The Editor,
I am writing in response to the article, "McDonald's still coming to Farm Point," in the March 24 edition of The Low Down.
It seems that our various councils and political representatives are unable or unwilling to make any attempt at safeguarding the incredibly rich cultural heritage of the Hills. They seem perfectly fine with allowing buildings like the Cross [Farm] barn to be torn down — for a McDonald's, no less. A building, as [reporter] Hunter Cresswell so fittingly put it, which has “stood sentinel over the Farm Point” exit “for decades.”
I see various groups doing a good job at making attempts to save our greenspaces from the suburban sprawl that council seems so fond of. This work is excellent and important. Perhaps we also need some sort of coalition to safeguard our cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, before all the rest of our iconic barns are torn down for multinational corporations, or historic residences leveled in the night for bigger parking lots, or we forget entirely what the train sounded like, or the river when it filled with logs and lumbermen…
This is about much more than a barn. It is about cultural heritage. It is about keeping a link to our shared history, so that in another 100 years we can look back with some semblance of dignity, and so that we have something beautiful to share with the future and a story to continue — not another flippin' McDonald's.
Corey Pool
Farrellton, QC