Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "EVOLUTION
OR DEVOLUTION":
The Petch house saga has been a sad story. It should
have never proceeded.
I blame council and I also blame Evelyn Buck. When
this rotting pile of firewood was sitting at the side of Leslie street, Ms Buck
led the charge to not spend a dime to do anything with it. I backed up that
position. For some reason (not sure why - perhaps developer $s at play?) - she
changed her mind.
I don't get it. It should hae been torched!
**************
I did change my mind. It's not an easy thing to do in politics. As your comment perfectly illustrates.
The structure sat at the side of the road for eight years.becoming ever more dilapidated
There was a commitment from the developer and $15,000 from an anonymous donor who wanted the building to be saved.
No interest was expressed by anyone in or outside the community to provide a site or suggest a use.
What changed was a further $50,000 from the developer and a location proposed by Jim Tree, parks manager in the Lambert Wilson Arboretum.
$65,000 would have been forfeit had we not re-thought the situation. I can't turn my back on $65,000 that easily.
We had a highly visible location and a pad constructed by the parks department to receive the structure.
No doubt ,there will be a use for extra, dry, and lighted space in a town park as well as the opportunity to appreciate how early settlers built their homes and lived their lives.
As well, someone in Aurora has the satisfaction of seeing a family home preserved.
I think it was a practical decision that met several worthwhile objectives. I commend Council for making it.
I hope the community will think well of it.
If the commenter wants to heap coals of fire on my head for changing my mind, go ahead. Make my day.
It makes an ironic change from being accused of not living in the present.
By the way, the project wasn't approved l for the sesqui-centennial celebration. It happened long before that idea was proposed.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
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7 comments:
"$65,000 would have been forfeit had we not re-thought the situation. I can't turn my back on $65,000 that easily. "
Why not? $65K was not going to come to the Town directly. If no one in the Town wanted to do something with it, it tells me that it was not worth doing. $65K really forced the Town to move and subsequently build a replica of it. Now the Town is on the hook for maintenance until it is delapitaded again.
Seems to me that if the will was there to not doing anything with it, it would have been real easy to say "no thanks" to the benevolant donors and then move on.
In reality, the Council, the Town and it's residents were bought for $65,000 so someone can say that he paid for the thing. Ego stroking at it's best.
A good decision was made - this building is a great addition to our community and will serve it well for the future -- good change of mind on your part
What is all this talk about blame? There were all kinds of people, local & not, and several Councils and their staff involved in the ' evolution ' of the Petch House.
My wife tells me all the time how she saved so much money on new clothes because they were on sale.....
If she bought nothing, we would have saved more!
In reality, the Council, the Town and it's residents were bought for $65,000 so someone can say that he paid for the thing. Ego stroking at it's best.
My what a warped perspective !!!
February 5, 2013 at 6:22 PM
"My what a warped perspective !!!"
Like the flu, a fairly common ailment around the blogs this winter.
Could we please place this subject in moth balls & argue about it again when we see what is on the plague?
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