10 July 2007
Kentville's Rail History Crumbles
The railway roundhouse in Kentville fell to the wreckers on
Monday, ending a debate over the structure's future.
Kentville Nova Scotia - The last vestige of Kentville's
railway heritage began to fall Monday as heavy equipment tore through the old Dominion Atlantic Railway roundhouse.
Wood snapped and cracked as the jaw-like excavator ripped down the historic structure and then piled the debris in
separate piles of wood and metal.
It was the end of a month-long debate between the town and heritage and railway buffs desperately trying to save the
roundhouse, the last in Nova Scotia.
Town officials opted to demolish the building, on 13 acres of land it purchased a few years ago from CP Rail, to make way for
development and because they said the building was unsafe.
A group of opponents known as the Roundhouse Action Group asked them to hold off, saying last month the building should be preserved
and that it wanted time to secure money to do that.
The town said if someone came forward with the money by 1 Jul 2007, it would entertain offers. But the group couldn't
meet that deadline, saying such arrangements take time to be pull together funding and create a development plan.
Spokesman Jay Underwood called it a sad day.
"Not all the vandals in Kentville carry spray paint," he said. "Some sit on council."
He blamed all levels of government for the loss of the roundhouse.
"No one moved to protect that building," he said.
He said the federal and provincial governments talk about needing to preserve heritage and history, but neither acted.
"I feel badly for (Kings North MLA) Mark Parent," Mr. Underwood said. "He tried hard to get something done, but his
pleas fell on deaf ears."
Railway buff Garnet Clarke, who came down to see the building fall, said it was too bad the group wasn't given more time to pull
funding together."It's a real shame to see a structure like that torn down," Mr. Clarke said. "It's a real shame the
town doesn't honour its railway culture."
He was among several people who stopped by to watch the destruction and to take pictures.
"I have something I'd like to say about the mayor, but it's not publishable," said one woman, who declined further comment.
"I can't or I'll start to cry," she said.
Mayor Dave Corkum said he hadn't received many phone calls during the day.
"I hope maybe now that we can put this situation behind us and move forward," he said.
He said during the demolition contractors found the building "was in worse shape than they thought," with dry rot in the
beams and lead paint on bricks.
He said the contractor also felt that there was no way to get the smell of out of the larger timbers and use them for something else.
"It's unfortunate that we're getting a bad rap because this was the last roundhouse in Nova Scotia," Mr. Corkum said.
"There were a lot of others torn down before this."
He said the town couldn't afford to be saddled with maintenance or refurbishing costs and municipal politicians have to make tough
choices sometimes.
"You have to do what you have to do," he said. "Unfortunately you can't please everybody. That's part of the job. A lot
of decisions make some people happy and make some people sad."
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