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Reinventing Brantford
Reinventing Brantford A UNIVERSITY COMES DOWNTOWN
| Leo Groarke |
Foreword by William Humber
NATURAL HERITAGE BOOKS A MEMBER OF THE DUNDURN GROUP TORONTO
Copyright © 2009 Leo Groarke
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanic, photocopying, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.
Published by Natural Heritage Books, A Member of The Dundurn Group
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Groarke, Leo
Reinventing Brantford : a university comes downtown / Leo Groarke.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-55488-459-9
1. Urban renewal--Ontario--Brantford--History. 2. Central business districts--Ontario--Brantford--History. 3. Wilfrid Laurier University-History. 4. Central business districts--Conservation and restoration-- Ontario--Brantford. 5. Brantford (Ont.)--History. I. Title.
FC3099.B743G76 2009 971.3’47 C2009-902998-7
1 2 3 4 5 13 12 11 10 09
Front Cover: (Top) The Brantford Carnegie Library, 1906. Courtesy of the Brant Museum and Archives, cat. no. 200727032. (Bottom) The Brantford Carnegie Library, the first building of the Brantford campus of Laurier University, 2006. Photo by Darragh Christie. Courtesy of the author. Back Cover (Top) The Brantford Bicycle Club, 1897. Courtesy of Brant Museum and Archives, cat. no.ch 937101. (Bottom) The former Wilkes House. Courtesy of JG Group of Companies.
Project Editor: Jane Gibson
Text design by Erin Mallory
Copyedited by Allison Hirst
Printed and bound in Canada by Transcontinental
Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.
J. Kirk Howard, President
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books and the Government of Canada through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit Program and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.
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This book is dedicated to the people of Brantford and Brant County — past, present, and future. I want, in particular, to acknowledge those whose commitment to Brantford’s downtown did not waver in the midst of its most troubled times. It is easy to believe in something in the good times; it takes faith and courage to remain committed in the bad.
| CONTENTS |
Foreword by William Humber,Seneca College
2 The Worst Downtown in Canada
3 In Andrew Carnegie’s Footsteps
9 The Liberal Arts
10 A Grand Opening
11 The Wow and the Ow Factor
12 The Trouble with Brantford
13 Two Challenges
14 Taking Up Residence
15 The Mohawk Connection
16 Courting Nipissing
17 Working with Vicano
18 Building Community
19 The Odeon
20 A Change of Status
21 Finding a Middle Way
22 The Wilkes House
23 A Temple and a Clubhouse
24 The Wilkes House Reborn
25 The BPL — A Brantford Icon
26 A University Precinct
27 A New Square
28 The Brantford Centre
29 Silly Season
