Sarah Sheehan

Exciting news for the Coppley building

A business sign for the Coppley Building on the corner of MacNab and York Boulevard next to the original doorway to the building on MacNab.

Top business story in Friday’s Spectator: B Corp TAS and the Hamilton Community Foundation are restoring the historic Coppley building, which is set to reopen as a community hub in 2023.

Congratulations to the new owners for recognizing the value of Hamilton’s architectural heritage — not just for business, but also for embodied carbon and for the community.

In Alessia Passafiume’s article, TAS’ Mazyar Mortazavi paraphrases Jane Jacobs:

“You need an old building for new ideas,” said Mazyar Mortazavi, president and CEO of TAS.

Mortazavi said the building will be a “place for the community,” which he hopes will create a ripple effect in the city with positive impacts beyond Coppley’s doors — including mitigating the effects of gentrification.

Mortazavi said a carbon strategy for the building is in the works, including thermal efficiency and other features. Plus, repurposing the building, rather than developing an entirely new one, helps to preserve the “carbon history” of the space, he said.

What will the indoor renovations look like, and who will call the building home? Hamiltonians will find out in 2023.

“This is a special place, and we’re going to honour its history and reimagine its future,” Cooke said.

Read TAS’ press release here. First identified for designation in 1979, the Coppley, Noyes & Randall complex includes the original 1856 stone building and a 1906 brick warehouse by Alfred W. Peene.

 

Spectator print edition: “An old building for new ideas” (November 19, 2021, A13) | online: “An old building with new ideas: Historic Coppley building is being reimagined, but its design will stay”

Mazyar Mortazavi and Terry Cooke outside the Coppley building on York Boulevard.
Mazyar Mortazavi and Terry Cooke outside the Coppley building on York Boulevard. Photo: Alessia Passafiume.

The Hamilton Spectator (est. 1846) is published by Metroland Media Group, a division of Torstar.

Photojournalist Barry Gray documented the old garment factory just before last year’s move. Photo: Barry Gray.
The Coppley building at York and MacNab, erected in 1856, is being restored by TAS and the Hamilton Community Foundation.
The Coppley building at York and MacNab, erected in 1856, is being restored by TAS and the Hamilton Community Foundation. Photo: Local History & Archives, Hamilton Public Library.
A business sign for the Coppley Building on the corner of MacNab and York Boulevard next to the original doorway to the building on MacNab
A business sign for the Coppley Building on the corner of MacNab and York Boulevard next to the original doorway to the building on MacNab. Photo: John Rennison.
The two buildings that made up the production facility for Coppley dominate the corner of York Boulevard and MacNab Street. Photo: John Rennison.
A horse entrance to the court yard in the original Coppley building. Photo: John Rennison.
The horse doors leading to a court yard in the original Coppley building on the corner of MacNab and York Boulevard. Photo: John Rennison.

Photos: Barry Gray (2020), John Rennison / Alessia Passafiume (2021), LH&A.

Spectator online | in print

Sarah Sheehan

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