The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i, of Aad rig am LEE] A vraungt vebagl £ or) Arad ed How the hel does he do it? I'm referring to 85 year old Harold Ballard. Not a day goes by that his name doesn't pop up in the papers or on the six o'clock news. He owns a lousy hockey team in Toronto (the Leafs) which hasn't. won a Stanley Cup since Cen- tennial Year; a broke football team in Hamilton which is on the sales block for anybody who wants to take over the liabilities. * His feuds with his companion Yolanda have been aired in the press, and he has been known to harbour strong views on womens rights, Russian yockey teams and just about any other topic under e sun. : He's also a multi-millionaire, the owner of some 80 per cent of the shares in Maple Leaf Gardens. The guy has heart surgery a few months back and the price of the shares go nuts on the TSE. Harold once joked that whenever he needs a little extra walking around money, all he has to do is leak a story to the press that he's under doctor's care. And bingo, another million or two, on paper at east. But last week, the tables got turned a bit on Pal Hal, by of all people, the members of the Toronto Historica rd. ; They apparently are getting ready to ask the City of Toronto to declare the Gardens an historical site, which would mean, the building at the corner of Church and Carleton can't be altered, renovated or torn down without City council permission. The result? Garden stock dipped $6.5 million. Viewpoint by John B. McClelland Since Harold owns some 80 per cent, his personal loss was just over $4 million, again, all on paper. But the real loss may be coming. If the Gardens is declared an historical site and Toronto City Coun- cil wants it that way, both the building and the land it sits on will be virtually worthless for development some time in the future. . Ballard is mad about this possibility and why not. He owns the place and quis rightly thinks he can do what he wants with it. And so he should. One analyst suggested last week the land the Gardens sits on could be worth $200 million as a fu- ture development site (office-hotel-commercial complex) | don't think too many people are going to worry about Harold Ballard having to live his final years in poveny. But it bothers me no end to think that some Board can convince a City council to effec- tively "freeze" what is private property. Does the owner have no rights? It's all very well to attempt to preserve that which historically or ar- chitecturally significant, but what about compensa- tion for the owners? Is the Historical Board and City council prepared to come up with a fair market price for the Maple Leaf Gardens shareholders? Not like- As for the building itself, I'm no expert on histori- cal architecture, but to my mind Maple Leaf Gardens is ugly, inside and out. Sure, it was built in the early 30's, and sure it has been the scene of some great hockey and other events over the years like wres- ting' and rock concerts, but really, it's just another hockey rink. - this: the new owners who get control when Ballard dies should demolish the place, sell the. valuable land for a suitable commercial use, and build a new Maple Leaf Gardens away from the city core, so that going to a hockey game or other event doesn't turn into a major expedition for the average fan fighting traffic and lack of parking. But that won't happen if the Historical Board gets its way. Anybody who owns property in this province should be rightly concerned about the ramifications of this case, especially if the property is more than 50 years old. Ballard has threatened to fight this all the way to the highest court in the land. an idle threat. Good for him, he's got the bucks. He can hire the best legal minds to carry the fight for him. I'm not shedding any tears for Harold Ballard. In fact, the way he has run the Leafs over the years al- Jos tempts me to say "looks good on the old But the point is fundamental to something | al- ways thought was paramount in this country: the right to own property and sell it or dispose of it in any way the owngér wants (conforming to certain mu- nicipal by-laws and regulations) The next property owner who gets hit by the Historical Board may not be a wealthy Harold Bal- lard, but could be just an average guy.who has sunk his life work and savings into his "castle." : Maybe it's time property rights are enshrined in our Charter, with all those other important rights en- joyed by the citizens of Canada. Seri SE TR NE BAL AIS sir IER a ia PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 10, 1969 -- 7 nd he's not making What should happen to Maple Leaf Gardens is Remember When? 70 YEARS AGO ' - Thursday, January 16, 1919 The first meeting of the Council was held at the Treasurer's Office on Monday evening, January 14, at 8 p.m. with all members present to take the oath of office. The manager of the Bell Telephone Company applied for leave toinstall poles on the streets for phone service. It was mov- ed that the Bell Telephone Company be allowed to install telephone poles and wire on Bay Street and on Cochrane Street and on Ontario Street on the condition that a free phone be in- stalled in the Treasurer's Office - Carried. Thrift Stamps cost 25 cents each. They are a means of buy- ing a War Savings Stamp on the installment plan. Sixteen of them may be exchanged for a War Savings Stamp. They may be had wherever War Savings Stamps are sold. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 14, 1954 The students of Manchester School, (Mrs. Geo. Samells, teacher), noticed what they thought to be a parachute coming down in a field north of the §chool. A group of children hurried to the spot to find a U.S. weather balloon. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 15, 1959 The Port Perry Rod & Gun Club Annual Banquet was a huge success because of the large turnout of enthusiastic supporters 'and also because of the popularity of the Chinese Auction. On New Year's Eve, Teen Town held a very successful third annual New Year's Eve Dance. The Public School Auditorium was appropriately decorated depicting 'Old Man Time" and wee "Baby New Year." Danny Reesor, president, presented door prizes to lucky winners, Jamie Hunter and Miriam Harris. Lucky winners of the novelty dances were Betty Couves, Hugh Dobson and Marlene Badour, Carl Grass. The new Ontario County Jail on Victoria Street, Whitby, which cost more than three quarters of a million dollars, had its first tenants last week when prisoners were transferred from the century old structure back of the County Registry Office on Centre Street. p Letters Was it a cow, or just a bum steer? To The Editor: I can sympathize with Mr. Mit- chell in the los: of his cow sign. I too suffered the loss of an electric barber pole attached to the front wall of my barber shop on Queen St., in 1985. This pole was valued at $700 (but not for sale). Again in 1987 a barber shop sign was removed from the side of my building. Value $100 (not for sale). We share the feeling about thieves, but I take exception to the inference that the people of Port Perry may become self serving or introverted because of the theft of a cow that was theirs, but was for Queen St. 'U-turn' could be banned Should there...or shouldn't there be a U-Turn at the bottom end of Queen Street at the Water Street intersection? That is a Gussiion Scugog Council will address in the near future. Councillor Marilyn Pearce brought up the issue of traffic conjestion at Monday's meeting of council and suggested that four- way Stop signs should be. in- stalled. It was obvious not all of the . councillors agreed with this idea, as both Mayor Howard Hall and Regional Councillor Yvonne Christie got up from their seats and went for coffee following the recommendations from councillor Pearce. Further discussion about the 20 YEARS AGO comer suggested that it was possi- to yg sen pant trator, visitorsare | * IY time to consider a proper turn- still not tted inside the hospital. Precautionary measures had to be taken due to the many cases of flu in the area. The wharf at the foot of Queen Street, owned by the Ontario ~ Government, was offered for sale to the Village of Port Perry. AS ing circle to the east of the Water St. intersection. Most councillors tended to agree that traffic in the getting much heavier and it was maybe time to look at options for the corner, Councillor Christie said that she has never liked the U-Turn at the corner, but does frequently use it. "In fact, I will probably continue to use it", she said. While the four-way Stop signs were not considered, council did refer the question of a proper turn- ing circle to the Roads Depart- . ment for further discussion and costing. sale. Is it possible that this act may have been committed by a person _ or persons not from our - community? It is sad that property is stolen and vandalism does occur but can we predict doom for our com: munity because of the theft of this sign? An interesting point emerges here. If this sign was banned in two areas, should we allow any commercial signs on public sidewalks? I cannot understand the em- phasis the Port Perry Star is put- ting on this event. In closing let me ask "Was this really a cow?" As a farm boy, I can tell the difference. ~ In udder words was this a cow or a bum steer. Robert J. Prentice, Bob's Barber Shop Queen Street, Port Perry. tothe editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has allways been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. i Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. i) a ea EE ANAL A A lg A a a a A a ae Ee a BE AN BE RE i Sk en Ce ne omar" sm" tn se" Sm Se" at' Stet lb tr mt. mad ett A ee tl a mt mg Peg ------ - -