LETTERS TO THE EDITOR as published in The Guardian, Feb 24, 2009
Editor:
The ease with which some folks are ready to spend other people's money can be breathtaking. Take, for example, the old Dominion Building.
Here's a dated structure that federal government tenants began abandoning years ago. There are rumours the old building is loaded with asbestos insulation. There is also talk the aged structure is unstable, which accounts for the braces on the exterior. An energy audit would almost certainly produce a failing grade. Despite these warning signs, there are some folks who want taxpayers to plow as much as $30 million into the salvage of this worn-out hand-me-down.
Here's the question. Is the Dominion Building worth saving? The architectural design is uninspiring. It can't qualify as a heritage property. And the structure has problems, which will be staggeringly expensive to fix.
By contrast, the estimated cost of demolition is about $2 million. Then what? Islanders can seize the opportunity to create something important and exciting and new on the site of something old and threadbare and lamentable.
Aubrey Bell,
New London
