Re: “City to redesign Baker St.”
When I moved to Nelson in 1973 the city planners were bent on copying Kimberley’s Bavarian flair, including building canopies all along Baker St., hiding the beautiful old buildings in an attempt to modernize the city. Luckily it was a flop. Only a few businesses went ahead and built the ugly things, so the idea was scraped. A few years later, one of the big banks was allowed to build the totally unsuitable edifice which now houses BCAA. Things from that point could have gone very badly.
Fortunately for Nelson a fellow came along with the idea to focus on the beauty of Nelson’s heritage buildings, and managed to convince the politicians to go that route. It was a beautiful idea, and it surely turned out fantastic.
The article says the 35-year-old heritage light poles will soon need to be replaced, leading me to think that the city plans to stray from the heritage theme that has done so much to make Nelson such a lovely place. Since when does a metal light pole need replacing after 35 years? I think the city shouldn’t be allowed to touch a thing without the approval of Bob Inwood.
I do not live in Nelson, but I do so love the city, and I hope the people who live there will kibosh any and all moves that abandon the current heritage theme. Nelson is the most beautiful of all small cities. Let’s try to keep it that way.
Rod Retzlaff, Glade
