I have just learned that the City of Red Deer is calling for tenders for the demolition of The Arlington Inn.
As one who knows the city of Red Deer fairly well, I am writing to suggest that it might be wise to take a “sober, second thought” on the decision to demolish this old building. Red Deer has made itself famous with its policy of placing interesting statues here and there in the city. The Arlington could well be a part of this interesting policy.
I would like to call attention to the old wreck of a house in downtown London, England, which is known to all as the Olde Curiosity Shoppe.
I am sure that this building could well be described as an “eyesore” by people interested only in real estate values and property taxes. But that same building brings a great many people to visit that part of London.
True, the Olde Curiosity Shoppe survived the great fire of London, and true, the same building was immortalized by Charles Dickens’ book of the same name. But, the Arlington was built in Red Deer’s pioneer days and is an example of what many people expected in a building of that time period.
Left standing, it can still inspire someone to make an imaginative use of it. Demolished, it is gone forever, and so is a part of Red Deer’s past, never to be seen again.
Think it over Red Deer! Think it over!
Allan Ronaghan
Edmonton