More than a hundred of Hamilton’s public buildings are listed in bad shape

Buildings owned by the city of Hamilton face substantial and expensive repair needs. Even buildings you might not expect, like the Hamilton Convention Centre.

A presentation by the city’s facilities department revealed 152 of the 455 buildings managed by the city are in poor or critical shape, while 135 buildings are overdue for roof replacement and the repairs won’t be cheap.

“We currently have a $216 million back log in infrastructure renewal that is required and overdue and we receive $9.8 million annually.” Robyn Ellis, strategic planning.

The city says some of their budget is going towards active repairs on the Convention Centre, including upgrades to the buildings hot water and lighting fixtures, as well as updates to make the building more energy efficient.

The FirstOntario Centre comes in at “fair condition” while the former Eastmount elementary school and the current Animal Control building are listed as “poor” condition. The Hamilton fire department’s division 13 building came up multiple times during the presentation. The building itself, as well as the roof are both listed in critical condition.

The facilities department says they plan to come back sometime next year to discuss strategies to close the funding gap.