Community Policing Centre Coming to Barton Village

City of Hamilton Councillor Ward 3 announced via Twitter on April 16th that a consolidated Community Policing Centre would be opening up in the neighbourhood later this year at 460 Barton Street East.

We tweeted out a photo of what we thought was the address shortly there after but it turns out we were wrong.

Whoops.

While we thought the building being used by the Police would be on the southeast corner of Barton and Wentworth, in a structure that has been without a tenant in more than five years, it will actually be in the building located on the southwest corner.

That building is currently home to Bombardieri Uniforms, who sell school uniforms and clothing. Bombardieri was originally housed just west at 448 Barton Street East, but expanded their business into 460 Barton Street East as well. The business is now making renovations to their original location and exiting out of the corner property.

Welcome to the neighbourhood!

Pleased to announce a new, consolidated @hamiltonpolice Community Policing Centre will be opening at 460 Barton St. E. later this year!
— Bernie Morelli (@BernieMorelli) April 16, 2013

Missing the Local Butcher

Shopping local not only support your neighbourhood businesses, but it can also make a lot of sense. Sense in the way of dollars and cents.

I try to shop local whenever I can, though there are some things that aren't offered in my local neighbourhood. Fresh food isn't one of them.

I visit several local farmer's markets for my fresh fruit, vegetables and breads. My fresh meats come not from the grocery store but from my local neighbourhood butcher.

I miss my butcher.

J. Rumor hasn't closed up his shop or anything so that's not why I miss him. He's gone on a well deserved vacation and I didn't sufficiently stock up before he left. He won't be back for another two weeks.

Shopping for my meats at the grocery store is a painfully expensive experience.

My usual order from Rumor's is 10 lbs of ground pork. Sometimes I get ground beef as the butcher doesn't charge any more for beef. The total cost for 10 lbs of groud meat costs me $20.00 including tax.

Recently, upon realizing that Rumor's wasn't an option this time, I went to the nearest grocery store looking for my meats. The best deal I could find was ground pork (beef costs more) and only managed to get three lbs worth for about $10.

Wow what a difference in price when you directly compare the two.

I will be valuing J. Rumor, the Barton Village's resident butcher, when he comes back. Come on down to 386 Barton St East on October 9th and welcome him back to Hamilton. He'll welcome the visit and the deal on fresh meat can't be beat!

Construction Delays on Barton Street Today

Barton St E is down to one lane between East Ave and Emerald St this morning. Workers from LM Enterprises are digging a hole on the south side of the street which has a centre median running the length of the street.

"Without the median traffic would be simply squeezed over," one resident noted, "but they can't in this case."

In addition to the median this section of Barton St also has bump-outs which is another traffic calming feature. Bump outs extend from curb to create a protected curb lane for parking. It also removes quickly moving traffic from the lane beside the sidewalk, a measure that creates a pedestrian friendly environment.

The measures are great for calming traffic but can cause delays when the road is worked on.

"Traffic will be backed up through the area but there's not much they can do."

Reps from Union Gas are also on scene but it is unclear if their presence is related to the road work.

There are significant delays through the construction zone. Traffic is recommended to avoid the stretch of road for the immediate future.

Spring Cleaning Saturday in Woodlands Park

This Saturday April 28th the Barton Village BIA is hosting a spring cleanup of Woodlands Park. Members of the community will be picking up litter and helping to beautify the park rain or shine. Anyone wishing to volounteer for the cleanup is invited to come to the park at 10am.

The cleanup is expected to last for about an hour.

Woodlands Park is located in the heart of Barton Village at 501 Barton Street East between Wentworth St N and Sanford Ave N. Woodlands Park, one of the City's oldest parks, has a playground, a soccer field, and a baseball diamond, as well as a small parking lot. A fire station is located in the southeast corner of the property. Woodlands Park is the home of Hamilton's first 'Green Gym,' a collection of outdoor exercise equipment.

Hargitai's: New Creperie comes to Barton

Very soon residents of Barton Village will have another tasty eatery on the block.

Hargitai's Creperie and Ice Cream officially opens its' doors this Friday at 304 Barton St E. The location of the startup, just steps from Hamilton General Hospital, was no fluke. The location was carefully chosen.

"It's a very busy area," Hargitai's owner Maria Daniel explained, "This area doesn't offer enough eating establishments for the hospital staff, visitors etc. I was looking for a location for my new business. When I cam across this spot, the price was right (and) so was the size."

The take out eatery will feature an assortment of delicious hot lunch offerings as well as ice cold deserts. One of Hargitai's signature dishes, the Palacsinta, is a crepe filled with Paprika chicken and cheese topped with sour cream. The Gundes, a creppe filled with ground walnuts and topped with chocolate fudge, is sure to be a hit.

"The most popular dishes are anything with Nutella. We also offer ice cream (soft serve) and frozen yogurt. And since we are pricing these items to make it affordable, we are expecting them to be very popular amongst Hospital staff, visitors, and everyone else in the neighbourhood."

Ice cream cones are available for $1.50, though for the grand opening ice cream is available for just $1.00.

The idea to open up a creperie came to Maria a few years ago on a Family Day outing in Toronto. After ice skating she was brought to a local crepes restaurant. "The line up was out the door! I thought people are going crazy over crepes," owner Maria remarked of the visit to the creperie. "Me being Hungarian, I grew up eating this all the time. So I thought, it would be great to open a creperie and then put a little Hungarian spin on it."

Maria also plans on an animation celebration as part of the grand opening. Animator Sean Branigan from Watertower Animation, as well as several other animators, will be at the opening.

"We are holding the exhibit in conjunction with the art crawl and are hoping to (draw) people down from James St. as well!"

The official grand opening for Hargitai's takes place on Friday, April the 13th.

Festival in Your Own Neighbourhood

Over the last few months the city has had a lot of festivals. Of course there are the large annual festivals that are like Festival of Friends and Winona Peach Festival, but in recent years more festivals have been popping up.

The businesses on Locke Street have started a festival for the neighbourhood in the aptly named Locke Street Festival. The folks on August Street just south of the downtown core shut down the street for the Augusta Block Party for the second year this past August. The most widely known and arguably successful was the third annual Supercrawl held a few weeks ago on James Street North.

Pride and passion for people's neighbourhoods, not just the city as a whole, seems to be growing and blossoming.

But what about my neighbourhood? I live in the heart of the Barton Village BIA, which stretches from Sherman Avenue to Ferguson Avenue on Barton Street East.

Barton Street isn't known as a destination place for visitors. There are many deserted businesses and boarded up shops that stretch along the length of the street. In fact it wasn't until I took a stroll along the BIA from end to end that it became clear. Some of the business signs that I had seen on storefronts were actually remnants of closed up shops. It was disheartening to realize that the neighbourhood that I had come to call home the past few years was struggling more than I had realized.

While a festival isn't likely to change the mood and state of Barton Street overnight it is something that could help improve it's image. And image can be a catalyst for change.

Years ago the downtown of Hamilton was a place that people didn't want to go. Were it not from necessity of transferring between bus routes I wouldn't have been downtown at all. Today downtown is a place I enjoy to go. James North enjoys a monthly event in the Art Crawls. The Downtown BIA has been putting on events in Gore Park. International Village BIA has been hosting weekly outdoor music performances. Until this year International Village has also hosted the annual Mustard Festival. Downtown Hamilton has turned a corner and it is a feat I hope Barton Village also reaches.

It isn't to say that Barton Village BIA has not been active in creating events for the community. Woodlands Park plays host to two community events during the spring and summer months. In May the BIA puts on a 'Spring Fling Carnival' with amusement rides and in August there is the 'Good Times Celebration' which features inflatable rides for kids and music.

I think the time is ripe to expand the offerings.

After visiting several other festival events around the city in 2011 I think that 2012 could be a breakout year for Barton Village. From live music and food trucks to retail vendors and beyond the festival can only grow next year.

Of course I speak about this without any knowledge about putting on a festival or event in my community ... for now.

Follow me on Twitter @MyBartonVillage for updates and photos of my neighbourhood.