Last Friday associate editor Tracey Duguay wrote about the
sorry state of heritage preservation in Greater Sudbury.
Although there are some people talking about approaching the
city to set up a heritage committee, there hasn't been any
watchdog group for several decades.
That means the city has lost many historical buildings, but
there are some still standing. And yes, most are in the
downtown Sudbury area because the city grew around the original
centre near the CPR station.
It is important to save what is left of our architectural
history for our citizens for the same reasons it is important
to have museums and recorded histories in books. Future
generations will not be interested in knowing about our big box
stores and shopping centres. We can only hope that the
consuming culture of the last half of the 20th century and
beginning of the 21st will someday be viewed with shock and awe
by our grandchildren who will wonder why their grandparents
needed, wanted, and coveted so much stuff made in China.
In the early 1980s, the beautiful old city hall in my hometown
of Chatham was torn down to make room for a shopping mall not
unlike Sudbury's Rainbow Centre.
I didn't understand then why anyone would care about a building
which was dirty and rundown. But as I got older and visited
other communities that had maintained their important
historical buildings, I realize the city lost something the day
Harrison Hall was demolished.
People in Chatham today regret losing the old castle-like
building the same way Sudbury residents feel about losing their
former landmark post office at the corner of Elm and Durham.
In the mid-1990s, Chatham's mayor at the time, Bill Erickson,
who was outraged by the loss of Harrison Hall, spearheaded a
volunteer citizens' movement to stop downtown Chatham from
becoming a parking lot. Chatham's downtown merchants are not
only challenged by local shopping centres, they compete with
Windsor and Detroit just an hour away.
First of all, Erickson convinced Chatham council to rip out its
parking meters. This immediately helped downtown merchants
because people hate paying for parking.
The Historic Downtown Committee of Chatham opened a storefront
on main street. It has a mandate to preserve, restore and
promote the downtown's heritage buildings.
Business owners took advantage of incentives offered by the
municipality including those for renewed facades which add a
new freshness to the streetscape.  The incentives assist
with grants and loans not only for facade renovations but
improvements to residences.  Additional grants and loans
for cafes, patios, display areas and courtyards are available.
One businessman restored an ancient block of rundown properties
near the old CPR Station. (The train station was moved brick by
brick outside the city and is now a nursery centre.)
Later, the same businessman restored a building which housed
one of the city's newspapers, The Daily Planet.
It is a local tale that Superman creator Joe Shuster (comedian
Frank's cousin) visited Chatham at some time, and may have
borrowed the name, The Daily Planet, for his comic strip.
More recently, another business owner is beginning to restore a
block which includes an abandoned opera house. (At one time,
Chatham had 15 theatres and opera houses.)
In 1995 The Famous Players closed its downtown theatre, which
opened in 1930. It was slated to be demolished. But a year
later, The Chatham Capitol Theatre Association acquired the
theatre property.
Ambitious work began to restore its original beauty, as well as
to build a second storey that was planned but never built. The
citizens' group has a vision to create a 1,200 seat performing
arts centre.(
www.chathamcapitoltheatre
)
The theatre association used senior government funds, as well
as aggressive fundraising for the project. I was told on my
recent visit to Chatham that they are about $2 million away
from opening.
Local artists have painted 10 murals on downtown buildings.
There is no graffiti on the main street.
About 15 years ago, my former history teacher taught a course
at Chatham Collegiate Institute on local history. That
information has been used to create a walking tour of downtown.
Historical plaques have been erected along King St. to explain
what used to be there. Many of the plaques are sponsored by
local businesses.
Chatham, now Chatham-Kent, another constellation of communities
like Greater Sudbury, has been able to save and celebrate its
rich history. The city has become a more interesting place to
live, and it is now selling its Old Ontario charm to tourists.
Greater Sudbury can learn from this.
Citizens must support efforts to save our heritage. Phone,
write or email councillors and the mayor to say you care. As
well, the time is right to express  your support for two
legacy projects, a performing arts centre, and a multi-use
recreation centre.
All of these things will make Greater Sudbury a more vibrant
and interesting community for future generations into the next
century. The same argument cannot be made for spending money on
roads.
Vicki Gilhula is the managing editor of Northern
Life.
