RE: Fake heritage, March 24.
Paul Taylor raised concerns of creating a false sense of history in downtown Elora through renovations that include stonework. By contrast, the current change and renewal Elora is seeing – stonework and all – will very much become a historic period in its own right.
The March 17 article to which Taylor referred didn’t suggest that Kogen and Hillis were scheming strategies to deceive so much as to pour heart, soul and more than a little money into plans to renovate (i.e. make new again) in a way that is sympathetic to surrounding buildings. We should be so lucky.
When those same buildings were nearing the century mark, few people showed as much concern. Many of Elora’s downtown buildings that looked terrific in the 19th century, were approaching abysmal condition by the mid-20th. By then West Mill Street’s short length had become home to a gas station, a cold storage business, various factory buildings, others that had been boarded up for years, with a busy working mill at one end. That utilitarian phase of Elora’s history is just as valid as any other, but certainly not as charming. And that’s key because Elora’s built heritage is one of its draws, but so is its public convenience and charm. The latter explains why one now finds brightly painted storefronts, outdoor potted plants, and a public greenspace with seating. They’re not historic but they are attractive.
Hillis and Kogen appear to be planning to renovate their properties, at their own expense, in order that they will not crumble and fall. If such renovations make stylistic reference to the 19th century, or incorporate the colour and whimsy more reminiscent of Elora’s recent past, how fitting.
Renovation won’t create “fake heritage” because the changes are new. But through sympathetic choices of scale, material and style, it sounds very much like such renovations will give Elora’s history a nod without trying to recreate it.
It may also mean that these buildings will last for many more generations to enjoy.
Elysia DeLaurentis,
Elora