The headlines in various papers say the same thing, on Tuesday the order for the demolition of the South Side of Colborne Street will be given and the 41 buildings that have been at the centre of a great deal of controversy will soon be no more.
Reading the notes from the Facebook Group Save the South Side of Colborne Street, it is all over. Lloyd Alter of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario wrote:
We lost, and two councillors previously in support of preserving the buildings switched their votes to demolition. But I want to say how proud I am to have met you all , to have fought this fight with such people. Your deputations were persuasive and I cried during Leis's impassioned pleas. Too bad nobody was listening.
The vote went 8-3, it seems a couple of counsellors voted for the demolition because further delay was hurting the downtown core, the businesses that were there had problems because of the delay.
So today, with the aid of my trusty camera, I went for a walk and took some photographs:
Some of these building date back to the middle of the 19th century. One wonders if people who were there at the beginning when the decay started to set in had contacted groups to support restoration if the downtown of Brantford could have been saved. I know there are many who suggest that it was not likely, with the growth of the car culture, people looked to the outskirts, with the malls and more recently the big box stores as the place to shop. Downtowns were viewed as passé, only fit for the druggies and others who belong to the lower end of the Social Economic Scale.
Now the news is stating that the Y will be coming to occupy some of the land that will soon be vacant.
I always thought the rallying cry should have been "Save Heinbuck's"
Perhaps I'll take some photos and videos of the demolition.
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