed his final act, the legendary songwriter has no plans to go gently into that good night.
As a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash) with five decades of pop stardom behind him, the reality is that musically he has nothing to prove; yet, in the last five years, since the dissolution of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (CSNY), following the supergroup’s 2015 tour, he’s had one of the most productive periods of his career, releasing four records (with a fifth on the way).
This creative reawakening piqued the interest of filmmaker A.J. Eaton. The result: the director’s first full-length documentary, David Crosby: Remember My Name, which had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival this past January.
Honesty is the film’s central conceit. Twelve-step programs teach us that honesty is all we’ve got. As a past AA member (for 14 years) the songwriter embraces these teachings. Rather than resort to a puff piece or hagiography—like so many celebrity documentaries—Eaton, co-producer Cameron Crowe, along with their main subject Crosby, knew that to do this right, it had to be the most honest piece on the pop icon ever produced.
BeatRoute: Why now? What was the inspiration to create and release this documentary at this time?
David Crosby: Largely because of this surge of work. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I was supposed to be dead 20 years ago. At the end of your life, you should just wave and go off into the distance gracefully, but instead I’ve made four records and into a fifth one. That is not how it is supposed to go. This got AJ’s [director A.J. Eaton] attention. He thought it was fascinating and said he wanted to do a documentary about it. I was like, ‘Yeah kid, sure, whatever!’ Then producer Jill Mazursky mentioned it to Cameron Crowe. He’s known me since he was 15. You know the Almost Famous movie, right? He was the kid and we [CSNY] were the band. Cameron said, ‘Let me ask him the questions.’ Since he is my friend, they knew I would open up to him; he knows where all the bones are buried. He was in the dressing room when the bones were being buried!
BeatRoute: As you told me when we jumped on this call, some people felt this film is too in-your-face, that there is too much truth and honesty to handle, but that’s the point, right? Crosby: Definitely. Cameron [Crowe], AJ [Eaton] and I have all seen how other people make documentaries and we did not want to do that. What I call a shine job, where they say, ‘isn’t that great, isn’t he cute, he is so lovely, etc. etc.’ Those types of documentaries are bullshit. They are as deep as a birdbath. They don’t tell you anything about the person you want to know. I want to know what is that person really about: who do they love, what do they want to fix, what is going on in their head, and what really matters to them, not how many records they sold in their prime. All three of us had a unity of purpose. We knew the level that was acceptable to us.
BeatRoute: Staying with the honesty theme, you mention in the film that you’re a ‘flawed human.’ I loved this brutal honesty. Not many people are confident enough and/or are too scared or afraid of what others will say. How and why did you do it? Crosby: It’s a matter of choice and how you go about things, really. None of the three of us thought we could do it any other way. If we were going to do this film, it had to be brutally honest. Cameron asked me the hardest questions I’ve ever been asked.
BeatRoute: Were there any you didn’t or couldn’t answer?
Crosby: No, I made a promise that I would answer every question he asked me.
BeatRoute: That must have been uncomfortable for you. Crosby: Yes, very uncomfortable. There were a couple of times I said to them, ‘Don’t put that in the movie,’ and they still put it in; my only job in the movie is to not lie. That was my main contribution.
BeatRoute: I’m guessing there was a real cathartic effect to the whole exercise. Was a weight lifted for you during the process? Crosby: It definitely is a catharsis. It’s the real deal man! I got to lighten my load; that’s what they teach you in 12-step programs: to look at your life, your mistakes, and your achievements, then learn from it, set it down, and move on. You really have to look inside yourself.
BeatRoute: I loved the stories of your earliest music experiences and how these moved and shaped you. First seeing the symphony with your mom and later hearing Miles Davis for the first time. Music really is your life, isn’t it?
Crosby: For sure. I feel music is the gift I was given. That’s an obligation. If life gives you a scalpel you don’t use it to dig weeds, you do surgery.
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Crosby-remember-my-name-F.jpg570570DavidDavid2020-04-11 15:08:212020-04-11 15:09:11David Crosby: Remember My Name Documentary Turns Honest Lens on a Rock And Roll Legend
CARLY PARADIS: MAKING EPIC MUSIC OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
Story by David McPherson | January 15, 2020
The touchstones of our lives often present themselves when we least expect them. These messages from the universe remind us that the journey we’re on is the right path. Songwriter Carly Paradis recently received one such sign. The object: a letter featuring a stamp of Elton John’s classic 1973 double-LP Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. This brought back early childhood memories of discovering the gems in her parents’ record collection, and those first feelings of a raging fire in her soul to write, and to create, that never went away.
“When I was really little I would listen to my parents’ vinyl,” Paradis recalls. “As a child, that Elton John record blew my mind; ‘Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding’ was such an epic, genre-bending tune. I decided right then that one day I would make epic music like this.”
Catching up with the songwriter via Skype, just before the Christmas holidays, finds Paradis in a contemplative mood at the London, England, studio she designed in an old warehouse building. We chat about the human condition (the central conceit of her new solo instrumental record Nothing is Something), the creative process, and her journey from Ontario indie rocker to award-winning film and TV composer, now based in London, England.
Born in Hamilton, Paradis grew up in nearby Stoney Creek. At nine, she started writing tunes. Later, she studied classical piano, but admits she always felt more like a rock ‘n’ roll player. After completing a music and multi-media degree at McMaster University, Paradis honed her skills playing in bands and learning about production. This led to a desire to get tracks synched. On a whim, in 2006, she reached out via MySpace to Clint Mansell (who scored Darren Aranofsky’s Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan), one of her favorite composers. “I told him how his music made me feel,” Paradis recalls. “I did not expect a reply.”
Mansell was moved by Paradis’ message and did reply. This correspondence led first to a longer coffee conversation in Los Angeles, and then into a lasting friendship. The songwriter joined Mansell’s band, arranged and played the piano parts for the composer’s songs, and toured with him around the world. Through his mentorship, Paradis also started to place songs in films and TV programs. Some of these successful synchs include the end credits theme from the successful Netflix original series The Innocents; writing the score for every season of the No.1 BBC drama Line of Duty; and compositions in trailers for True Detective, Homeland, and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.
“Ever since I was little, I’ve connected deep down with things I didn’t understand, through music.”
Nothing is Something is the songwriter’s third solo record. The orchestral, brooding collection of original compositions and collaborations features a diverse range of global musicians – from Norwegian composer EERA, to Jonas Bjerre (the lead singer of Danish rock band Mew), to U.K. spoken-word artist PolarBear. In scope and complexity, it’s as grand as those seminal songs first heard in her youth. “This album draws back to those early musical experiences,” she says.
Seven years in the making, some parts of the album were recorded at her London studio, but most was captured at Hamilton’s legendary Grant Avenue Studio, where she played her favorite piano: a vintage Yamaha, circa 1979. With song titles like “The Crushing Weight of History,” inspired by a visit to La Rocca Cefalu in Cefalù, Sicily; “Heaven Ain’t a Place”; and “One Light in the Sky,” the record explores the state of being human, and the range of sensations we all face.
“It’s been quite an emotional journey,” Paradis explains. “The concept of the title Nothing is Something is this: if you think you have nothing, see nothing, it is really something. Just look into outer space. There is so much stuff we can’t see. If you’re feeling hopelessness and loneliness, that is something… to feel that emotion is part of the human condition. We all feel these things. You can find comfort in knowing we are connected by these negative emotions, and you’re not alone. When you go through that journey, you realize it’s OK.”
For Paradis, music expresses emotions, thoughts, and feelings you can’t – or don’t want to – vocalize with words. “Ever since I was little, I’ve connected deep down with things I didn’t understand, through music, and I’ve written and created sounds that match those feelings,” she says. “This album is a diary of the last eight years of my life. It feels like a big book. A chapter is closing. It’s that moment before you open the next one.”
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/carly_paradis_21A_0202-scaled.jpg18412560DavidDavid2020-04-10 21:34:242020-04-10 21:42:51CARLY PARADIS: MAKING EPIC MUSIC OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
Just like the rest of the music industry, the publishing business today is a lot more fluid than it used to be. Where the role of the music publisher once focused mostly on getting synchs (or placements) for songs in a variety of media – TV shows, movies, videogames, advertisements – today’s publisher wears many hats.
“Our business represents songs and songwriters,” explains Vivian Barclay, General Manager, Warner Chappell Music Canada, and member of SOCAN’s Board of Directors. “Our job is two-fold. Some people still take a very linear view of publishing, thinking it’s only about administration, like a bank or service business, but it is really multi-faceted. The proper administration of copyright, registration, and paying out royalties is one side. The other side is about creativity. We’re signing songwriters, developing them, and helping to provide them with resources and connections.”
Barclay is used to wearing many hats, and making many connections. She’s never had a five-year plan, and has always taken on whatever job needed doing. Barclay was born into the creative arts field. Her dad was a working musician and her mom was a fine art painter. After graduating with a degree in audio engineering from Ryerson, she worked for now-defunct community radio station CKLN. There, she did everything from on-air host, to program director, to acting station manager. A stint with Denise Jones, at Jones and Jones Productions, followed, as Barclay’s education continued. She learned how to manage artists, market them, and promote and host live events, among other things
“If you can’t pull it off live, I’m not interested.”
In 2001, a vacancy opened in the royalties department at Warner Chappell Music Canada. Denise Jones recommended her, and she jumped at the opportunity to learn about the world of music publishing. This temporary gig evolved into a full-time role. She moved from royalties to copyright, and by the end of the year transferred to the company’s Los Angeles office. Two years later, she was back in Toronto to head up the Canadian office.
Maple Music Makers
Warner-Chappel Music Canada’s roster includes, or has included:
Aaron Goodvin
Barenaked Ladies
The Be Good Tanyas
Begonia
Death From Above 1979
Donovan Woods
Gordon Lightfoot
Jully Black
Michael Bernard Fitzgerald
Michael Bublé
Nickelback
PartyNextDoor
The Rheostatics
Saukrates
Sebastian Gaskin
Spirit of the West
The Tea Party
Tomi Swick
Today, as General Manager of Warner Chappell Music Canada, Barclay manages an extensive and diverse song catalogue, encompassing the American songbook compositions of George and Ira Gershwin, the storied songs of Gordon Lightfoot, and everything in between. The Canadian office of Warner Chappell Music also represents a pair of Christmas classics penned by Johnny Marks: “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Barclay finds ways to bring these classics to a new generation.
“It’s about re-invigorating the catalogue,” she explains. “We try really hard to find ways to breathe new life into these evergreen songs.”
There’s no typical day for Barclay. Each writer she represents is at a different stage in his or her artist cycle –penning new material, or releasing new recordings, or touring. She spends as much time finding and developing new artists as she does brainstorming ways to get timeless songs re-interpreted. For songwriters, earning a living today is challenging at best. As it gets harder for them to make ends meet, Barclay’s role is even more important to “try to make sure the value of what they’re creating isn’t decimated.”
Playing live is still one of the best ways for songwriters to earn an income, and attending live shows is also one of the best ways for publishers to discover new artists. Many nights, Barclay is checking out artists in clubs around Toronto, and at festivals and conferences across the country, and around the world, seeking new songwriters for Warner Chappell. “For me, no matter what genre you’re in, ‘live’ matters,” she says. “If you can’t pull it off live, I’m not interested.”
Warner Chappell Music Canada has many domestic artists on its current and past roster. The company also recently entered into a deal with The Brothers Landreth’s label (Birthday Cake), thereby picking up many Western Canadian artists. (See sidebar for some of the company’s Canadian clients.)
Digital music, and the subsequent easy access to discovering new artists, has made the world smaller. Since Canada is such a diverse country, and people settle here from so many different cultures, Barclay isn’t just searching for Canadian acts she can bring to the rest of the world, but also for international artists that resonate domestically. A couple examples are the “King of Soca,” Machel Montano of Trinidad, and Patoranking, a Nigerian reggae dancehall/Afrobeat artist.
Artists and their managers send Barclay links every day to music, via every major social media platform. SOCAN, and others in the music industry, also tip her off to potential artists to whom she “should” listen. When searching for new clients, whether Canadian or international, genre doesn’t matter to her. It’s all about the song.
“No matter who you talk to in the publishing business, we’re all passionate about good songs,” she says. “Creating a legacy of good songs is where it starts. You can write in whatever genre you want to, as long as the song is good, and connects with your audience.”
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/VivianBarclay_Social.jpg6401024DavidDavid2020-04-10 19:27:162020-04-10 21:05:45DECISION-MAKERS: MUSIC PUBLISHER VIVIAN BARCLAY
The Fillmore Meets The Shining: A History of Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom
March 28, 2019
Courtesy: The Commodore Ballroom
By: David McPherson
Venues are a mirror into a city’s past, present, and future. They witness and document the societal changes that happen around them while concurrently adding to a locale’s history. As author Aaron Chapman, who was born and raised in Vancouver says: “They are a wonderful cultural barometer, showing us where we’ve been and where we are going.”
Chapman knows historic music venues; he wrote the book on Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. From big band and swing to punk rock, pop, jazz and blues, Vancouver’s most famous (and infamous) room has played host to the greats of every genre of music. No wonder in 2011 Billboard named it one of the Top 10 most influential venues in North America (the only Canadian spot cited) along with such iconic spots as San Francisco’s Fillmore and New York’s Bowery Ballroom. A fixture on Granville Street for nearly 90 years, the venue now hosts more than 150 public events each year — entertaining approximately 120,000 guests annually.
The Commodore was built on beer money (from the Reifel family’s breweries) and since has survived on passion, acute business sense, and a wee bit of luck. The irony of how the building was originally financed is not lost as more than a few brews have been swilled on that horsehair dance floor over its history – illegally in the early decades until it finally got a liquor license in 1969 – and legally ever since.
Billed in the local daily that day as “Vancouver’s Latest Attraction,” the venue opened as the Commodore Cabaret on Wednesday, December 3, 1930. Despite a few blips and hard times (it closed for three years from 1996-1999 before House of Blues revived it) 90 years on, the venue is still going strong — serving up live music and hosting local events six nights a week. There have been a lot of memorable rock ‘n’ roll shows at the venue since the Vancouver institution opened, but in the eyes of many, there is one that stands out. During punk’s heyday, The Clash took to the Commodore stage, on January 31, 1979. It was the first North American show for the English quartet. Forty years on it remains a seminal moment in the venue’s history.
Just ask Brad Merritt. The bassist for Vancouver’s beloved 54-40 was there.
“Bo Diddley and a local all-female punk trio (The Dishrags) opened,” he recalls. “That was a crazy show! I was dead centre in the middle of the dance floor and halfway through the show, some guy threw a beer can backwards and it hit me in the face. I had a dent in my forehead for nearly five years, but it was a badge of honour!”
The Clash show was not Merritt’s first at the fabled club. On December 2, 1978, he was 18, and saw a sold-out Blondie concert. That night was just as crazy and just as memorable.
“About midway through the show, every table had 6-8 people standing up; they all took the red tablecloths off and started whipping them around. It was one of the rowdiest shows I had ever seen in my life … that was my introduction to the Commodore Ballroom.”
When Merritt started 54-40 out of high school, along with buddy Neil Osborne, their goal was to one day play The Commodore, maybe open up for one of the groups they admired. They’ve more than surpassed that now. 54-40 holds the record of playing the Commodore more than 50 times and counting. Their Thanksgiving weekend gig (slated for October 11 this year) has become an annual tradition Vancouverites and long-time fans anticipate. The band even recorded a live DVD (This Is Here This Is Now, 2005) at the Vancouver landmark.
Merritt still recalls the first time he hit the storied stage and how nervous he was. The year was 1982. “We were part of a four-band local promotion, which included Images in Vogue, Moev, and I can’t recall the other band. There were 1,000 [people] in the room. We went on first and it was incredibly exciting.”
54-40 headlined for the first time after the release of its self-titled 1986 release (later known as the “Green Album”). The Wooden Tops from England opened. Though it’s been more than 30 years since the band’s name lit up the marquee on Granville for the first time, the allure of playing this hometown venue never fades.
54-40 Live at The Commodore Ballroom. Credit: Toni Horncastle.
“It’s still special for us and for the people who come,” Merritt explains. “It’s a celebration: for us, for our fans, and for music in Vancouver … Vancouverites take special pride in the venue.”
Merritt, along with other musicians and patrons, can thank Drew Burns for The Commodore most music lovers now know and love. The bar’s modern era took hold when Burns purchased the lease in 1969. The entrepreneur obtained a liquor license, renovated the venue and changed the name from the Commodore Cabaret to the Commodore Ballroom; the first rock act he booked was Detroit’s Mitch Ryder, who took to the famed Granville stage in July 1971. While the place was licensed for 1,000, they often crammed a lot more people into the room. Since Mitch Ryder, the Ballroom has hosted a who’s who of rock royalty: everyone from Tina Turner and Patti Smith to U2 and Tom Petty. For all these bands, playing the Commodore meant something – they all respected the room – as author Chapman reveals.
“I spoke to Benmont Tench [keyboardist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers] for my book and he said it was a big deal for them the first time they played there in 1978 … they knew about it!”
Besides writing the definitive book on The Commodore, Chapman has also played there, with one band or another, 25 times. “You are aware of it before you ever go in for the first time,” he explains of the venue’s gravitas. “If you grew up in Vancouver, your parents or grandparents most likely went to a dance there or saw some music there. It has seen every era of pop music – from big band to people slam dancing – not every city has a place like that – we are a bit spoiled.”
Kevin Kane (guitarist for The Grapes of Wrath, and more recently also a member of The Northern Pikes) has played The Commodore countless times. Growing up in Kelowna, British Columbia, in the late 1970s, he subscribed to The Georgia Straightto keep abreast of the burgeoning punk scene. “I kept seeing that all my favourite bands were always playing there, so the Commodore always held a mythic status for me,” he says.
Kane’s first time in the Commodore was when he was still in high school. He caught a ride with a friend into the city to do some import record shopping when the pair learned The Cure were at the Club doing its sound check.
“My friend and I plucked up our courage, walked up the stairs from Granville Street into the venue, and parked ourselves in a couple of chairs off in the shadows, hoping to not be seen,” he recalls. “The band were setting up their own gear and I watched transfixed as Robert Smith pulled his Jazzmaster from a road case. Smith then saw my friend and I, gave us a welcoming smile and wave, and in the seconds it took to decide if we should run over and introduce ourselves as a couple of 16-year-olds who just wanted to hear our favourite band sound check, we were spotted by security and ejected!”
Jay Semko, Kane’s bandmate in The Northern Pikes, gives us the final word of what makes The Commodore Ballroom so special:
“When the energy in the crowd reaches the ‘magic zone,’ there is no better place in Canada to be for live music,” he concludes. “The silhouettes of heads bobbing up and down on the horsehair floor, the timeless vibe when you walk through the doors – whether grooving in the audience or grooving on the stage, there is something about the Commodore that has always had a profound effect on me; it’s The Shiningmeets The Fillmore, and in the best way imaginable.”
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Decor0.jpg6641000DavidDavid2020-04-10 19:10:322020-04-10 21:09:11The Fillmore Meets The Shining: A History of Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom
From Portuguese Club to Winnipeg Music Mecca: A History of the West End Cultural Centre
May 06, 2019
West End Cultural Centre c.1995. Credit: Ava Kobrinsky. Mural By: Larry Spittle.
By: David McPherson
Luke Doucet and his girlfriend got caught with their pants down in the boiler room here one New Year’s Eve when he was 17. A teenage Romi Mayes drank Gowan’s beer in the green room here, while the JUNO-award winning artist covered “Good Golly Miss Molly.” The common thread: one of Winnipeg’s most treasured venues: the West End Cultural Centre (WECC).
For more than three decades, the WECC has been a warm-sounding room and a place to foster the Winnipeg music scene. Many local artists—from Mayes and Doucet to bands like The Watchmen and The Weakerthans—got their start at the all ages venue. Mayes credits the WECC for the early opportunities she had to share her songs with a wider audience.
“The first time I was on stage at the West End Cultural Centre I was 15-years-old,” recalls Mayes. “Mitch [Podolak] was in charge and there were commonly big folk artists from across the globe sharing that stage. I remember being nervous to join the roster of the talent that was performing there all the time.”
Since her teenage debut, Mayes has shared the WECC stage many times with renowned acts, as well as enjoyed many memorable shows there as a fan. Heck, she even had her wedding social there. The singer-songwriter can’t say enough good words about this hometown hotspot.
“Not only is it a music venue, but it’s also a team of creative curators being inventive with themes and show ideas to celebrate our local music scene,” Mayes comments. “In recent years, with the artful artistic direction of Jason Hooper and its hard working staff and volunteers, the West End Cultural Centre has become a pinnacle in nurturing and hosting community projects to help the area and improve the neighbourhood and develop productivity for its area residents.”
Adds fellow Winnipeg songwriter Scott Nolan: “It’s our Mother Church. It may not be as grand as the Grand Ole Opry, but it’s fitting for our town.”
Flash back to 1987. That’s when this musical shrine was born. An eye for spotting talent and for supporting artists is Mitch Podolak’s raison d’être. While running the Winnipeg Folk Festival in the 1970s, the champion of the arts and his wife Ava Kobrinsky frequently drove by the West End neighbourhood where the Portuguese Cultural Centre [and previously a series of churches] was located at Sherbrook Street and Ellice Avenue. The talk, during these drives, often turned to the buildings’ potential.
“I thought it would make a great combo of what is now The Cultch (formally the Vancouver East Cultural Centre) and the Cotabi Cabaret in Sonoma, California,” says Podolak, 71, who is still active in the folk community running Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous, a not-for-profit arts organization that creates new performance opportunities for French and English speaking musicians and audiences in rural, remote and urban, communities across Canada.
Following Podolak’s departure from the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the music lover and his life partner made a pit stop in Vancouver. While there, a friend in the know back in Manitoba tipped them off that the Portuguese club was selling its building and the prospective buyer was going to turn it into a furniture warehouse. That was all the fuel Mitch needed. He picked up the phone, made a call, and offered to buy the building. The rest, as they say — thankfully for the Winnipeg arts community — is musical history as the WECC was born.
Spirit of the West was the first headlining act at the WECC. The Vancouver band played a pair of sold-out shows in October 1987. The following month, the venue hosted 30 events, including a gig by legendary blues singer Taj Mahal. While primarily a music venue, the WECC is a non-profit, charitable organization that promotes local, national, and international artists by fostering artistic development.
Thirty years on, everyone from Odetta, John Prine, and Stan Rogers to Jann Arden and Lyle Lovett have stepped on the West End Cultural Centre’s stage, making a lasting connection with Winnipeg audiences. Not only is the venue an incubator for local talent in the Peg, and an intimate venue for international touring acts – from folk to alt-country and punk to indie rock, it’s also a place for young minds, who might not otherwise have a chance, to create. The WECC offers free drop in music lessons on Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons where local artists mentor and teach neighbourhood kids as part of a successful drop-in program.
“We are a charity so that is what we do – foster that creativity in people,” says Executive Director Jason Hooper, who started out as WECC’s bar manager 10 years ago. “The West End Cultural Centre also hosts a street festival every June and free concerts for schools in the neighbourhood. That makes us a special place. Not a lot of venues have that time or resources to do that, but being a charity makes that possible.”
The WECC’s founding statement speaks to this community commitment to “make sure people will get involved, not in some peripheral way but with their hearts and guts and brains.” Hooper has been at the helm of the not-for-profit for the past decade. Some of his favourite shows at the WECC, which he attended as a teen newly arrived in the city in the 90s, were the punk-rock matinees on Saturdays. “For five-dollars, you could come down and see five bands,” he recalls. “I saw bands like Guy Smiley, Propagandhi, and meatrack. The venue was a really important part of the local punk scene.”
When Hooper started working at the WECC in 2009 the venue had just undergone an extensive renovation and reconstruction, thanks to a $4 million capital campaign; several neighbourhood houses were bought and razed to expand the Hall. Hawksley Workman, whose new record (Median AgeWasteland) was released this past February, was lucky enough to be the artist who reopened the new WECC. The songwriter says just like a best friend, it’s a place you can always count on.
“The venue always treats people right,” Workman concludes. “You play across this country long enough and you make a mental list of the places you can really rely on and the WECC is one of those. Live music is at its core. It has a theatre feel versus a club feel; it’s the perfect hybrid and people come to shows there with their hearts open.”
The West End Cultural Centre has won the Western Canadian Music Award for Venue of the Year six times since 2002. To view a list of past performers visit: https://www.wecc.ca/past-performers
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/West-End-Cultural-Centre-Circa-e1557008607214.jpg11171600DavidDavid2020-04-10 19:07:022020-04-10 21:12:15From Portuguese Club to Winnipeg Music Mecca: A History of the West End Cultural Centre
History in the making at Hamilton Golf and Country Club
Hamilton Golf and Country Club, host to this June’s RBC Canadian Open, has a storied past, a bright future and a veteran superintendent leading the way.
April 2019 | David McPherson
Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario, should be at its greenest glory June 6-9 when it welcomes the RBC Canadian Open, previously contested in late July. Photos courtesy of Hamilton Golf and Country Club
“If you have the money to spend, there is no reason why you should not have one of the finest golf courses in America.”
— Harry Shapland Colt, in a letter to Hamilton Golf and Country Club prior to his visit in 1914
Famed British golf course architect Harry Colt, whose work includes such courses as Royal Portrush and Muirfield, predicted more than a century ago that Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Ancaster, Ontario, would become a special place. One hundred and five years on, as some of the best golfers in the world will see come June when the facility hosts the RBC Canadian Open for the sixth time, that vision has become reality. Hamilton is not only one of the oldest clubs in the Americas, but it also perennially ranks as one of the top five courses in Canada.
Hamilton opened in 1894 and has since hosted the Canadian Open five times. The first, in 1919, featured two of the most legendary names in golf — Bobby Jones and Francis Ouimet — but it was J. Douglas Edgar who made history at the event, winning by 16 strokes, a PGA Tour record that still stands as the largest margin of victory. The other players who have won the Canadian Open at Hamilton are Tommy Armour (1930), Bob Tway (2003), Jim Furyk (2006) and Scott Piercy (2012).
For the past three decades, Rhod Trainor, CGCS, has called Hamilton home. Trainor arrived at the club in 1990. This year will be his last. Is there a better way to wrap up a successful 30-year tenure than hosting his fourth PGA Tour event on the centennial of the year the club first hosted Canada’s national open?
Circle the date: RBC Canadian Open
Last July, when the PGA Tour announced a shift in Canadian Open scheduling — from late July to early June — a smile crept onto the faces of most Canadian golf fans, especially Laurence Applebaum, CEO of Golf Canada. Following the announcement, Applebaum said, “The new 2019 date change is a clear demonstration of our combined commitment to the game and Canada’s national championship. This exciting change will inject tremendous energy into the RBC Canadian Open and make Canadian golf better.”
The gallery walks from the No. 11 tee during the 1919 Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. J. Douglas Edgar won the event by 16 strokes, which remains a PGA Tour record for victory margin.
Eventual champion Scott Piercy heads toward the 18th green during the 2012 RBC Canadian Open at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
The June date for the event — June 6-9, sandwiched between the Memorial and the U.S. Open — is better for attracting more top players and is ideal for achieving prime playing conditions. When the new date was announced, another person whose smile widened a bit was Trainor.
“I love the date,” the 37-year GCSAA member says. “Early June is when we have some of our best conditions. I remember reading an article years ago about why the U.S. Open is always held in the first two weeks of June, and it said because it was often hosted at the top private courses in the Northeast, and that is when their course conditions and weather are the best. Going forward, this is a much better date for the Canadian Open.”
While the date is great for the turf, from an execution standpoint, it will be a race against time and Mother Nature to get everything ready. “It will be a mad scramble for all the setup people,” Trainor says.
A head start on tournament prep
Early preparation for hosting Canada’s sole PGA Tour event started last fall. Trainor and his crew completed edging on all the course’s aging bunkers, a practice that’s normally done in spring.
“We did that to allow for a little grow-back along our bunker edges to put our best face on for the tournament,” Trainor says. “Edging was also a little more aggressive than normal, as we, in many cases, went beyond the designed edge to cut back to mature turf. This will allow the bunkers to have more visual appeal. Barring any major rainstorms, the bunkers should look and play great for the tournament.”
The Hamilton crew aerated and sand-filled greens — including this one on No. 7 — last fall. The staff faces an abbreviated timeline to get the course ready for the Canadian Open in early June, which superintendent Rhod Trainor says “is usually when the course begins to wake up.”
Trainor admits nothing short of a complete renovation can remedy some of the long-term bunker issues he and his team face. And that might just be on the horizon: Trainor is hopeful the membership will approve moving forward with a master plan — or at least parts of it — prepared by Martin Ebert of Mackenzie and Ebert (see “Dreaming of a renovation at Hamilton Golf and Country Club,” below).
In spring, there won’t be much time to do many in-depth preparations other than the normal spring cleanup. “The first week of June is usually when the course begins to wake up, so there will be little time to recover from any extra activities or winter damage,” Trainor explains.
Preparing to put the course to bed last fall, knowing the reduced timeline to have the course ready for the Canadian Open, Trainor and his team also took extra precautions with expanded treatment on roughs for winter disease. “Normally we just treat greens, tees and fairways,” he says. “This winter, we also added to our greens cover inventory to ensure all sensitive turf on greens was covered.”
Wide-open spaces
Since the last time Hamilton hosted the Canadian Open in 2012, there have been few changes to the course aside from a massive tree removal program. That recommendation, which Trainor had been giving the club for 20 years, finally came to fruition in the spring of 2014 after a winter of discontent that saw the greens at many private courses near Hamilton die. The course removed nearly 1,000 mature trees, including silver maple, willow and ash.
“The tree removal has totally changed and improved our turf conditions,” Trainor says. “The views across the course are also different. You now see the true topography of the land the way Harry Colt saw it 100 years ago. Back in 1914 when Colt came here, he didn’t look for land that was forested. He looked for open land. He built this course on a big open area, and it has since changed. I love what David Oatis from the USGA, who consults for us, says about this: ‘We’ve taken an 18-hole landscape and made it 18 one-hole landscapes.’
“The pros and the fans will notice this,” Trainor adds. “The feedback every spring when members come back and see the course again with these extensive tree removals we’ve done has been more than positive. … It’s always, ‘Wow!’”
A drone’s eye view of the 18th fairway at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.
When it comes to preparing for a professional event, Trainor is already well versed in what to do and what to expect, considering he has been at the helm for three previous Canadian Opens. Many of the contractors — from the security to the tent setup companies — are the same, so they all know their role and the timelines involved in staging such a large-scale event. The PGA Tour is also familiar with the course.
That said, Trainor and his team do not plan to rest on their laurels.
“Preparation all comes down to agronomics and timing,” Trainor says. “We added a little extra fertilizer last fall. We have beautiful growing conditions in the spring. Since the tournament arrives in the middle to end of our spring flush of growth, we should have some substantial rough.”
The key to Hamilton truly challenging the best players in the world is that it must be dry. If there is any significant rain leading up to the tournament, Trainor says the course will lose some of its edge and its key defenses, and the PGA Tour players will be firing at pins. “When our greens and fairways get wet,” he says, “they don’t dry out quickly.”
Come tournament time, Trainor will have a crew of about 25 full- and part-time staff. About 50 volunteers, mostly fellow greenkeepers from surrounding courses pitching in their time and expertise, will complement this core staff.
“Everything we do in the spring will be geared to that tournament and also managing the letdown once the tournament has left town,” he says. “I’ve already talked about that a bit with my staff. After the tournament, because we still have a long golf season ahead of us, I’ll need my team to get rallied up for that again, and that will be a challenge.”
Dreaming of a renovation at Hamilton Golf and Country Club
Rhod Trainor hopes that by the time his fellow industry colleagues are reading this story, Hamilton Golf and Country Club’s membership will have voted on and approved the comprehensive master plan prepared by Martin Ebert of Mackenzie and Ebert.
Beyond hosting the PGA Tour’s RBC Canadian Open, the prospect of this renovation is what excites Trainor most. He says the plan will be presented to the membership in April or May, and if it gets approved, work could begin as early as September of this year.
“At this point, it boils down to two options: a complete course renovation, including a new irrigation system, new greens and renovated bunkers, or doing just the greens,” Trainor says. “The irrigation system is 30 years old, and the greens are just soil-based, so they have very little drainage.
“Our greens have always been the worst part of our course. They are too steep, and there is really nothing about them anymore that is ‘Harry Colt.’ If I only had one choice, I would do the greens.”
Right: Rhod Trainor, CGCS, who has been the superintendent at Hamilton Golf and Country Club since 1990 and will host his fourth RBC Canadian Open at the club in June.
The severity of the slope on the greens makes it difficult to find suitable pin positions that are not overly penal, especially when the PGA Tour arrives and requires five possible pin locations per green. Because the greens are Poa annua, they are also more susceptible to disease, especially during the unpredictable southern Ontario winters. Trainor says the course spends between $20,000 and $25,000 annually in greens cover management as a preventive maintenance strategy. With brand-new bentgrass greens, covers would not be necessary.
“It will be interesting to see what the membership does,” Trainor says. “All the old crowd, (they) don’t want to do anything. … They want to just take the golf course as it is to the grave with them, whereas the young guys want new greens now.”
Ebert has prepared a hole-by-hole master plan that includes the history of everything that has been done at the club over the past 100 years. “He has given us a complete storyboard of where we are currently and a compelling argument to redo the greens,” Trainor says. The fact that the club is set to host the RBC Canadian Open again in 2023 is a definite selling point for the membership to approve Ebert’s master plan.
While Trainor will say goodbye to his home away from home for the past three decades at the end of the 2019 season, he plans to stay active in the turf and golf course maintenance industry. And he hopes, if the Hamilton renovation gets approved, that he can offer his services to the club in some capacity. “I’m not retiring from the business,” the 64-year-old says. “I’m just retiring from the club. I just won’t grow grass here anymore.”
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/hamilton-golf-and-country-club.jpg584800DavidDavid2020-04-10 19:02:462020-04-10 21:14:44History in the making at Hamilton Golf and Country Club
From Big Band Dance Hall to Lakeside Musical Landmark: A History of Muskoka’s The Kee to Bala
July 07, 2019
Picture this: a sultry summer night, circa early-to-mid 1990s. The exact date is not important. It’s all part of the magic and the lore. Joey Ramone, with his trademark black leather jacket and tight blue jeans slinks out of a rented white van. Sweat drips from his furrowed brow. He gazes at the tall pines and the beauty of this ever-changing Group of Seven painting come to life as he takes the last drag of his cigarette. The place: a tiny Muskoka town. The venue: The Kee to Bala. Far from his New York home, the skinny punk rocker is definitely out of place. No matter. He is here to spread his punk-rock gospel to Canadian cottagers. He steps into the club, removes his jacket, and hangs it on a rack in the cramped backstage area. A couple of hours later, Ramone steps onto that storied stage. With his trademark 1-2-3-4, the band launch into a spirited evening that added to the already legendary status of this venue.
This Ramones moment is just one of hundreds of snapshots in time that have played out in Ontario cottage country at The Kee — the big wooden barn structure on Lake Muskoka that is a summer tradition equal to barbecues and road trips for many Southern Ontario music lovers.
Sue McCallum, who was doing publicity for MCA Records at the time, recalls this memorable gig. Her beat-up Honda was decorated with stickers of this seminal New York punk band. She was a fan before she got into the business, so doing publicity for them was a dream come true. “They didn’t even know what cottage country meant,” says McCallum of this event. “I also remember Johnny [Ramone] asking me that day, and it has haunted me for the rest of my life, ‘what is it about our music that you like?’ I froze and stammered out, ‘it’s the songs.’”
Long before there were roads to Bala, it was a whistle stop for Big Bands to perform their songs. Everyone travelled by steamship in the early days; later, they arrived by train. Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Guy Lombardo and Tommy Dorsey all played in Bala at The Kee’s predecessor Dunn’s Pavilion where you could fetch a ticket for $2.50.
Flash back to 1929. That’s when Gerry Dunn purchased the property with the idea to build a venue that would attract small orchestras to the area. Dunn hoped to capitalize on the increased tourist traffic expected with the completion of rail service right to the village of Bala. One of the earliest slogans for the new venue was “Where All of Muskoka Dances.” And, dance they did six days a week. Before the first decade of operation finished, the place was so jammed a new venue was needed. So, in 1942, Dunn’s Pavilion opened. Dunn operated the dance hall for the next 21 years, before selling to Ray Cockburn in 1963, who renamed the venue The Kee to Bala. In the ensuing years, there have been several ownership changes, but the structure and the spirit have remained relatively unchanged.
Today, The Kee to Bala is still the place “where all of Muskoka dances”; it exists in Dunn’s original building and is one of Muskoka’s iconic landmarks. Over the years everyone from Crowbar and Lighthouse; the Tragically Hip and Rough Trade, to The Fabulous Thunderbirds and even Snoop Dogg, have played this historic venue. Cottagers and city folk alike make the trek to this hallowed hall most summer weekends. Some travel by boat, others hitchhike for miles. That is part of the mystique and what makes seeing a show at this venue so unique. Many artists rent or stay in cottages in the area with their families and make it a mini-vacation.
This year, the venue celebrates its 78th anniversary. The Sheepdogs have already played a pair of sold-out shows there in early July. Still to come: Alan Doyle, Steve Earle & The Dukes, David Wilcox, The Arkells, 54-40, Kim Mitchell and more.
Mitchell has been making The Kee a regular stop on his summer schedule for decades. Flash back to 1989. He and his band arrived, along with truckloads of gear, to capture a MuchMusic Big Ticket Special. You can see a glimpse here from the Rockland Wonderland DVD produced from this concert. Later, Mitchell returned to film parts of his “I Am a Wild Party” video at The Kee. Doug McClement via his LiveWire Remote Recorders captured the Big Ticket Special 30 years ago. What he recalls the most is some songs used three drummers, which made it difficult to get the sound on tape just right. “It was tricky to fit it all on 24 analog tracks,” McClement explains.
Speaking of drummers, Bazil Donovan, Blue Rodeo’s bassist, has a tale to share that involves their former keeper of the beat Cleave Anderson. The beloved Canadian band has played The Kee for a long time. The first time they performed at the Muskoka venue was definitely the most interesting. “Our drummer’s wife was pregnant and she ended up having the baby the day we played The Kee,” says Donovan. “We thought we would have to sub him out, but he ended up making the gig. We didn’t go on until 10:30 p.m. and his wife gave birth earlier in the day so it gave him time to get there.”
“It is such a fun place to play,” Donovan adds. “Most times we would do two nights and stay at a cottage down the road.”
It’s also a room where you have to let loose since the audience is so loud, making it a hard stage to play, unless you turn up the amps. “It’s definitely a good rock room!” Donovan concludes. “If you are going to be sensitive and quiet, they will drown you out.”
To learn more about Muskoka, Ontario’s famed The Kee to Bala or for information on upcoming shows visit: thekee.com
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Kee-To-Ball-Historical-1024x576-1.jpg5761024DavidDavid2020-04-10 18:59:122020-04-10 21:15:21From Big Band Dance Hall to Lakeside Musical Landmark: A History of Muskoka’s The Kee to Bala
DAVID MCPHERSON SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 24, 2019
Hamilton’s James Street Baptist Church is being converted into a new high-rise condo project.HUE DEVELOPMENTS AND LCH DEVELOPMENTS/HANDOUT
Historically, communities have been built around churches. Now, the latest real estate trend is flipping this formula and turning these historical buildings into neighbourhood hubs.
Over the past few decades, church conversions have taken place in most major cities across North America. Whether it’s the shrinking congregation size or rising maintenance costs, the question is how to preserve these buildings for future generations, while keeping them relevant and useful for current use.
Over the years, a number of solutions have evolved. Some churches rent out space to help offset capital costs. Some building owners sell the property to developers or simply shutter the doors. Still others are repurposed and reimagined as new spaces to congregate either as concert halls, special-event venues or as condo-conversion residential units. It’s this last solution that appears to have a devoted following both among amateur renovators as well as professional developers. Consider the HGTV show House Hunters: Outside the Box, where buyers bid to buy unique properties such as decommissioned churches and out-of-use train stations that are now transformed into stunning residential homes.
This is precisely what is happening to Hamilton’s James Street Baptist Church. Designed by Joseph Connolly, and opened in 1882, the Ontario heritage building is the city’s oldest surviving Baptist church. Located in the Durand neighbourhood, between Gore Park and King William Street, the former church is just steps away from Hamilton GO Centre station and a stop along the planned LRT.
Yet, the structure sat in decline for years until a consortium that included the City of Hamilton as well as Vietnamese-based Hue Developments, architects mcCallumSather and Toronto-based project manager LCH gave the structure a second lease on life as the Connolly Condos.
Set to go on sale this fall, the project incorporates what remains of the church into the modern elegant design; the high-rise features a 30-storey mixed-use tower with 315 residential units, ground-floor commercial space and 7,000 square feet of amenity areas spread across two floors.
DEVELOPER HICCUPS ALMOST SCUPPERED THIS CHURCH CONVERSION
For a while, it appeared there was no salvation for this building. Flashback to 2013, when developer Louie Santaguida bought the property via his company Stanton Renaissance. His plans were to build a condominium tower called the Connolly, but to do this, he needed to demolish two-thirds of the existing church building.
Heritage advocates protested, but in the end, Stanton was granted a permit to demolish all but the front third of the church. That happened five years ago. Since the demolition, the remaining church façade has stood behind a chain-link fence until the project finally went into receivership in 2017.
Another year went by and in walked Hue Developments, which bought the land in 2018.
“Certainly there were some in the core who didn’t feel confident the parcel was an attraction following the Stanton bankruptcy,” Ward 2 Hamilton Councillor Jason Farr says. “I will not forget one of the first meetings I had as a newly elected councillor in 2011. It was with the then-operators of the James Street Baptist. They had a declining congregation and growing capital and operating expenses. They wanted me to know they could no longer sink megabucks into a building that was literally crumbling each day. We met in the front corner office and before I sat down, they said, ‘Listen to the walls every time a bus goes by.’ I did.”
Extensive work was required to rebuild and fortify the church foundation, which is now the facade of the new Connolly high-rise project.HUE DEVELOPMENTS AND LCH DEVELOPMENTS/HANDOUT
Mr. Farr recalls how jarring the sound was when the bus rolled by. “You could hear the century-old mortar and stone falling between the walls.”
The project became a prime candidate for ‘façadism’ support, Mr. Farr says, which means it was eligible for zoning assistance and heritage grants and loans offered by the City of Hamilton.
“A third of this property is now protected by heritage designation and is set to be fully restored with assistance from some of the most robust municipal heritage grant and loan programs of any city in Canada,” he adds.
NEW DEVELOPER HAS A STRONG DESIRE TO BUILD AND PRESERVE
While Hue Developments is new to Canada, they are one of Southeast Asia’s top developers, with more than 20 years of real estate and construction experience. As the international arm of Hoa Binh, which trades on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange, the firm currently has 92 projects under construction and operates in 40 provinces and four countries.
“Our biggest focus since taking over this project has been to do a better job at showcasing the church, and reintegrating it into the building and community,” says Luke Wywrot, managing partner at LCH, the Toronto-based real estate development firm hired to project manage this build. “We recognize Connolly’s impact will be greater than just the building; we are filling a void in Hamilton.”
McCallumSather, a mid-sized architecture firm headquartered in Hamilton is involved to help make sure the collective cultural heritage of this building is preserved. This bodes well for the project, given that mcCallumSather is known for award-winning innovative design and heritage projects, such as McMaster Institute for Music & the Mind and the Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation on the Mohawk College Campus – the first net-zero building in Ontario and the largest net-zero facility in Canada. Natural Resources Canada will award buildings the net-zero designation if the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy created by the facility.
DEEP EMOTIONAL TIES TO HERITAGE BUILDINGS
Drew Hauser, director at mcCallumSather, still recalls the day when two-thirds of the church was demolished four years ago. It was one of the toughest days of his career.
“That was the hardest emotional job I’ve worked on,” Hauser says. “People sent me personal messages and hate mail, basically saying, ‘How could you allow this building to come down? It is part of our cultural heritage.’ ” It was hard to hear for Mr. Hauser. Still, the veteran architect is confident. “We’ve supported a design that allows the most important parts of the building to remain and be relevant.”
By developing a design that retains an important piece of that collective memory, Mr. Hauser believes the city benefits in the long run.
“People have this collective memory of a place. Cities are not static. They are always in a state of flux. The building long outlasts us. The collective memory, those stories, continue on,” he says.
Connolly’s most iconic feature is a rose window that spans 30-feet across its façade. This is being incorporated into the condos’ state-of-the-art gym. In a way, exercise is like a religion for many, so it seems fitting that this iconic window will find its new home in a new place of worship.
This project is just one example of Hamilton’s broader transformation from its long-held label as Steeltown to a metropolis known for innovation, renaissance and constant growth.
For Mr. Farr, it’s about time.
“As a lifelong inner-city kid who endured decades of stagnation and even decline, it’s an honour to be in this seat with folks who are really into climbing on board and building on our city’s unprecedented momentum,” he says.
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/RQB26UDKEVBUDAY5KD64W5YYTI.jpg349620DavidDavid2020-04-10 18:52:002020-04-10 21:17:06Church conversions pave the path for renewal
New student residence solves space and usage issues at Hamilton’s McMaster University
DAVID MCPHERSON SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2019
The southwest view of the new 11-storey student residence at Hamilton McMaster University. The new residence offers views of the surrounding natural wetlands and forest.DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS/HANDOUT
On a recent morning in late August, suitcases spilled from minivans as a steady stream of first-year McMaster University students arrived on campus. Some were apprehensive of what lay ahead, while others couldn’t wait for their parents to leave. No matter their state of mind on that exciting first day, their transition from high school to post-secondary life is destined to be memorable and enjoyable in their brand-new home away from home for the coming year.
These lucky learners were the inaugural occupants of the recently opened Peter George Centre for Living and Learning (PGCLL) – the first new residence to be built on the campus in 15 years.
Peter George was an esteemed and personable economist and professor who, prior to his retirement and death in 2017, served as McMaster’s president and vice-chancellor for 15 years. The residence that honours him is located on the north end of the campus, on a site chosen to encompass as much green space as possible – and the couple of Quonset huts, utility buildings and tennis courts that came down to make room for it are not much missed.
With 350 rooms, 518 beds and seven floors of housing, PGCLL helps McMaster narrow the current shortage of campus residence space. With its completion, the University does not have enough residence beds to meet student demand. Several other residence projects are in the planning stages to further narrow the gap.
But this $110-million, 11-storey building is more than just a space for students to rest their heads. PGCLL is also a community hub – a 335,000-square-foot hybrid high-rise that brings together a diverse collection of university functions under one roof.
In addition to three auditorium-size classrooms ranging in capacity from 410 to 640 and a Student Wellness Centre, it’s also the new home of the McMaster Childcare Centre – a modern, state-of-the-art daycare facility with large windows and an outdoor play area carpeted with artificial grass. Situated on a secure second floor that is separated from the rest of the academic and residential sections of the building, parents and kids ride up in a dedicated elevator to gain access to the Centre.
“Peter [George] was a champion for all aspects of student life,” says Sean Van Koughnett, associate vice-president of students and learning and dean of students. “This building is a fitting tribute and symbol to his time at McMaster.” Further contributing to that lasting legacy are inspiring quotes attributed to the educator and student advocate that are displayed in every elevator lobby on the seven residence floors.
UNIVERSITIES EMBRACE INNOVATION TO ADDRESS SOARING ENROLMENTS
As available space on campuses decreases – and student enrolments rise – colleges and universities across Canada are looking for creative and innovative ways to meet these growing demands for capacity and enhance the student experience. The process of planning for how to accommodate McMaster’s future space needs, for about 31,000 students, began six years ago.
“We knew we had a growing student population, and we also understood that the types of teaching [and] learning spaces we needed to provide were evolving,” Mr. Van Koughnett says. “We understood the value that living in residence brings to students, while there was an increasing need for services such as health and wellness, which previously was crammed into the basement of the student centre.”
After many brainstorming sessions, the idea of a building that could accommodate all of these needs in one place began to take shape. From initial discussions to completion was a five-year process wherein “the whole would become greater than the sum of its parts,” Mr. Van Koughnett says.
DESIGN DECISIONS INSPIRED BY NEW TEACHING/LEARNING STYLES
The atrium at the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, the newly built 11-storey student residence at Hamilton’s McMaster University, enables students to gather and collaborate in an open, inviting environment.DIAMOND SCHMITT ARCHITECTS/HANDOUT
Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects – who are responsible for the Ontario Science Centre, the Weston Family Innovation Centre and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts – took up the challenge of designing the facility.
Using all of their available resources and creativity, Diamond Schmitt designed a space where the various uses of the new learning centre and campus residence would work together seamlessly. The result was a new building, now the largest on the Hamilton campus, unlike any the university has ever seen.
Within the learning resource there are academic spaces where three large rooms are stacked on top of the other. The lower two house the auditoria, which with their raked floors and seating capacities of 650 and 500 give the university much-needed space to hold large exams and host supersized first-year classes. The upper room is an active learning area, which can seat 400 at 45 large round tables and is lined with large TV monitors that allow for interactive discussions. All of the walls are finished with whiteboard material to facilitate writing and sketches.
Gone are the days where students sat rigidly at their desks and listened to a professor lecture for an hour while they frantically took notes. Many university instructors now take a more free-flow approach to teaching, walking around and engaging in active discussions, breaking the classes up into working pods and using the latest technology to share information between the students’ laptops and giant monitors on the walls. Even the furniture was designed so that students can turn around and face their peers for group discussions to further facilitate this new learning style.
“Our biggest challenge was to make sure each of the spaces were defined and secure,” explains project architect Antra Roze. “All traffic into the building comes and goes through the main space where a helical (curved) staircase is the central visual, in the middle of the atria, that guides people up, giving them views and cues as to where to go next and encourages people to stop and look out over the spaces.”
MULTITASKING FACILITIES MAKE THE SMARTEST POSSIBLE USE OF SPACE
Another McMaster department that stands to benefit from the PGCLL – both practically and economically – is the conference and events team. With three lecture halls of different sizes, study and breakout spaces, plus food services and 350 rooms, the new facility is ideal for hosting conferences and special events during the summer months when most of the students have left.
“It’s a smart use of resources to have activity in our buildings 12 months of the year, rather than sitting dormant for four months in the summer,” Mr. Van Koughnett says.
Ryerson University’s Daphne Coxwell Health Science Complex, which opened this fall, also features student accommodations and academic classrooms in the same building. Expect this trend of multi-functional buildings to continue as other campuses follow McMaster’s lead.
PGCLL BENEFITS SURROUNDING CITY OF HAMILTON AS WELL AS STUDENTS
From the lounges on each of the residence’s seven floors, expansive windows offer unobstructed views of Cootes Paradise, a nearby natural sanctuary and wetland surrounded by forest, and McMaster’s athletic fields. At 20,000 square feet (nearly double the space it previously occupied in the basement of the student centre), the new Student Wellness Centre is filled with natural light and reflects well-being. It is staffed by a variety of specialized health professionals to meet the physical, mental and emotional needs of McMaster students.
The Peter George Centre for Living and Learning not only benefits current and future McMaster students, it also aligns with the university’s mission statement by contributing to the greater good of the City of Hamilton.
“McMaster is a huge player within the City of Hamilton,” Mr. Van Koughnett says. “Our mandate is to be economically and socially integrated into the city by generating and attracting business to the region – not only is that good for the city, but it’s good for the university.”
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/CBR6YKII7JDKNM46KX64OPE7EQ.jpg413620DavidDavid2020-04-10 18:49:082020-04-10 21:20:15New student residence solves space and usage issues at Hamilton’s McMaster University
A new market experience evolves from old shipping containers and a new retail vision
DAVID MCPHERSON
SPECIAL TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED AUGUST 13, 2019
Stackt Market, the long-anticipated modular market in downtown Toronto, opened its doors to the public in April, unveiling dozens of new retail, food, beverage, service, experience and community spaces within roughly 120 shipping containers. MATT RUBINOFF/HANDOUT
On any given weekend, close to Bathurst and Front Streets in downtown Toronto, you’ll find a block-long line of people taking shape. Even early in the morning, the line consists of urbanites, hipsters and tourists – all waiting patiently for donuts. Not just any deep-fried dessert with a hole in the middle, mind you. We are talking about gourmet creations – in flavours such as Lemon Lavender and Brown Butter Walnut – from Hamilton’s Donut Monster.
So, why would a successful Hamilton donut shop choose to open near Toronto’s King West area? The promise of brisk business, for one, but also because Donut Monster is one of approximately 40 hand-picked vendors invited to set up shop as part of Canada’s latest and largest shipping-container modular marketplace.
It’s called Stackt Market (or simply ‘Stackt’) and it is, quite easily, one of the coolest new public spaces in one of the fastest growing neighbourhoods in this already massive city.
CONTAINER SPACE BRINGS BUSINESS BUZZ
With 120 shipping containers occupying 100,000 square feet of land owned by the City of Toronto, Stackt Market officially opened on April 10. The lease will be in effect until September, 2020, although there is hope for an extension as residents and city hall become increasingly aware of the benefits of this one-of-a-kind curated space.
Not too long ago, the 2.5-acre patch of vacant land that Stackt now occupies sat derelict, waiting for someone with the right vision to give it new life. When the parcel eventually became available, founder Matt Rubinoff went to work, bringing life to his vision of a container space where the community could gather, connect and share experiences.
Designed entirely out of shipping containers, Stackt offers a new outdoor all-season retail experience for both retailers and their clients.PATRICK LEUNG/HANDOUT
Five years later, Stackt is now a thriving King West hot spot, complete with free WiFi, dog-friendly greenspace and a revolving door of trendy retailers. Given its resounding success, Mr. Rubinoff would love to take the container market concept to other neighbourhoods.
“If the lease is not renewed, you could pick up everything and move it to another site,” he says. “Although, we are hoping the community embraces the project and we get the opportunity to stay longer.”
SHIPPING CONTAINERS OPEN UP NEW SPOTS AROUND THE WORLD
For years, Mr. Rubinoff lived close by, at Tecumseh and Richmond Streets, in Toronto’s still-developing west end. He knew the area well, and it was during a trip overseas that he became passionate about bringing this new retail model back to one of Canada’s most eclectic cities.
In the United Kingdom alone, there are more than a dozen of these food, retail or office spaces – all housed in repurposed shipping containers. One well-known example is Pop Brixton, South London’s version of the pop-up retail community, which, like Stackt, has become a thriving community on disused land.
“The best examples of reusing shipping containers to create an ever-evolving marketplace are in the U.K.,” he says. “Not all are retail. Some are co-working creative spaces. But as soon as I saw them, I thought this would be a great option for Toronto.”
MAKING THE TEMPORARY TORONTO VERSION WORK
During a recent tour of the Stackt marketplace, Mr. Rubinoff greeted every vendor with a smile and by name. His easy familiarity is not surprising when you consider that he selected each tenant to ensure Stackt would be occupied by the right mix of businesses and that they would all complement each other.
There’s a diverse mix of rotating vendors – everything from boutique design firms and vintage clothing stores to purveyors of semi-permanent tattoos (inkbox) and even a vegan butcher (YamChops). With something new to be discovered around each corner, the market has evolved to become somewhat of a destination experience.
Belgian Moon has set up a state-of-the-art mobile brewery at Stackt.PATRICK LEUNG/HANDOUT
In addition to retail outlets, the site boasts 12,000 square feet of event space, as well as a state-of-the-art mobile brewery and taproom set up by Belgian Moon Brewery. There is even a greenhouse being used as a community garden by tenants in the nearby condos who don’t have balconies of their own.
The pièce de résistance of the entire Bathurst Street project just might be the Forme 1 Pavilion that opened in July. Created by the Toronto-based multidisciplinary art-and-design studio Stacklab (the similar name is a coincidence), Forme 1 Pavilion will host a rotating lineup of local and international chefs, offering visitors a food-and-drink experience unlike any other.
“We wanted to use materials that were readily available, because the site is temporary and the timelines were quick,” Stacklab founder Jeffrey Forrest says. “There was an expectation to make the project feasible in the choice of our materials. [For instance] Tyvek (high-density polyethylene house wrap) is one of the biggest materials we used; it diffuses light beautifully, and after it is used in this incarnation, it can be redeployed back into the construction world.”
The pavilion is held together with 90,000 pounds of reclaimed concrete and heavy-duty ratchet straps, with scaffolding and shrink wrap among the other recycled materials used. Upon first glance, one might think the site is still under construction, but that, Mr. Forrest says, is the point – the artistic vision all along was to make the Pavilion spatial.
He believes that collaborating with Mr. Rubinoff’s team on Stackt was the perfect fit for the experiment, and he hopes the project will provoke a dialogue about the current Toronto construction landscape. As most commercial developers know, the approval process can take years, and Mr. Forrest would love to see more developers and project planners make better use of the time between planning and shovels hitting the ground. Rather than chain-link fence surrounding an empty lot, he’d like to see these empty, unused sites developed more often into thriving temporary communities.
“In Toronto, you see these ugly unused sites everywhere, and I see it as a missed opportunity,” he says. “They are anti-social, inward-facing and often unattractive spaces. What Stackt has proven is that disused space can be reprogrammed temporarily, feasibly and in an engaging way.”
RETAILERS AND URBAN PLANNERS ALIKE LOVE THE STACKT CONCEPT
Retail space with low rent is the draw for small-business owners. For some, it’s an ideal way to build their brand before branching out and setting up shop elsewhere. For other, more established brands, such as Indigo and BMO, the pop-up business model fosters a closer, community feel. Whatever the reason, virtually every Stackt tenant agrees that the customer experience offered by this retail community is remarkable, and something that traditional stores cannot replicate.
Janna Levitt, Stackt’s designer and principal at LGA Architectural Partners (formerly Levitt Goodman Architects), believes shipping-container construction is a trend that shows no sign of slowing down. No stranger to such projects, Ms. Levitt says these rebuilds create opportunities. Prior to Stackt, Ms. Levitt and her firm worked on Market 707 for the Scadding Court Community Centre at Dundas and Bathurst Streets, as well as the Welcome Hut at Evergreen Brick Works. For the latter project, a salvaged shipping container was retrofitted through the use of sustainable construction techniques and recycled materials.
“All these spaces were previously considered unattractive, dangerous or not useful,” Ms. Levitt says. “Now we can redevelop through existing materials and infrastructure by using shipping-container builds and this makes for a better quality of urban life.”
https://davidmcpherson.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/W4C5JUIHZBBGXPTETOJXNM7ZMU.jpg413620DavidDavid2020-04-10 18:46:322020-04-10 21:22:42A new market experience evolves from old shipping containers and a new retail vision
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