MEC

While I’m still on my Hamilton kick (‘It’s 905!’/’But so authentic!’), I’m embarrassed to say that I missed this entirely:

MEC’s planned Burlington store, which I’m sure there’s a good business case for, is supposed to be a model of environmental design

“Sustainability is a driving force at MEC, and the Burlington store will be developed to our rigorous green building standards,” said Robinson.

MEC plans to construct its greenest building to date and to meet at least the gold standard of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green-building rating system.

… sited in a desolate area of big-box retail around the 403/QEW junction which can only practically be reached by car. The other local attractions are a Wal-Mart, an Ikea, and a Pet Smart outlet, all swimming in the middle of their vast parking lots. Gory details here. The Toronto equivalent would be putting MEC at the 427 and QEW.


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The Raise the Hammer blog makes the case for downtown Hamilton at a site near City Hall (though claiming that “Hamilton’s downtown is on the cusp of greatness” is a stretch). That’s one option, though I’d be looking at ex-industrial sites in Dundas, or maybe the area across Main St. from McMaster.