It’s official – we’ve become everything we didn’t want to be…
Posted by John Malloy on 08/08/2010
Morgan Ian Adams – aka ‘Scoop’ – is managing editor of the Enterprise-Bulletin newspaper in Collingwood, Ontario
There’s a paradox in there somewhere, certainly. Heritage parking meters. Really?
How many parking meters did they have a hundred years ago? Exactly.
We’ve finally succumbed to it — we’ve Disney-fied ourselves.
Yes, aside from the sudden appearance of parking meters, a constant reminder that nothing is free in life, including parking, the downtown does look very attractive.
But as attractive as the downtown is, it’s essentially a mask. It’s not real, as least from a heritage viewpoint.
Cobblestone sidewalks? You know, the cobblestone sidewalks in the downtown are a relatively new feature, having only been introduced when the downtown had its last big makeover back around 1980. Prior to that, the sidewalks were made of concrete (or is that cement? I never get that one straight). Prior to that (about 120 years ago), the sidewalks were wooden boards. There were still tree stumps in the middle of Hurontario Street.
Perhaps we need to go back to the Canadian Registrar of Historic Places and get the downtown’s heritage designation rescinded since — with the cobblestone sidewalks and noticable lack of tree stumps — we’re technically no longer historically accurate.
Think of the federal building. Philip Palin designed that impressive edifice, the cornerstone being laid right after some Austrian guy got shot by some Serbian guy, and the whole world went to hell as a result. I think, “gee, if someone proposed building that today, would they be allowed?”
Back then, it must have stuck out like a sore thumb, planted between the old Enterprise building (now home to 98 Super Panda), and whatever the heck was to the north of it back then (guarantee: built of red brick). An exquisite, brilliant sore thumb, but a sore thumb nonetheless. When Palin presented the plans, though, I suggest the town fathers of the time were struck by its magnificance rather than the lack of red brick.
via eastendunderground.wordpress.com
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