Danville Preservation League

People must take a stand

Danville Register and Bee

Friday, February 16, 2007

To the editor:
As I try to write this letter, so many things are going through my head.

I once left Danville out of frustration with the backward thinking of city hall and the lack of involvement from the people to help form Danville into a more progressive town. I came back because I had been led to believe that Danville was moving forward.

Danville is at a crossroads now.  With the years of promises on the Long Mill project, the upheaval over losing the Schoolfield Recreation Center, the controversy with the hospital and I am sure many other issues that directly affect the citizens that call Danville home, it has become abundantly clear that the citizens of Danville need to get very proactive.

My first reaction to most of the issues is to blame city hall for the losses and the troubles, but in reality, the citizens are to blame. Think about it - if enough people from all areas of town had made a stand on the Schoolfield issue, they could have stopped the recreation center’s demolition.

If the citizens from all areas of town would get involved and show the hospital what they thought, I bet something would be done pronto - not whenever they get around to it.

How about the support for what is going on downtown? We first think it will take people from out of town to get involved, not the citizens already here because the citizens of Danville don’t care. I know that my main references point are activities in the historic district and that is because that is where I live, but even if I didn’t, they are very important to the economy of this town and its future.
What kind of quality of life do you want here?

Do you not realize that the power of this town is in the hands of you the people? Danville City Council was elected by you, the people, but you the people are not making it work for you. In my opinion, Danville City Council works for the city manager - a position that is not elected by the people.
The No. 1 complaint that has been around for the last 30 years is that city hall is not doing anything that the people want because the citizens don’t take an active role showing city hall what they want and how they want it.

Talk is cheap. If you, as citizens, don’t take an active role now, Danville will become what city hall wants, not what you want.

PAM GRAY
Danville

Schoolfield Recreation Center demolition begins

Building comes down as many remember its past

By JONNELLE DAVIS

Register & Bee staff writer

Thursday, February 1, 2007

The day that area historic preservationists feared and fought against for months   arrived on Thursday. n the midst of the day’s precipitation, a crew began demolishing the Schoolfield Recreation Center. The demolition began at daybreak and is expected to be completed today, according to an unidentified worker at the scene.

Doris Handy, a founding member of the Schoolfield Preservation Committee, said on Thursday that she had accepted that a part of her history - as well as the history of many others in the River City - would soon be gone. “I don’t like it, and I’m sorry it happened. And Schoolfield won’t ever be the same,” said Handy, adding that there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

A man who identified himself as the foreman at the Schoolfield site Thursday afternoon said he could not comment on the demolition process. A call to project site manager Carl Sartoris was not returned. CVS has moved forward with its plans to erect a new pharmacy on the site after a deal to purchase plots of land across the street from the recreation center fell through.

In a final act of protest, those who wanted to see the building saved stood outside it Saturday holding signs as a construction crew tore off the building’s slate tiles and tossed them to the ground.

Sarah Latham was unsure whether she had the heart to drive by the site as it was being demolished. She and her husband, Dan, were both on the preservation committee. Latham said they were lured to Danville by its historic architecture, and called the recreation center one of the most “elegant” structures in Danville. "I think it’s a real tragic loss for the whole city,” she said.