Loggie's Shoes, 1843 Hamilton
Inner Circle Management has secured the top two floors of Loggie's Shoes through a long term lease agreement with the building owners, Loggie's Shoes. This is another heritage building, constructed in 1912. It's located immediately north of the Leader Building.
Planning is underway for the establishment of a fashion design cooperative on the second floor, with plans for artist studio spaces on the third floor, as well as a rehearsal room/recording studio/video editing suite for bands.
A detailed business case for the fashion design cooperative has been developed, with the intention that this space would provide an opportunity for young designers to have a place to work together, showcase their products, and do some joint marketing.
Architectural drawings have been completed, as well as mechanical drawings for the work required on the heating/air conditioning units and the plumbing. These were required for our application for municipal heritage designation on this building. By getting heritage status, most of the work we will be doing will count toward a tax exemption on the property, which will help to keep the operating costs down. Our application for heritage status has now been submitted.
We approached Women Entrepreneurs and the Federal Business Development Bank of Canada for financing for this project, but were turned down because a) we don't own the building, and b) our tenants are not "Triple A". (Triple A means a nationally recognized corporation, like SaskTel, Government of Canada, etc.) Because of this, we have been working on raising the funds for the renovation through other means. As we are trying to prove that buildings for creative purposes are sustainable and economically viable, we have asked people in the community to consider lending us the funds, to be paid back through future revenues (rents from the tenants).
To date, we have received loans from Dr. Roberta McKay and Elmer Brenner, from Mrs. Jacqui Shumiatcher and from local artist and entrepreneur Carol Cairns. We are very grateful for their support of this project. Their financial assistance has enabled us to get the plumbers working on the installation of washrooms. We now have a functioning washroom on the second floor, and the plumbing roughed in on the third floor. All of the mechanical work has been completed. We are currently trying to schedule our electrician so we can get the rest of the renovations moving forward immediately.
We are still looking for additional financial support and will be working on some fundraising events as soon as our third floor washrooms are installed. We are also always looking for volunteer help with the cosmetic renovations. There are walls to be sanded, wood trim to be stripped, and a lot of painting to be done. We have a grant from the Benjamin Moore Foundation to help cover the costs of the paint we will need (big thanks to the BMF!). If you are interested in volunteering, give us a call at 546-5565.
We are holding two work bees, Sunday, February 21 and Sunday, February 28, 2010, from 1 pm to 6 pm each day, to get the third floor ready for paint, and possibly painted. Please come give us a hand!
We'll keep updating this page as things progress.