5 June 2007
Group Fights to Save Building
Kentville Nova Scotia - An old brick and concrete building
slated for demolition is a historical landmark and should be saved, say members of a group rallying to preserve the
1920s-era railway roundhouse here.
"This building, for all its current dilapidation, is a gem," said Jay Underwood, president of the Nova Scotia Railway
Heritage Society.
The society is part of a growing coalition of groups that want the building, at the west end of town, saved from the wrecker's ball
and restored as a historic landmark.
Others include the Heritage Canada Foundation, Nova Scotia Industrial Heritage Society and local Kings Historical Society.
Town council decided that the more than $1.5 million required to restore the building is too much.
"That's a lot of money just to bring it up to warehouse standards," Mayor David Corkum said Monday. "And then you've got
a 25,000-square-foot building that needs to be maintained."
He said Shannex Group of Halifax is interested in building a seniors complex on land near the old railway building and the town hopes
the developer will incorporate the roundhouse land into its plans.
Mr. Corkum said the town has spent several years acquiring, cleaning up and developing the six-hectare abandoned railway
lands to create housing, retail outlets, and medical facilities.
He added that council relied heavily on professional advice and input from the town's economic development committee before deciding
to tear down the aged building.
But saving it could make the town a unique destination for visitors, Mr. Underwood said in a news release issued by the newly formed
Roundhouse Action Group.
What makes it unique is that the building contains a 10-stall roundhouse, large by industry standards, he said in an
interview from his home in Elmsdale.
The roundhouse, formerly owned and operated by the Dominion Atlantic Railway, houses a large turntable, which locomotives drove onto
before they were rotated. In its heyday, it would have been a hub of railway activities.
Mr. Underwood and other members of the group want the building to serve as a monument to Kentville's heritage, since the railway was a
bustling activity in the town for a century.
The group has presented council with possible funding sources to finance the building's restoration, he said.
A similar roundhouse owned by Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia has been restored into a community centre and museum, using
corporate and municipal funds.
At its May meeting, the Kings Historical Society voted to write Kentville town council protesting the decision to demolish the
building, arguing the railway was the "engine that drove the industrial development of Kentville" and is important
historically.
The society is seeking an alternative use for the building, which it says could serve as a museum, cultural centre, theatre,
agricultural market, or library.
"Kentville could be passing up a golden opportunity to be the jewel in the crown," Mr. Underwood said.
The group is circulating a petition, which now has 300 signatures. Members are hoping to make a presentation at council's
13 Jun 2007 meeting.
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