Re: “Heritage buildings disappear with no warning,” comment, Nov. 12.

How can Pam Madoff claim outrage at the “sudden” removal of the Burleith ­Carriage House on Craigflower Road?

I have driven by that slowly decaying home for decades, wondering what the story of its neglect included.

There was no sign marking the home’s historical significance. There was ­obviously no effort to maintain it. The home was barely held together, with ­supporting posts leaning against it and tarps covering the roof.

It appears to have been uninhabited for the past few years and was well past restoration. If Madoff is as concerned about ­conservation as she thinks, perhaps she could have driven around the region more often or at least arranged for the heritage committee to do so.

The pain emanating from that property was palpable. How could she have missed it?

Norma Strachan

Colwood

Re: “Heritage buildings disappear with no warning,” comment, Nov. 12.

As a graduate in architectural history, I recognized two distinct ideologies in Western Canada when I moved from ­Central Canada: “Build Baby Build,” and a small but educated and dedicated core of heritage preservationists and adaptive re-use advocates.

As a designer, I have worked for both sides, more for build babies than stop-and-think developers, such as Michael Williams and Chris Le Fevre, but until this last council there was respect for heritage in Victoria, because we have proudly saved Western Canada’s largest and virtually intact neighbourhood in Old Town.

But the complete disregard for those who built the character of our city, the culture that this mayor and council ­obviously want to replace, is alarming and sickening for those who understand that culture cannot be replaced with ­density.

The two community benefits can ­co-exist, as we see in Europe, but not without the dialogue and community involvement that Pamela Madoff points out in her excellent letter on this topic.

J.C. Scott

Victoria

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