Area around Club 77 too violent, so speed up plan to turn it into a park: residents

A fatal shooting. Sexual assaults. People punched in the face and thrown to the ground.

That's the view residents of Film Work Lofts say they see sometimes outside their windows as they look across King William Street to Club Seventy-Seven. Now they want the city to hurry up with a planned park that would see the club gone.

There's a sense of duress in this building.- Dale Mugford, Film Work Lofts

Residents have signed a petition for the city to move ahead with the John/Rebecca Park, a project that would see land from King William to Rebecca streets, and John to Catharine streets, become much-needed green space. The Beasley Neighbourhood Association backs the request, and supports expropriating the club if necessary.

"The violence is so significantly prevalent to residents," said Dale Mugford, who chairs the Film Work Lofts board.

"There's a sense of duress in this building."

Work on the John/Rebecca Park was scheduled to start in 2012. When it's finished, the planned park would occupy property currently home to the club and a large surface parking lot.

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But a Gore Park plan needed to be done too, said Coun. Jason Farr. With the Pan Am Games coming, and other high profile changes there, the city swapped the timelines for John/Rebecca and the Gore so the latter would happen first.

"I was never not focused on one day making John/Rebecca Park a priority," Farr said. "We just flipped the two."

But the recent shooting death of doorman Vincent Lofaro outside Club Seventy-Seven – where a woman was also shot – has brought public attention to the John/Rebecca plan again.

There will be a community meeting on June 21 at 7 p.m. at the Beasley Community Centre. Farr will be there, and residents will share their stories with him. Mugford hopes that leads to action.

"A lot of residents are saying 'What happened to the park? It was supposed to be a park,'" Mugford said. "This is a symbol of violence and we thought it would be a symbol of peace."

CBC Hamilton contacted Club Seventy-Seven this week. A man who identified himself as the owner wouldn't comment or give his name.

"I'm not interested in talking about the park," he said. "If they want me to move, I'll move, but they have to pay me for it."

Under the current schedule, detailed design work on the John/Rebecca Park will begin in 2018. City councillors would have to approve doing it sooner, Farr said. He's open to that happening.

"I have no qualms with investigating the feasibility of that."