Downtown Brantford 1993.

[@kyliam80]

It's funny. I was 13 when you filmed this. And a couple years later I remember telling my mother that the Icom building would make a good casino. Who knew it would end up becoming one.

[@HansLast]

Well, yes, it was a good building, and definitely is now serving its purpose quite well.

[@calreacts8688]

Preciate you showing The B in old times I live in the Riverside Gardens

[@lauras2196]

very cool thanks for sharing old brantford

[@glengamble526]

The Icom Centre is now a casino. The empty lot with the green gvmt sign is now a Royal Bank building and a memorial is built there, too. Most of the buildings on the east side of Colborne street have been torn down. Recently a brand-new YMCA was opened further down the road, close to library (which was a former department store building). The library itself was also recently renovated. On the west side of the street, some buildings were demolished an Harmony Square was constructed, along with some apartments. Laurier University has bought or taken over many of the old buildings downtown and Brantford now has a campus. The Eaton Market Square sits mostly vacant, save for some city offices.

[@CelesteKTheNewWaveRevue]

Proud home town of the late Phil Hartman.

[@miles6593]

Is Brantford really still proud of Phil ? Phil went Hollyweird .

[@bradsmith1934]

I only vividly recall the Downtown in 2000, not before, & obviously it was bustling back then. I miss how ppl dressed decently then no bare flaps of Flab covered in Tattoos hanging out etc.

[@EddieBurke]

brantford has been a shithole since 2007 at least it's gotten better lol

[@miles6593]

Bustling back then ? When was the last time Brantford was ever bustling ? It was long before your time lad .

[@StreetcarMuseum]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

[@Ovcharka88]

Oh Bdot in 1993 is so different to what It is now. Man have you been to west Brant lately and went passed ACS that shit is wack there is so many houses now. Back in the early 2000's it was basically just the Watertower!

[@HansLast]

Well, I moved away from Brantford, back in 1998, after coming back to Saint Catherine’s. I went back once in 2008, and filmed a little bit around the downtown, and Harmony Square. I went back in 2010, and this past May, to the W Ross McDonald school, for a reunion, where I had been a student.

[@mitch9521]

downtown hasnt changed much, other than the buildings they demolished..

[@JesseStutsman]

crazy, not a meth head in sight

[@lifeofleeiv99]

WOW I can remember most of this!

[@HansLast]

+Life of Lee Iv Well it amazes me how long ago that was, almost 24 years ago now. A lot has definately changed since this was taken.

[@lifeofleeiv99]

+Hans Last yes thank you for sharing the video. it's always nice to look back :)

[@ScottyDoezntKnow]

Funny that Scotiabank is still in the same spot.

[@charlottemackinnon9587]

That fry stand had the best fries!!! I remember it beside moodys strip joint!!💋

[@hyoutdoors7054]

Wow. I would have just been a tiny baby when you were recording this.

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

I really do believe the closure of the Eaton Centre led to a stunt in growth for Brantford.

[@xToronto416x]

False, it was because a huge company moved to the states. I believe it was that Deer tractor one.

[@markstahle874]

@@xToronto416x It was Massey-Ferguson Farm plant that closed in 1980 that employed many in the Brantford area that caused Brantford to almost become a ghost town economically. Many businesses in retail and commercial also closed up, till Highway 403 was built to Ancaster that started Brantford to come back.

[@samadams1408]

Not quite. The actual creation of the Eaton Centre on the old Market Square combined with closing off Market Street pretty much destroyed downtown Brantford. The city used to have a nice small town downtown but because of that Brantford's downtown became the perfect setting for a horror movie (and didn't require any special effects to fill that role).

[@samadams1408]

@@markstahle874 The university moving in that was responsible for much of the redevelopment.

[@soccerchick1]

@@samadams1408 LOL watch the movie. They use plenty of special effects smh.

[@ndoggy7237]

What a time to be a live compared to Brantford 2024 , looks like eveyone is enjoying themselves, more things going on , developed

[@nochance1013]

2:18 middle building my family owned that! Old meat shop was not alive at the time

[@Just_becs]

Woah- I'm an 08 baby and this just Intrigues me

[@JruGordon]

1:40 that's a Royal Bank now, correct?

[@HansLast]

I assume that that is still a Royal Bank. It became one, and actually it was built, in the late 90s. I moved away in August 1998, so it should still be a Royal Bank, unless it has changed since.

[@sabell1276]

Silent hill?

[@samadams1408]

The City Council of the day was responsible for that - nobody else.

[@doogiehouser9959]

I guarded the sign at the ITDC (later became Icomm) the night before it was unveiled... LOL! It seems like a lifetime ago...

[@rishabsharma8702]

I was born in 1995 in India and now i am here in brantford .

[@BurntToast-kj6rq]

Don't rub it in ...Baboo!

[@soulbrother61]

Justines bar still on the go

[@jimieljoseph2322]

Icon Center ended up being a casino and the other government land ended up being a bank with a parking lot and a memorial now at one end

[@miles6593]

The city planners lack imagination and creativity . That's the legacy of downtown Brantford for you .

[@soccerchick1]

I miss when the place looked like silent hill was still filmed here ngl lol Laurier ruined this city.

[@samadams1408]

No - Laurier actually saved the city. Downtown had "died" long before the university arrived.

[@soccerchick1]

@@samadams1408 Lmao no it didn’t. We have more homeless than ever. More traffic than ever. More division than ever. No sense of community anymore. Majority of people moving here don’t work here (from Toronto) Our hospital is falling apart and is beyond repair. Laurier did nothing but bus in a bunch of people who leave after grad and steal a bunch of property/get a nice handout from the city aka US and put a nice Laurier sticker on downtown and push a bunch of vulnerable people out of the area, I wonder where they went? Oh yeah no one gives a shit lol brantford! I could go on but what’s the point?

[@samadams1408]

@@soccerchick1And the city wasn't like that before they built the Eaton's Centre and closed Market Street.

[@soccerchick1]

@@samadams1408 the city wasn’t like that before Massey Ferguson left and stelco closed etc. and a lot of other big political bs happened. Closing one road has nothing to do with it. If anything that parking garage is the problem there and should be given to the university for their students and they can be charged for a parking pass. Barely used.

[@nochance1013]

This town has really gone to sh!t pardon the language thinking of moving the heck away from here

[@b.k8051]

Great time. Right before the meth and opioids...