Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

[Garvin Nunes]

As some of you know The Hamilton City Chess Club has been getting a room from the Hamilton Wentworth Board of Education for the last few years. Due to the sale of their main administrative building we are no longer able to get a room from them for the summer months.

After looking around we were able to get a room with the Red Cross on 400 King Street East although we have had to switch our meeting day from Friday to Wednesday. Weekly tournament start times remain the same. (Come for 7pm to register). The rooms are smaller but the place is well air conditioned. (We hope by late September or October to be back on Fridays in a bigger location so keep your fingers crossed.)

Unfortunately the Board of Education has also decided to stop renting us school locations for the summer months as well. So until further notice we will not be holding the Hamilton Summer Open weekend swiss event. Those of you who wish to contact a trustee on our behalf are invited to do so..but please be polite should you choose to write them a letter. Their main website is:

http://www.hwdsb.on.ca/

In the meantime Robert Gillanders and Gordon Gooding who are most of Hamilton's tournament helpers have decided to have a one day tournament in Milton on August 24. So if you want to go to a touranment with the same kind of feel that we have here in Hamilton please check out their event. You can learn more about it by visiting the following thread:

http://www.chesstalk.info/forum/showthread.php?t=7019

Anyways I want to thank you all who have supported our weekend swiss events year after year. Obviously we could not have had the success we did without all of you who attended. And, hopefully, sometime soon, we will be able to announce another one.

[John Brown]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

Hi Garvin;

Sorry about no Hamilton Summer Open.
That was one of my favorite events lately.
Hope all will look better in the future.

[Jordan S. Berson]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

Unfortunately the Board of Education has also decided to stop renting us school locations for the summer months as well.

Hi Gavin,

That is very unfortunate. Did the Board provide any explanation as to their decision?

Jordan

[Zeljko Kitich]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

The Germania club is one possibility you may want to look into if you choose.

[Zeljko Kitich]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

Not sure if you are aware but someone on facebook is suggesting to me that the Red Cross building is slated for demolition in a year or so.

[Garvin Nunes]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

Hi Gavin,

That is very unfortunate. Did the Board provide any explanation as to their decision?

Jordan

Due to a bunch of changes in the city McMaster purchased the bulding we were using.

What hasn't been explained is why we can't use the high schools during the summer. (The staff always gets overtime pay etc.)

[Zeljko Kitich]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

Hi Gavin,

That is very unfortunate. Did the Board provide any explanation as to their decision?

Jordan

Jordan, this has been a high profile and controversail issue, one might even say on-going saga, in Hamilton. McMaster wants to use the board property to establish a downtown walk in family medical clinic to address the doctor shortage in Hamilton and the board wants to move their headquarters to the mountain. One of the things that has made it so controversial is that it would mean demolishing the current board of ed HQ which to say the least is one of the best architectural buildings downtown,and quite possibly in the whole of Hamilton. Judge for yourself: https://www.google.ca/search?num=10&...MeTE4gSFofiOBA It is not that old a building having been built in the 1960s if I remember right and there have been comments by the original architect as well who is still around.

The other controversial issue has been the details of the City's financial involvement and whether McMaster has been completely forthright in the negotiations. I haven't been paying that close attention but I seem to remember that Public Health are supposed to rent space in the new facility and that would mean abandoning other downtown landlords, who are of course complaining.

This is also the same school board that has decided to close numerous primary and secondary schools in Hamilton citing provincial budget restraints and underenrolled schools. Leaving large swaths of Hamilton and area without a secondary school
within reasonable distance. With the possibility of building a couple of megaschools in future to make up for the lack of secondary schools. That coupled with the plan to spend tens of thousands to refurbish a small tennis court at a secondary school in the west end has people really wondering.

In a way this parallels the long drawn out Sagas as to the location of the new Ivor Wynne stadium ahead of the Pam Am games and the possible cycling velodrome for Hamilton. As well as the former Federal building in Hamilton. It seems nothing gets built or demolished or changed in Hamilton without a long drawn out Norse saga the end of which is the 'fat lady' has sang and there will be no cycling velodrome and Ivor Wynne stadium will be rebuilt in the same residential location, lack of parking not with standing. This was no one's first choice as the team wanted a mountain location with lots of parking and the City originally wanted a location in the west end on a brownfield by the Harbour. The team is now asking the city to indemnify it for millions of dollars in case the building is delayed and revenue is lost by the team. The decision to reallign the new stadium north/south instead of the current east/west has just been inadvertantly released, meaning the neighbouring grass soccer stadium will be a goner.

The federal building was a whole other saga as to whether the developer was going to preserve the art work on the building or not, demolish the whole building as originally stated or as it turned out changed his mind half way through and keep part of the building standing, whether the right permits were taken out therefore etc. The work was halted at least once due to improper dust abatement. The other somewhat related saga (yes I'm overusing that word) is the developer's son in his own right was given a grant from the city for downtown development but some are objecting as he still owes the victim of a sexual assault a $300,000 settlement. They also consider the sexual assualt makes him shall we say of unsavory character and not the appropriate beneificiary of a city grant.

[Jordan S. Berson]

Re: Hamilton Summer Open Cancelled & HCCC Moves To New Location

Zeljko,

Thanks for the detailed reply!

It sounds like there is a whole lot of politics involved, and I agree it will be very sad if the Board of Education HQ gets torn down. I hope the Hamilton CC finds an appropriate and permanent home for its players.

I remember the chess clubs in Montreal and Toronto were quite transient, and here in St. John's we have a meeting place that is essentially the student food court at Memorial University. It's not always quiet enough for weekend tournaments, but with the dwindling number of players and a lack of funding, that's all we have.

Good luck Hamilton CC!