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PIGE 6, WHITBY FR.F. PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1987 f.emp VOICE OF THE COUNTY Published every Wednesde By 677209 Ontario Inc. Phone: 668-6111 rhe Free Press Building 131 Brock Street North TOWN P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. 'ay DOUG ANDERSON Publisher MAURICE PIFHER Editor Thnoi % tt) i% 1>alptr ii i u li v( Ii%4 it-d n d< ib%< .1%%it d l hit ii % id fo. <r Nliii > r) idii . Destroying our heritage Another heritage landmark was demolished in Whitby on Monday to make way for a parking lot. The 1847 house of Peter Perry's eldest son, Robert, the last physical reminder of Whitby's founding family, was demolished not because, as the owner says, nobody wanted it but because nobody made any effort to save it. The irony is that Whitby is celebrating Heritage Month in September, LACAC is holding seminars on preservation on Sept. 26, and the downtown is lhaving its Heritage Day on Sept. 12. Will anything be left? The developer of the new building says he needed the space for parking - he certainly didn't need it now, the medical building isn't finished. He also reneged on an undertaking (not binding), filed with the site plan, to preserve the buildinq. He says the building was offered to Cullen Gar- dens and Bill Little if they could move it. Such a limited effort hardly constitutes an effort to save the buildipg. The Town for its part followed the book to the letter - but they also wrote the book. LACAC, which sought a procedure of notification following the similar destruction of the Dow House a couple of years ago, was not notified of the imminent demolition - the procedure had been modified by council to include only sites where rezoning was involved. LACACs are set up by municipalities to advise them on architectural preservation, but Whitby's may as well not exist because the municipality won't inform them when a building is in danger. When the Ontario government passed the On- tario Heritage Act in 1974, it entrusted the preser- vation of such buildings to local governments and gave them the tools to do it. Whitby's ad- ministration has refused to. lift a finger to preserve a single old building on thé grounds that it would be an infringement on private property rights. But what about the property rights of the Carriere's who own a heritage building adjacent to the Perry House site? What about the property rights of ail those downtown businesses that have staked the future of downtown on its Victorian architecture? Would our government stand idly by while one of those Victorian commercial buildings was demolished? On past performance, they would do nothing to stop it. Few municipalities have as dismal a record of architectural preservation as Whitby. The Ontario government is currently reviewing the Ontario Heritage Act. They might like to consider Whitby's example in deciding who should make the decisions. At the time of the demolition, the Whitby Free Press had in process the preparation of some ar- chitectural drawings of how the Perry house could have been preserved as an economic as well as an historic entity. The drawings were to be published in our Heritage Edition on Sept. 9. They still will be, but instead of being a vision of things that might have been they will be a testimonial to the narrowness and blindness of the philistines who caused and allowed the destruction of yet another piece of Whitby's heritage. Column comment rebutted: there is a revival To the editor: Regarding "The Other Side of the Fence" by Doug Anderson, Free Press, Aug.19. I read with much interest Mr. Anderson's column on religion and education and wish to reply to just one of his many thoughtful com- ments, if Imay. I quote: "Our alienation has led in two directions - those who have embraced the fundamentalist doc- trine - and those who are simply uncomfortable with a bland sort of Swan analysis 'biased' To the editor: I do not believe you will print this in The Free Press but I am going to write it anyway. Usually Bill Swan writes a sen- sible column 'With Your Feet Up' weekly in your paper. But this time his feet must have been up where his brains are when he gave his version of the result of the debate between the three provincial party leaders. Even the Toronto Star, the most Liberal biased paper in Ontario, gave all three participants an even scope. Not our Bill, he rated the waffling, stumbling and stuttering Premier a 9-3 score over Grossman, Rae over Grossman 5-2 and Rae over Peterson 8-7. In my opinion his analysis is stupid and biased against Grossman, proven by critics and Liberal party members, that Peterson did not fare so well during the debate. I give Rae and Grossman a win by a knockout, in this one and only debate, as it is very doubtful that Peterson will come back for more of the same. P.N. Whitby Plurality can enrich, too To the editor: Thank you Doug Anderson for last week's article, 'Religion and Education.' However, I take issue with one statement of non-tolerance of other cultures and/or beliefs. Plurality could mean enrichment. I hereby invite you to see and hear, firsthand, the inside story of the Christian school. It is a school where a dedicated staff teach young minds, body and SEEPAGE9 agnosticism. Although fundamen- talism is the only growth religion around, the latter agnostic group forms the silent majority." I have to say, sir, that this is just not the way things are; there is another route which is growing and blossoming phenomenally at this time. It does not go by any one name, it has no dogma, no particular ritual to follow or set belief system which one must embrace, yet it is inherently a religion. Probably the use of the word 'holistic' or 'wholeistic,' is the closest one could get to a word that would describe this wonderful new- age revival. The main message of this holistic religion is that to know God one must come to know oneself; that we are made in the likeness and the image of that which we worship; and it matters not what word one uses, be it Allah, Brahma, Jehovah, Creative Intelligence or simply God, that which one worships and strives toward is what one becomes. Religion is a process of becoming - mankind becoming Godkind and this "other route" is not divisive, it melds science and religion by speaking to the mind and the heart equally. Yes, Mr. Anderson, this "growth religion" is all around you, thriving and well - very well. Sincerely, Freda Jepson Whitby LETTERS The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the Editor on any subject of concern to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Al letters must be accompanied by the name, address and phone number of the writer; however, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree that there is a valid reason. The paper reserves the right to reject or edit al letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ontario LIN 5S1 or drop through our mailslot at 131 Brock St. N. "Don't look at it as the loss of a great historic buildizig...look at it as the creation of another great parking lot!" PETER IRVINE AdvertIsing Manager