Hopes And Dreams

Chris Watts posted  this morning on the  George Browning house  and it's demolition. He is lamenting it's loss to the heritage  of our  town.

Chris contends no public discussion of  the proposed  Montessori school to replace the old dilapidated house.

It's over two years since the  house was sold, after decades on the market, growing  ever more forlorn and dilapidated.

To  me, it seems discussion has been ongoing for an age. 

It's forty years since the town's planning director viewed  the condition  of the house and reported negatively..

My married  children with adult children of their own ,  as children themselves  were familiar with the house, reported sagging ceilings and  other "spooky" conditions.

 I can be counted among those who shamelessly  never considered the building  anything but a blight on the street-scape.

It's location , accessible by narrow concrete steps  from the sidewalk, in my opinion, seriously compromises  function.

Substantial investment will be required to make it a satisfactory building site.

I wish the owners every success.

A tertiary  aspect of the property influences my opinion;

 I do not own it.

The town does not own it.

The property is owned  privately  by people who put money down and signed on the dotted line with  hopes and dreams of  realizing a plan. 

It is their right to risk. .I applaud them for it. People  have  been investing  in Aurora  since the town came to be. Assuredly,without them, there would be no town..

Contemplate the town  centre for a minute,

Check out the  vacant spaces and grimy windows  in heritage buildings then list what they contribute to  vitality of the street . 

It's forty years, since Upper Canada Mall was built.Dozens of hopeful  entrepreneurs   have since  invested in space  between Wellington and  Mosely and within months have retreated, defeated. 

I sat  on my stalled scooter at the corner of Tyler and Yonge on  a hot sunny Saturday morning for  thirty minutes, facing north and seeing but one pedestrian.  He vaulted a railing at the bank in mid-block to get from the bank machine.

An adult couple rode past me on bicycles  so sure were they of unchallenged and solitary ownership of the sidewalk.

Vehicular traffic was constant.

There was no  gridlock  at the Wellington/Yonge intersection caused by  buzz in the hub.

 It was the saddest, loneliest place in the Region. A place of broken dreams, failed business and a stalled scooter that only needed to be turned off and on again..

I traveled  Ontario  in the eighties. It  was a delightful step back in time to window shop and visit stores in towns where climate- controlled, unrestricted parking access at malls and shopping centres had not been established

I saw  brand name quality shoes and styles of clothing in  numbers of owner-operated stores that would never be found in the chains  that dominate  malls.And now may not be found anywhere.

I am well aware of what has been lost.

Last year I visited Lunenburg,Nova Scotia  to see how  things were  since  last I was there. The great old  buildings full of history and romance.  with vibrantly painted and curlicue festooned facades were  there, as they have been for hundreds of years.

Few businesses  were operating. Many stores were vacant.

Houses, on lots elevated above rights of way, while charming, made me think only of difficulty of access.

The Nation's Capital, has similar problems. The first pedestrian mall with high majestic store fronts on Sparks Street, is  seedy and run-down;public space  similarly unkempt.

Where I go, things I  look for, do not assure me times are easy for any business. We don't have to try to slow things down and watch buildings deteriorate.

The owners of the erstwhile Browning House  have much to do to determine physical and economic feasibility of plans for a Montessori school.

I wish them well.
 
I  hope  another for sale sign  will  not soon be posted on  the property  for further decades  of  receiving  municipal  services ; water, sewers ,street, street lighting, sidewalk. snow-plowing, police, fire protection and contributing but a penny of support  to the cost of  services provided to the property. 

If the owners plans are realized, we will see  a distinct improvement to life ,vitality and street-scape at the former idle,dilapidated site of the former George Browning house.We will realize cost-sharing for our municipal services.

When George Browning was building homes for successful business,  Aurora  was a vibrant, progressive place

He was building to meet  modern day needs. The site might have previously accommodated a modest clapboard house.

I doubt anyone lamented their  replacement  People  were probably not lamenting the loss of bush before then either.

Aurora was a place of hopes and dreams, plans realized and a legacy left for us to enjoy and build upon.