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PAGE 6, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16,1987 r e VOICE 0F THE COUNTY TOWN TIw o:ly Whithy si espa. îr i l 'n.' i %%Ils îed aindul pem ..t* h 4 1 u%% li ) gii *ellît f.% % ~h i( Isl.% iEei L Published every Wednesday By 677209 Ontario Inc. Phone: 668.6111 Doug Ander son Publisher e w Maurice Pif her Editor Peter Irvine Advertising Manager Alexandra Simon Production Manager Linda Sternad Circulation Manager The return to school may get mixed reaction from students but for our education managers 'back to school' time may draw a more distinctly negative response. With protables either yet to be put in place or given hydro, some misunderstanding on a Thor- nton bus route, and the student shuffle until the Bellwood school opens, as examples, the problems aren't serious and will ber overcome. Back to school And the Education Action Committee, carrying on despite the resignation of two executive members, shows all indication that it will press Town and trustees fo solutions to other problems that arise. But the Quest school for gifted children faces a more serious problem with a Town stop-work order because of site plan problems. We urge quick agreement bet'-en the Town and Quest over site plan arrangement of the school's new location, if only to avoid disruption in the school schedule. The students must be considered above all else. Secondary school students in Durham Region were spared the dilemma posed by a teachers' strike when a contract agreement was reached at the last minute. Town and Quest staff should also seek to start with a clean slate. LETTERS FROM OUR READERS Perry (Warren!) house -it was long past the point of return To the Editor: Regarding the editorial "Destroying our Heritage", Free Press, August 26, and the front page article related to the same subject, that of the demolition of the "Perry House". Since when has that decrepit old building been known as the "Perry House?" Ask rnany of the people who should probably know, many of whom have been citizens of this good town since the early years of this century, and you will find various designations for it, in- cluding among those, the "Warren House" and "flophouse." The former is a proud designation based on the occupancy of Dr. Warren and his family at a time when the front (south) face of the house looked out over a fine property fronting on Dundas Street, with a large circular drive and well-designed flower beds and picket fences. The latter is a less- than-proud indication of the state of Canada as To the editor: In reply to the self-righteous Canadians defending multi "eth- nie" culture in Canada (letter Free Press, Sept. 2) and the "Black"- listed letter regarding recent "Black" landings (Aug. 5, Free Press), I wonder what kind of treatment we white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, Catholics and Jews would receive if we landed without papers on the turf of communist China, Red Russia, Beirut, Libya or were intercepted sailing down the Ganges River? Probably not a tongue-lashing - more like a back- lashing. Why is it magazine and daily newspaper editorials and every born Canadian along with Danish, Dutch, Scots, Ukrainian, Hungarian, you name it, all resent and demean these illegal."Sihkers" seeking Canads's multi-benefits. Canada will not be the beneficiary the property for inany of the last forty years, with an auto dealership and/or bus' station (or variations thereof) situated a few metres from the front door, a school to the right of the house, and the parking lot of the town's bowling alley to the left (with the building itself in the back yard). As you noted in passing in your article, the school and the bowling alley have both been taken down. In the opinion of this writer, the "passing" of these two buildings holds far more significance than the elimination of the eyesore that existed for too many years between them. Believe it or not, there are some of us out there who were sorry to see good old St. Bernard's torn down. I didn't, however, see any obituaries for that historical building! Similarly, the building which has housed the County Bowl for more years than I have been around has disappeared, and three generations of my own family feel the loss, but this too rates only a scapegoat of this group. Canada will be the scapegoat. Solicitous people like Dr. Morton Rapp (letter, Free Press Aug. 19) and Mr. Doucette (letter, Free Press, Sept. 2) are probably feeding alter-egos often used by Freud -Dr. Rapp with his psychiatrie affiliation should know and Doucette must have been so in- censed or frightened his pen-knife would be confiscated (he even measured the dagger differential in his discertation -how long was his pen?) It's like the avid, righteous neighbor who attends church every Sunday and stabs her neighbor in the back at every opportunity. But "Of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh" (Ec- clesiastes) and "Actions speak louder than words." I.M. White Whitby photo and brief caption in the same edition of your paper. Back to the "Perry House": this house was a century home forty years ago! (Funny, the people of 1947 didn't seem to have the same tastes!). Where were the preser- vationists then, or in the time since, when the place was used as an apartment house and was allowed to deteriorate to such a serious degree? I think you made a very salient point in your editorial when you wrote"...nobody made any ef- fort to save it". I think you could have stopped right there, rather than going on to speak of the "irony" of Heritage Month being right around the corner. Without wishing to sound too harsh on in- dividuals or organizations concer- ned with this issue, may I express the opinion that "hypocrisy" may have been a better word than "irony," for, despite indications to the contrary in your article and editorial, the folks concerned with this issue had adequate time to take action of some sort to support their philosophy regarding old buildings, With an eye to the future, the ef- forts of these very earnest in- dividuals just might be used to greater advantage to have some input on the design of new buildings being put up around town. It is too late now, but someone with a sense of taste and a knowledge of historie architecture could have, for exam- ple, improved greatly on the design of the new medical building that is causing all this fuss. Victorian ar- chitecture is beautiful, and elemen- ts of it could easily be incorporated into the design of prominent buildings to be erected in future. Also, there are some very laudable efforts being made around central Whitby to use sound, viable older buildings in workable locations as part of modernization plans. I do hope that the last few com- ments have saved me from the fate of being branded as a narrow, blind philistine for supporting the removal of a building that might have been saved once upon a-time, but was long past the point of no return. I don't feel for one second that any of my heritage was destroyed. Greg Steffler Whitby Building study is important To the editor: During my term as a research student for the Whitby LACAC, I have come to realize that the On- tario Heritage Act mandate to protect our province's architec- tural heritage must be tempered by a realistic and adaptable outlook. Time cannot stand still and we cannot expect to find that every property owner and developer will be an ally in the cause of heritage preservation. This means that the function of recording and studying our vintage buildings can become as important as our efforts to save them. The recent loss of the Robert Perry House is a case in point. While this was an important historical struc- ture, the considerable alteration and decay it has suffered over the past three decades makes it dif- ficult to argue this as a priority sub- ject for preservation. But while retention was a com- plex and costly possibility the preparation of a thorough architec- tural record was not. This kind of work is the basic reason that the LACAC hired me this summer. I am a University of Waterloo ar- chitecture student, so measuring, drawing and photographing the town's existing heritage structures is what I enjoy best. To be denied the opportunity to do this for a significant house about to be demolished not only shows a disregard for the LACAC mandate but also demonstrates a will to disenfranchise the town's history and unique identity. All that remains from the home of our town's founding family is some wooden trim and a couple bricks that are now in the trunk of my car. It's the best record we will ever have. Kevin Sugden Whitby LACAC Researcher Summer 1987 dé S J' %4U 04,c LETTERS The WhitbyAFree Press welcomes letters to the Editor on any subject of concern to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Al letters must be accompanied by the name, address and phone number of the writer; however, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree that there is a valid reason. The paper reserves the right to reject or edit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ontario LiN 5S1 or drop through ourmailslot at 131 Brock St. N. Il The Free Press Building 131 Brock Street North. P.O. Box 206. Whitby. Ont.