Comment 73779

By H+H (registered) - website | Posted February 07, 2012 at 08:47:34

Matt - thanks for this. Also, thanks for the photo albums you just published of parts of the interior of the building.

As for it being too late, the Lister Block was to be demolished and a vertically stretched version of it was to appear on its footprint. The Mayor at the time and the head of LIUNA held a media conference unveiling the drawing and the plan. It didn't happen because of people like Matt Jelly.

I have to admit that this is past the 11th hour, but I don't find this a wasteful effort. This fight began several years ago when the Board debated whether or not to stay in the building. Many of us wrote to Trustees, signed on-line petitions and went to HWDSB meetings, either as observers or presenters. At that time, the Board decided to continue investigating staying in the building. Stupidly, perhaps, I thought we had moved past demolition. I was very wrong.

The level of secrecy around the cost of renovation, as well as which alternative sites were considered has made the fight to save the building, and the Board's presence downtown, all that more difficult.

For me, this isn't about saving all old buildings. But it is about saving this one. They are not all the same. They are not all worthy of restoration. But it seems to me we don't have any articulated guiding principles about our heritage, or even our future for that matter. As a result, we grab hold of the latest shiny option. There's nothing shiny about this deal. At least not from my perspective.

gcrawford

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