Hamilton’s ‘magical’ repurposed cotton factory finds a new rhythm

I wait for Shannon Kyles – retired architecture professor and Architectural Conservancy Ontario board member – on the sidewalk in front of 270 Sherman Ave. N. in Hamilton. As I scan the building in front of me, its neighbours, and smokestacks of all sizes in the distance, I wonder if this is what the Toronto Carpet Factory and Liberty Village looked like 40 years ago. Newly budding. Reinventing itself. Finding a new rhythm.

My reverie is broken as I spot Ms. Kyles’s wonderful head of red hair as she turns the corner. She’s holding a stack of the Conservancy’s promotional flyers for Doors Open Hamilton, to be held May 3 and 4 of this year. The Cotton Factory, in front of us, is participating as usual.