Main Street series Hamilton part 1

We’re nearing the end of our “Main Street” series. Tonight, we’re doing something different. Main Street in Hamilton is so long that doing it in one story simply wouldn’t do it justice. So we’ve broken it into two parts. Here’s a look at what we found on a recent afternoon on Main Street East.

Main Street ‘East’ in Hamilton is noisy, it’s busy, and it’s long. It takes you from the downtown to the edge of town. But people who know it well say it’s not just a good way to get in or out of the city.

Herb Wodehouse Chairs the International Village BIA. Main Street East makes up part of that “village”. But he also has a stake in the street as he owns 2 buildings including the landmark Agro building which he says is at least 90 years old: “This really is the thread of the city. This is the thread that ties the city together and its great to be a part of it. People say where are you? Main and Ferguson, the Agro building.

He knows the sign’s seen better days. And he says there are better days ahead on Main East.

Herb: “Oh, I’m hoping were on a major upswing. Things are looking pretty exciting down here now.”

Wodehouse says some 30,000 cars drive along Main Street each day and that kind of visibility and traffic is what attracted McMaster University to the street. The University’s downtown campus has been in the old courthouse for ten years and the school likes the look of Main Street so much it tried to bring it inside. Benches, streetlights and black and white pictures of the main campus line the main hallway where last year more than 2,500 students were enrolled. That’s doubled in the last five years and Lisa Boniface say the Main Street location is ideal for the students: “Hamilton’s always been a busy downtown area. Lots of business and industry.

But there have also been a lot of changes over the years. Including the kind of businesses that set up shop on Main East.

“There used to be a lot of automotive places along here. There’s no car dealerships in the core anymore.”

In fact, if you want to find a new car dealership on Main Street East you have to go as far east as you can on Main, and then some to find Dewildt Chrysler at 1600 Main Street East, by the Queenston traffic circle.

Miriam Dewildt’s dad started selling cars in Hamilton 53 years ago. Since 1992, they’ve been in business here: “We love Main Street. We’ve been enticed and had opportunities to move elsewhere, but we love this area and our customers love us being here.”

Dewildt admits a lack of competition in the area doesn’t hurt. And she points out there’s plenty of parking nearby. But she says changes in the area have her family bullish on it right now: “Could you picture Hamilton without Main Street? Absolutely not. Why not? It is our compass. Traffic where we are is the start of it, goes right to the west end. It’s how we identify Hamilton. When someone asks for directions Main Street is part of Hamilton.”

Its that kind of *street name* recognition that appealed to Mitzi Jovanovic when she took over “Margo’s Lingerie” from the original owner: “It’s close to downtown and I like to be on the big streets.”

Tucked inside a busy office building on Main Street East in downtown Hamilton, the former hairdresser from Yugoslavia has been running this store on her own for ten years. But the “specialty” store’s been around for almost 40 years. And Jovanovic says there’s something “special” about Main Street in Hamilton: “Could you picture Hamilton w/out Main Street? No!! Why. It’s a main, it’s a main. It’s a big name, Main Street!. I think it’s very important.”

In fact, everyone we spoke to on Main Street East considers the street to be an important part of the city: “Could you picture the city of Hamilton without Main Street? I think that would be pretty difficult. It’s a downtown core. You have a Main Street.”

And this is where east meets west in Hamilton. James Street is the dividing line.

Next week, we’re going to go west and show you Main Street West in Hamilton.