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A J , * hd C » © bh < hE = LY Po > 3 on bd LJ Once destroyed, it is lost forever Let Hudson Isherwood of Woodson Construction choose his own title, and he'd pick 'professional renovator' before 'builder'. When Mr. Isherwood looked at the.old creamery building on Water Street as a possible investment, he viewed the structure through the eyes of a renovator. "The reason no one else has ever done anything with this building' is because they looked at it all wrong. By tearing it down and building new, you simply couldn't make it work." "People," he said, "have got to start-looking at an old building with a little love." At the old creamery, Mr. To look at it.....with a little love Isherwood had to scrape through some heavy dirt to get to the love part. "My first impression was that the building was an absolute mess..in shambles." But the more he investi- gated, the more he realized the building had potential. Today, the rustic old build- ing has the appearance of belonging to the village, yet can provide 10,000 square feet of modern office space. There are other advantages to renovating as well. "When they built these build- ings some 70 or 80 years ago, they were well over- . stressed." In other words, they don't build them the way they used to. Mr. Isherwood said that if comparative materials were to be used on a building today that were used 70 years ago, construction price would quadruple...not including labour. * "The way these buildings are put together is fantas- tic," he said. By destroying some old buildings, he points out, the community is losing much more than a structure. Skilled craftsmen that pro- duced some of the beautiful fixtures and buildings of the past are just not around anymore. "Once you've destroyed this, it can-never be replaced. And, if it can, the costs would be out of this world." Mr. Isherwood readily admits that one of the rea- sons for the philosophy so evident in the past is because in a lot of cases, there's more money in it. "The relative figures might be as high as 5to 1," he said. . Another reason, involving both purchaser and archi- tect, is that of ego. The purchaser can boast about the Name that built his office building, and the architect doesn't have to make his architecture fit inside some- one else's four walls. But there have been some changes in attitude, spurred by both appreciation of the subject, as well as , hard economic considerations. With attention focusing recently on conserving resources and materials and escalating costs, there has tear-it-down- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, Mar. 5, 1975 -- 23 "Ain been more thought given to repairing rather than replacing. The Big City Syndrome is also slipping. A dozen years ago, everyone wanted what Toronto had. That trend has reversed itself. In fact, thinks Mr. Isherwood, it is - perhaps the people who have come from the larger cities who are some of the most concerned in efforts to keep the old. "These are people who have not been born into a com- munity, but have chosen it i : over their own. When they UN see that the things that ve attracted them to the com- 5 munity are threatened, they 2 are concerned," he said. ia He warned, however, that such buildings must be SAY functional. A theatre, i library, art centre or a 5 multitude of other uses can i be designated. "We just cannot afford to spend the millions on saving old build- ings from destruction. They must serve a useful function." Mr. Isherwood said renovating does nol neces- sarily mean it is cheaper nor easier to do. *'It is far more : challenging to renovate, + : Lh SR taking the old and making it Lo 3 . fit the new." 8 Post Office interior wesnaibsueseereet ase PT LLL ' PLLA ' wnt t : Ll TET Sh Sees = wk Rt ACTS 1) ARE SRO Lr sanity)