in 1969. 1976 – Widening of York Boulevard, which involved expropriating hundreds of homes and businesses, was completed. 1976 – The Spectator, which had been downtown since its founding in 1846, moved out of its King East building to 44 Frid St. 1977 – Second phase of Jackson Square completed with a six-storey office tower, but not the department store intended to be its major attraction. 1977 – The Art Gallery of Hamilton opened beside the board of education. 1977 – New police headquarters opened down the street from the old one on King William at Mary. 1978 – Harold Ballard buys the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from Michael DeGroote for $1.2 million in January 1978. 1978 – Teenage Head, in May 1978, they released their first single "Picture My Face" on Epic Records, and quickly became part of the scene exploding in Toronto. 1978 – August 7: Hamilton held a round of the Formula Atlantic Championship. The insurance company demanded that the metal containers that formed part of the portable barrier system be filled with sand. In the haste to get this done in time, sand was dumped all over the road. The resulting delay led to the whole event being run in just half a day. Following 30 minutes of practice, a shortened qualifying session was held for 48 minutes, although there was basically only one line because the sand still lying on the circuit. The race was finally started at 8pm. The race was originally scheduled for 70 laps. There was a safety car period after an early three-car incident. The race was eventually red flagged after 39 laps due to darkness. Keke Rosberg (1982's Formula One World Champion) won the race. 1980–1989 1980 – The Hamilton Central Library and Farmers Market opened. 1981 – The Hamilton Convention Centre and the government office tower above it opened. The tower was named the Ellen Fairclough Building in 1982. 1982 – Bob Morrow wins the first of six mayoral elections, defeating incumbent John Alexander McDonald. Bob Morrow serves as Mayor of Hamilton from 1983-to-2000 and becomes longest-serving mayor in Hamilton's history. 1983 – The Standard Life Centre opened at the west end of Jackson Square. 1983 – Renovations began at Gore Park, including cutting down all the mature trees and constructing an amphitheatre. What came to be known as the Gore Park Fiasco was stopped by citizen protests, redesigned and completed