So, while I provided Harry with the usual quantity of questions, we agreed to use the questions as a reference point, rather than to answer each (given the constraints on our time). Below, you will find the initial list of questions which provided a reference point for Harry's response, followed by his response. Enjoy 10 Tough Questions- "Stinson style".
The questions:
1. You’ve been received with some mixed reaction in Hamilton. Some see you as a entrepreneur with just what it takes to bring some bold ideas to fruition. Others are leery and question motives, techniques and ability to deliver. What is it about Harry Stinson that triggers these extreme points of view?
2. If you could change one thing about the investment climate in Hamilton, what would that be and why?
3. Setting up investment deals obviously entails being persuasive, winning and sustaining the confidence of prospective investors and delivering on a return on investment. What is the most challenging part of that cycle and how do you approach that challenge.
4. You’ve had entrepreneurial experience in Toronto and other places. How is Hamilton different from an investor’s perspective? Are those differences good or bad?
5. What lesson have you learned the hard way, during the course of your entrepreneurial ventures and how has that changed you?
6. How receptive have you found city council to be to your ideas and observations, and do you think we are setting the right tone to encourage new investment? To the extent we’re not, what would you suggest be done differently?
7. Reflecting upon you initial ideas for the Royal Connaught Hotel, and in recognition of the present thinking which would see the building used, in part, for affordable housing, what do you think the best course of action would be now?
8. Is Harry Stinson misunderstood? If so, how so?
9. Stinson School and your approach to transforming it into living units, sounds very promising. Assuming its success, what other opportunity (ies) might that spawn in the surrounding neighborhood. Do you see the Stinson School project as a catalyst for additional positive spin-offs, or do you see it as a more contained success?
10. Whenever a new idea is proposed, there are always “believers” , “non believers” and those who wait and see. You’ve proposed some bold ideas for Hamilton. How do you respond to the skeptics?
11. If there is one thing that Hamiltonians don’t know about you, and that you think would be useful for them to know, what would that be?
Harry's response
I am not going to apologize for “trying”. Yes, it troubles me to hear the skeptics and naysayers, but the only way to resolve the situation is not through an e-mail debate but by delivering some buildings. That takes a lot of energy and time.
The City of Hamilton is floundering specifically because too many people have given up trying to get things done. Instead, those who have the financial capacity to change the downtown – and there are many people in Hamilton with the personal money and resources to do so – are remaining passive rather than endure the public embarrassment of a “failure” or lose any of their family money. Significantly, much of the private money in Hamilton is multi-generational and the tough old guys who truly understand the concept of entrepreneurialism are gone, or retired.
It is far easier to sit on a Committee or Task Force or go to “Summits” (featuring speakers from out of town) or organize more bloody golf tournaments…. then give each other pretentious awards for all they have done for the community. (Of course, a big banquet is required for this process, attended by the usual suspects giving the same self-righteous speeches).
The Connaught example is a classic. Everyone knows that converting such a prominent civic landmark into public housing sends out exactly the wrong message as to the future of downtown Hamilton. However, it is being justified on the basis that “it’s better than nothing”.
Even the poor folks and older folks whom I talk to on the street think it’s a stupid idea to convert the Connaught into public housing.
In many respects it is precisely the poorer folks and the older people who remember what downtown Hamilton used to be like…. and who are crying out for local leadership to revitalize downtown. These people understand first hand that such a revitalization will in turn create an environment where they could find a decent job, or enjoy their retirement in a neighbourhood similar to Toronto’s St Lawrence market or Queen West.
If “being resigned” to public housing at the Connaught is the level of thinking and ‘action’ that is acceptable … in comparison to offering a vision and then actually making a serious effort to see it happen, (even if it does not work out)……then I certainly have no apologies for at least trying. The Connaught Tower vision captured attention nationally in a positive way, and I certainly didn’t spend any Balsillie bucks in the process.
I really don’t think Hamiltonians in general are looking for leadership based on “why try……,‘cuz it might not work”.
My sense is that most people appreciated the imaginative attempt and the effort.
Can I “deliver”?
I have done so several times before, but it was never easy, nor fast, nor a slam-dunk. It takes many years and much trial and error and many setbacks to transform a non-precedent development vision into a reality. The Candy Factory Lofts in Toronto was a perfect example. The industry and the experts and the bankers all laughed at me when I started trying to develop loft apartments on Queen West……. Then they copied it. Mayor Barbara Hall changed the whole zoning approach to downtown Toronto. And all the mainstream developers started building lofts. Look at Queen West now!
The same lengthy effort was required with 1 King West; it took 10 years. At the beginning, “industry experts” ridiculed the idea that there was any market for residential apartments in the financial district, and that NOBODY would ever pay $400 a square foot for such product. Now, it’s the norm, and $400/sq.ft. is considered low. When you think about it, the vast majority of the buildings developed in Toronto in the last decade have been residential towers, and they are the key to the dynamic of downtown Toronto.
There was also skepticism and derision when I introduced geothermal heating at High Park Lofts 8 years ago. Geo-what?
It is significant that when Tridel (Canada’s largest condo builder) needed a solution for their derelict retail mall under Village by the Grange, the Del Zotto brothers called me personally to come up with a live-work loft vision, which I designed and successfully sold out for them at above-market prices.
The same scenario occurred at the Graphic Arts Building on Richmond, the Knitting Mill on Queen East, the Victorian Tower…..…
Damn right I can deliver….. but nobody offers me the easy stuff.
The experts and bankers told me I was naïve to open a non-smoking restaurant in 1971 (the Groaning Board) because “60% of the population smokes”.
Well, I figured that if I were to open the only restaurant in Toronto which catered to the population that did NOT like smoking, then 40% was not a bad market share.
I hear from - and about – people who say they were ‘big supporters’ but now have “lost faith”.
Huh? In what useful way were they supporters?
Did they buy a suite? Did they invest any money?” Did they offer to personally help?
I certainly don’t recall much in the way of tangible assistance or support from these folks. They can sit around Tim Hortons and ‘save the world’ and they can write all the hour-consuming blogs they wish but I am going to keep persisting with redevelopment in Hamilton.
I am not here to be part of any club or association or to be “one of the gang”. I came because I really see an opportunity here and I love restoring old buildings. It is also no secret that I am starting all over again personally after a very painful partnership meltdown in Toronto in which I basically lost everything.
I came to Hamilton only 18 months ago with no resources, nor any connections, nor any big backers. In the circumstances, I am surprised that so much has been accomplished. I have no apologies for the Connaught vision and I really wish that I could have funded it. Actually I came close but then the wheels fell off the financial world.
I will try to answer the questions in detail later but in the meantime I am focused on actual work (far too much “talk” around here….)
Sorry if this sounds like a rant……. I am a passionate guy
Edit: Harry has added the following:
The present Connaught controversy really puts into focus that Hamilton desperately NEEDS to be encouraging - not discouraging - the 'dreamers'. Instead of saying "I told you so", the message should be "keep trying".
The entire and only justification for recommending the Connaught public housing grant - which I strongly believe is a very bad urban planning decision - is that "it's better than nothing and we don't want the building to sit there and rot anymore". What pathetic leadership.
Good for Bob Bratina and his strenuous opposition to the concept; I hope the other councilors - and the mayor - have a change of heart (and stop listening to bad "legal advice").
Harry characterizes his response as a "rant". What do you think? Is Harry simply recounting the brutal facts? What do you think of his observations and assertions?
Special thanks to Harry and his interest in Hamilton. To read more about Harry and his accomplishments, click here
Great rant, Harry! Hamilton needs more individuals like you. The Stinson School project is a brilliant example of adaptive reuse and I wish you evety success on that one - and on any others that you are working on.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed, a great rant Mr. Stinson! The city is chock full
ReplyDeleteof swingers and bloody clubs. For some of us in Hamilton,
there is little else we can do with our passion than
hour-long blog. And as a plumber, familiar with
the tools of the trade, there is a fair a-
mount of gut wrenching commentary.
Mr. Stinson purports that "Hamilton"
does not encourage "dreamers" in their
visions for a prosperous city. Because of
their flair for unconventional thinking, the
ideas are ridiculed and their actions are easily
thwarted by the conventional wisdom of the schemers
in money management. Let's call a spade a spade, this
city is plagued with tight asse(t)s that eat coal and sh-
IT diamonds.
I don't buy into the Balsillie buck dream for one very
good reason and that is that hockey has become a rich
mans sport. The average Joe cannot afford to take his
family to a game. I can't even tell you the last time
I even seen boys playing street hockey in this city.
And here is a guy who's gonna waste a quarter of a
billion bucks on a team, that dads cannot afford
to take their sons to see. And to make matters
worse, all these newfangled "condo rules" pre-
vent our young people from even playing with
each other in their own neighborhoods. So
what do they do? They run around town
scribbling their tags on buildings.
They've lost touch with their heroes.
Harry is a man with real dreams and a concrete vision.
He walks and talks with the people in this city much
like our humble Lincoln Alexander:
Linc: "Hell, I'm not a big shot"
http://thespec.com/News/Local/article/637694
I would much appreciate Mr. Stinson, hanging out
and sharing his commentary in the Hamiltonian's
"Our Longing" blog. (How's that for encouragement?)
Thanks for sharing Harry
Harry wrote:
ReplyDelete>They can sit around Tim Horton's and 'save the world' and they can write all the hour-consuming blogs they wish
You are so wrong, Harry. We hour-consuming blog writers are sitting around the organic, fair trade coffee shops.
Kidding aside, rock on Harry. You have only been here 18 months, but you have totally nailed the malaise. I'm am wishing you the success that will force the politicains and 'developers' who are destroying our downtown to heed your words.
Mr. Stinson. Tellin it like it is. i like that!Mr. Difalco thankyou for getting Mr. Stionson on here. Run for Mayor Mr. Difalco and team up with Mr. Stinson. Do us all a favour.
ReplyDeleteElvis P.
I like that fact the Mr Stintson has include the voices of those that struggle in his rant
ReplyDelete" Even the poor folks and older folks whom I talk to on the street think it’s a stupid idea to convert the Connaught into public housing."
WRCU2: I'm with you on the hockey team dream, who could afford to take their children. How many children in this city would like to play, yet their parents cannot afford to pay the outrageous fees. When I was a kid, there were always rinks put up , so kids could just play pick up hocky, but that no longer exists.
If you ask me, this whole episode is only going to bring groups across this city together in one voice, it will be the voice of the people and not that of the overpaid, high performing public servants, who deem this whole project as "undesirable" for themselves to live in or near, as they have lost touch with reality or are too afraid to speak out.
I would like to comment on Rick's statement:
ReplyDelete"Strange the way things work out sometimes but from
my vantage point Toronto's loss is Hamilton's gain."
I wonder if Rick finds it odd, that filming motion pictures
in Hamilton can transform an entire street scape practically
overnight. The filming of "Alien Invasion" on Barton meant
the entire block had to be made to look completely ruined.
Afterwards the street was put back to its original glory
of only half ruined.
It doesn't take much to improve an "old building's"
look-n-feel from a cosmetic standpoint. Harry doesn't
need to do much to the outside of the old school in this
respect. But many thoroughfares in this city are utterly
run down and it wouldn't take much spit-n-polish to create
a lasting "first impression" in the minds of our tourists,
visitors or potential investors.
A staff represents power, usually the power to manipulate
or change something. Take for example a staff (or a wand)
held by Moses (or Mickey Mouse) and the power that was
wielded over nations (or generations of children). An
implement of change such as this, made from a branch of
a Holly bush is more affectionately known as Hollywood.
Hamilton has seen in recent years an influx of art-n-film
most notably from an overpriced market in Toronto. Wouldn't
IT be prudent for our city (staff) to consider another tool
used to make change, one often wielded by carpenters, which
ironically resembles a writer's pencil, that has a business
end and on the other a means to erase mistakes? This tool is
already part of our city brand and IT seems fitting that we
make IT part of our transformation.
H A M M E R W O O D
Wouldn't IT be grand to see this in bold white letters
juxtaposed upon a stretch of our signature escarpment,
the source of our greenbelt and many waterfalls?
TEDxHamilton?
Lights, In-Camera and Action!
Clean up sweeps through Hamilton
http://thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/638340
Can Hamilton become the new Pittsburgh?
http://thespec.com/News/Business/article/638619
Sorry about that. I'm dreaming again.
Someone must've slipped me a Mickey.
Pat said, you can't blame Harry for trying. However, many groups and people over the years have tried to come up with solutions to end Hamilton's systemic problems downtown and failed. It takes money and vision folks to make a difference; it’s a shame that billionaires like Ron Joyce and Michael Lee Chin both from Hamilton haven't invested in its future, other than to immortalize themselves with their names on a stadium and a crystal in Toronto. There are some great examples I urban renewal across North America, and yet Hamilton continues to live in a time warp. However I truly believe Hamilton’s day will come, hopefully soon, starting with the Pam Am Games and then be able to leverage from this. The NHL hockey team if awarded to Jim Basilie is only a small piece of a larger more complex issue to renew the core long term . We need to put people back to work beyond the hospitality and retail sectors.
ReplyDeleteHi WRCU2,
ReplyDeleteNo I don't find it odd that filming a motion picture in Hamilton can transform a streetscape. As a matter of fact when I was still residing in Hamilton last year and they were filming The Incredible Hulk on Main Street, they bused down a few actors from Toronto and they commented on what a great job the film crew did in transforming downtown Hamilton into Harlem, New York, especially with all the graffitis atop of the Connaught Tower and that's when I had to jump in and tell them that the graffitis atop of the Connaught was already there before the film crew arrived on the scene. Hamilton takes credit for the graffitis. We even had film shoot not too long ago in downtown Hamilton where Hamilton was doubled as downtown Beirut Lebanon and the film crew for that particular film shoot didn't have to do a whole lot with the Hamilton streetscape. The section of town they used already resembled a war zone in the Middle East.
I'm a working actor and currently reside in Toronto had to make the move from Hamilton in order to knock off the 4 hours from my daily commute between both cities. Now that I live in Tarana and starting to land some good speaking parts on film my agent tells me that I have some work coming up there in Hamilton. For me however, most of the work, auditions and acting classes are in T.O. ...I had it with the 4 hour daily commute. As a matter of fact one time I was on a Go Transit bus heading back to Hamilton last year in the winter and the bus got caught in a bad snow storm. Cal DiFalco was on the same but with me that day, (again, strange the way things work out sometimes), and we had good conversation on that ride home regarding all of the film work going on in Hamilton and the part that Hamilton has played over the years as well as some of the noteworthy contributions that some Hamiltonians have made towards the film industry like for example, Florence Lawrence was Hollywood's first movie star and she was from Hamilton.
Another noteworthy point to keep in mind is that last year 40% of all the filming done in Ontario was done in Hamilton! I also hear from some of my Toronto contacts that we finally have a film studio in Hamilton? on Sherman Avenue? Can anyone please confirm this for me?
Rick Cordeiro
www.rickcordeiro.actorsite.com
Perhaps Harry would be interested in playing the "White Knight" and save the 50 unit condo project about to go bust in the old Hamilton Spectator building? The investors from the Hamilton Grand project could see a nice ROI here.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview Harry
ReplyDeleteMartin
The trouble with Harry is, he keeps announcing projects and then they fall through. I say, pic a project, get it going (at least a shovel in the ground) and THEN announce it to the city. Is it any wonder people from the hammer are bitchy, lol. Regardless, I'm all for Harry, glad the dude's come to town and wish him luck. :)
ReplyDelete