PETERS: Maintaining Stuart Wood is expensive. Tearing it down would cost us much more

When it ceased being a school 10 years ago, Stuart Wood became subject to a convoluted governance structure that has resulted in no one knowing exactly what to do with the property.

It has served a long list of purposes in the interim. An even longer list of potential functions has been floated.

The latest idea tossed out into the world would see the new RCMP headquarters located on the site.

Ultimately, the future is still as clear as mud. In the meantime, City of Kamloops taxpayers are shelling out tens of thousands of dollars every year just to keep the building from falling into total disrepair.

Maintaining the heritage of a city’s buildings and infrastructure is expensive.

Ask anyone who owns one of those beautiful old heritage homes in the West End what it costs to keep them in good working order while still adhering to their original form and character. It’s not cheap.

And even when a city values an old structure and puts significant dollars into its upkeep, some idiot could still decide to destroy it – like in the case of the Red Bridge.

The cost to not maintaining our heritage, though, is even steeper.

Heritage structures give us a sense of the permanence of our chosen community. That attracts people to move here and keeps residents from moving away.

I grew up in a town that decidedly did not value its heritage structures, opting to tear them down when the cost to restore and maintain them grew even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

In their place rose cheap, cookie-cutter homes and businesses that displayed no sense of imagination, no sense of tradition, no sense of character whatsoever. No sense of pride, really.

Right next door to my hometown was another, similar-sized town that took a far different approach to heritage, showcasing and celebrating its century-old brick and stone buildings.

Visiting that neighbouring town is a far warmer, more welcoming experience than entering my hometown.

Keeping Stuart Wood standing and proudly displaying its historic facade for our future generations is going to be complicated and expensive.

Knocking it down to build a new police headquarters, though, would make a sad statement about our values as a community.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

by James Peters

PETERS: Maintaining Stuart Wood is expensive. Tearing it down would cost us much more

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