Roundhouse reality tells a bigger tale
I would like to see the old Kentville DAR roundhouse preserved, restored and turned into a heritage, cultural and commercial centre.
It would be a fitting tribute to the entity that built the town - and, in fact, allowed the Valley apple industry to become an international exporter of note. The Dominion Atlantic Railway also sparked a large tourism industry during the late 19th century, and was responsible in a big way for preserving Acadian culture.
Yes, a restored and revived roundhouse would be just the thing to address railway heritage and all that it had contributed.
Instead - caught up in reality, as most of us are - Kentville town council has tendered for the abandoned industrial structure's demolition.
I'm afraid I can't disagree with them.
Let's not forget Kentville has just come out of a period that saw many of its storefronts papered over. The downtown has reinvented itself with a mix of retail, restaurant, administrative and professional outlets.
And, no, the town isn't afraid to take a stand. It sold its electric utility, and kept its municipal police force. It also provides fire and recreational services well beyond its boundaries.
There were past opportunities lost - the Warden railway collection, the caboose and snowplow artifacts, and the DAR station. The last, however, from what I saw, would have fallen down if it hadn't been taken down. The loss was the material inside, some of which was rescued by the late railway historian Leon Barron.
Like any abandoned structure, the roundhouse couldn't help but be a potential liability case - an expensive one in paid out damages and increased premiums.
A quick glance shows there is no money around to save and develop the roundhouse. It would be wonderful if there was - along with ever valuable time - the local money available, provincial funds ready at hand and federal assistance.
If there is any doubt of how important we are as a province - let alone a community - in the federal scheme of things, just look at the Bill Casey MP situation. Whatever is said of the Atlantic Accord and the new equalization schedule, I think it's a fair deal. Mind you, it would be better for us to have it both ways - the view of Premier Rodney MacDonald.
But the Casey situation also shows the government doesn't give a rat's ass about how we feel about it or anything else. Rest assured, whatever votes the Tories may have lost here in Nova Scotia over the accord and Casey affairs, they will gain in multiples in Central Canada and the west. We're not as well thought of out there as we generally think of ourselves.
We may be the birthplace of the country, and our history - including the industrial aspect of it - is integral with that of the rest of the federation and the continent. In the mind of the current government, it appears to be a case of “so what? What have you done lately?”
Lest some naif suggest we go out and vote Liberal as a means to alter the situation, don't bother. They are - at least - as oblivious to us.
It goes for our little roundhouse, too.
Jay Underwood
Comment online since July 2nd 2007Your columnist Brent Fox has demonstrated the same flawed thinking as your town
council when it comes to the possibilities and opportunities presented to
Kentville by the restoration of the former Dominion Atlantic Railway roundhouse.
In his June 10 online article, “Roundhouse reality tells a bigger tale,” Mr
Fox suggests: “A quick glance shows there is no money around to save and develop
the roundhouse. It would be wonderful if there was - along with ever valuable
time - the local money available, provincial funds ready at hand and federal
assistance.”
Unfortunately it appears that is all that Mr. Fox and town council has done;
taken a quick glance. The Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society and several other
independent and governmental sources have offered council several sources of
funding that are currently available, and indicated that Kentville is not
expected to shoulder the cost of the restoration without assistance from the
corporate sector and community—based groups.
Simply out, and to counter the argument at the June 13 council meeting by
Councillor Dennis Kehoe, the town does not know if it can afford to restore the
roundhouse because it does not know what the cost will be.
Insufficient attention has been paid to the process by which other
municipalities assess the condition and potential of heritage properties,
including uses for the building, funding sources and partnership possibilities
with the private sector.
Council’s decision appears to be based upon a single report by the Dartmouth
firm of Neill & Gunter, which only suggests it would take $1.5 million to bring
the building envelope up to warehouse standards, and that figure comes with a 30
per cent variance either way.
This seems to be contrary to the company’s stated mission of “providing
excellence” to its clients. If someone were to tell you the cost of your home
repair could be anywhere in that range, wouldn’t the most logical response be to
get another estimate, before you went looking for the money to pay for the
repairs or decided to tear the house down?
Mr. Fox then parrots another reason provided by town councillors for ridding
themselves of the roundhouse: “Like any abandoned structure, the roundhouse
couldn't help but be a potential liability case - an expensive one in paid out
damages and increased premiums.”
This is based upon the supposition that someone is going to be injured by an
accident while trespassing on the property. Most municipalities, however, do not
pay insurance premiums based on how many potential accidents might occur in any
given year, and taking down the roundhouse would not, if that was the case,
reduce the town’s insurance costs because the same liability would apply to
someone injured while on the site of the razed building. Indeed, if the
potential for accidents was the sole means of determining insurance costs, the
town would be spending more money providing for the safety of pedestrians by
improving sidewalks, and extending those sidewalks in areas where non currently
exist.
The final evidence that Mr. Fox has not paid enough attention to his topic is
his statement that: “There were past opportunities lost - the Warden railway
collection, the caboose and snowplow artifacts, and the DAR station. The last,
however, from what I saw, would have fallen down if it hadn't been taken down.
The loss was the material inside, some of which was rescued by the late railway
historian Leon Barron.”
Many of those artifacts were not “lost.” Indeed, the caboose and snowplow were
saved, and exist in the collection of the Musquodoboit Harbour railway museum. A
great deal of the material from the former Kentville station was preserved by
members of the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society, myself included.
A restored roundhouse incorporating a railway museum would provide an
opportunity for the town to regain some of those treasures, if the current
owners were assured they were exhibited in an appropriate setting.
It would seem others saw the value of that material, whereas it escaped the
attention Kentville’s council at the time.
It remains my position that the town cannot afford not to restore the
roundhouse. With manufacturing and agricultural industries up and down the
Valley facing an uncertain future in the post—North American Free Trade era,
Kentville is passing up an opportunity to develop an industry over which cane
exert some control: tourism.
That has been the lesson learned by Cape Breton, where resource—based industries
like coal, steel production and lumbering have failed and tourism is now the
prime industry of the island.
All Kentville will do by failing to restore the roundhouse is given visitors to
the Annapolis Valley another reason not to get off Highway 101 when going from
Grand Pre to Annapolis Royal.
Councillor Kehoe also suggested at the June 13 meeting that the Cornwallis Inn
still remains as a monument to the town’s railway heritage, so the loss of the
roundhouse will not damage that aspect of the town’s allure to tourists.
But this overlooks two important facts: the town does not own
the inn, and does not have a heritage property by—law to ensure that it remains
in a close approximation to its 1930s era appearance.
The other is that town development has already destroyed much of the once—famous
garden that gave the inn its distinctive style. If the owner of the building was
to decide tomorrow to make changes to its appearance, or re—develop the land,
council cannot prevent it from happening. What then becomes of Kentville’s
heritage?
The other question that Councillor Kehoe failed to answer June 13 was why
would the town want to limit itself to a single building representing its once
proud railway history? Only a variety of buildings can properly represent the
individuality of any community.
Both your columnist and council have indicted that time is another overwhelming
factor in council’s decision. Why?
Efforts to save the roundhouse and incorporate it into the town’s revitalization
have existed since the 1998 economic development plan was formulated, a 10—year
plan that is now being repudiated before its term has expired. Mr. Fox makes no
mention of this.
As a former small—town newspaper editor and publisher, it was always my
philosophy that the local journal of record should act as a watchdog over the
follies of elected representatives. Unfortunately, Mr. Fox appears in this case
to have adopted the role of lap dog.
Jay Underwood
President
Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society
Elmsdale NS