Dear Editor:
An address to city council meeting of Aug. 29. Acting Mayor Jonathan Cote and city council: After the November elections, what do you want to be remembered for?
Are you the council that closed roads, destroyed parks, sold heritage buildings and showed little concern for the lifestyle, comfort, safety and convenience of the residents?
Wall to wall concrete highrises may bring new residents and taxpayers to the city, but how long will they stay without open spaces for sunlight and fresh air, parks and recreation space for adults and children, safe streets with adequate free parking?
We, the residents, need access to our homes by more than one route. What would we do in an emergency such as the one in the U.S. this past week? Closing two more streets is not the answer.
What is to become of Albert Crescent Park or what is left of it? Closing streets at the top end and giving away part of the lower end leaves little access to the park. The park provides a popular short-cut to the SkyTrain and Columbia Street for neighbourhood pedestrians.
Hopefully, we will have a school on the St. Mary's site some day. The school will need more than staff parking. Parents visiting the school during the day and evening users will need safe, well-lit and convenient parking. Once the streets are gone - Dickenson, Sarnia and Albert Crescent - where will these people park?
It is my understanding that the Gyro Health facility building, a gift to the city for the people of the city, is up for sale as it is "excess to the city's needs." What does that mean? Are there any plans to discuss this with the residents, the people of the city, or by "city needs" do you mean city council and various city departments?
The people of the city, the taxpayers, can offer many uses for this building - a branch library, seniors' centre, child-care facility, art gallery, meeting space and more.
If the building is not worth saving, leave the site as green space, something in short supply downtown. Perhaps the signs "development property for sale" on several adjoining lots tell a familiar story.
Please, open your eyes and your minds to the future. Preserve what little space we have left for our children before it is too late.
Lila Wood,
New Westminster
