Stop work order issued after demo of Tivoli Theatre in Hamilton starts without permits

The City of Hamilton has issued a stop work order against a Burlington developer, who began tearing down the historic Tivoli Theatre Wednesday without a permit.

The nearly 140-year-old property has sat unused for years, but as some Hamiltonians bid the old cinema farewell, others say it’s a sign of what’s to come.

Aventus Development, a Burlington-based real estate company, began tearing down the Tivoli Theatre in downtown Hamilton without a permit.

By noon, city officials halted the demo, issuing a stop work order.

“I’m pretty disturbed by this — developers have known for a very long time that this kind of behaviour is absolutely inappropriate,” said Cameron Kroetsch, the City Councillor for Ward 2.

What started as a carriage factory back in the 19th century, became one of Hamilton’s biggest performing arts centres.

“Look at how ornate it was,” said Graham Carroll, the Vice-Chair of Hamilton’s Heritage Committee. “The Italian Renaissance work was phenomenal, the plasterwork, the amazing size, it was just a fantastic building.”

Over the years, ownership of the theatre continually changed hands, all the while the building itself was left to slowly decay.

Until finally, earlier this year, a damning engineer’s report was presented to city council.

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In the report, mould growth, moisture damage and asbestos can be seen, meaning it was beyond saving even though it should have been protected as a heritage-designated building.

“It’s mainly because the Ontario Heritage Act does not give municipalities enough teeth to enforce repairs,” said Carroll. “If they did, city staff could go in there, such as Aventus, and say, fix the roof, keep water out of buildings, keeping some heat on — that’s what keeps buildings from falling into disrepair. We saw that last November, right?”

“It’s completely irresponsible for them to demolish a theatre where they know there are contaminants, without them going through all their due diligence,” said Kroetsch. “We see flagrant violations of the city’s demolition permit process — demolition by neglect in Gore Park — we’re seeing this demolition happening many other times in Ward 2, and I think residents are rightfully tired of it, as am I.”

On Wednesday, a worker was spotted on site and the notice was removed, but soon after another official from Hamilton’s building department turned up and replaced the notice on the fence.

The director for the city’s building department told CHCH News that the company has yet to acquire the proper permits to continue the demolition, but is working with staff to acquire them.

As for Aventus Development, despite efforts by CHCH News to call, email and physically visit their office, they declined an interview but assured that they would provide a statement.

CHCH News has yet to hear back.

Some residents in the area returned to site to see the building before it was torn down.

“The way we’re putting up condos and towers in Hamilton these days, the… history, doesn’t seem to really be able to get a chance,” said Stephen Newman, a Hamilton resident.

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