To the Editor,
Re: History demolished, Letters, April 19.
I find the history of the founding of the city of Nanaimo and our first settlers and miners here less than two centuries ago fascinating, plus very well worth preserving for the interest of future citizens.
Whilst it is true many buildings of significance here have been either demolished or burned down, there is still time to mark this era for the future. Two of my friends have bought and will preserve miners’ cottages and see them as an interesting challenge. As a vision of our heritage, as a city we now should buy, barter, or simply relieve the developers of the remaining pioneer miners’ homes. Time is of the essence to get them and any others that we have before they disintegrate further.
We would move them to join the single home that already exists and is preserved in city hands. We would later build a pioneer park with our old buildings. This along with the stories in books already written of the first settlers, miners, merchants, and scallywags and all would become exciting, colourful memorabilia.
Our heritage as a wonderful place we call home depends on us now to preserve buildings and stories for our children and grandchildren; they can then be seen and told to visitors and citizens alike. An alive and active Barkerville in southern B.C.
Eileen LittleNanaimo