Last week Innisfil lost part of its history. The marvelous stone building on the northeast corner of the Innisfil Beach Road and the 20th sideroad, the Ness-Adair home, was destroyed in the name of "progress" and "development".
This fine old building dating from the 1860s is to be replaced by a No Frills store and surrounding suburban development. How could this have been allowed by Council or the Heritage Committee? Admittedly, three years ago when these deals were proposed, the concept of preserving our history was not considered as important as it is now, when more and more of these representative buildings are falling to the wrecker's ball and ending up as land fill.
However, surely, anyone could recognize the beauty, the history, and the craftsmanship displayed by such structures. They help define the nature of a community. And yet nothing was done.
On the south west corner of the same intersection, the "Gateway to Alcona", a similarly rare house is in the hands of a developer and due to be destroyed in favour of yet another retail plaza featuring a Canadian Tire store, and another Mark's Work Wearhouse. This building could easily be preserved on the lot and converted to another use; a restaurant, for example, or a retail store selling products from Innisfil, maps, guides to interesting sites, Innisfil histories etc. Would this old gem not be a more worthy representative of Alcona, Innisfil and its rural traditions than more box stores not to mention more interesting, and more of a "draw"?
Let us hope that negotiations with the developer will result in this building's preservation, not its destruction.
David F. Steele.
Churchill
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