Baybrook proposal would benefit Town and citizens

My family has lived in our Baybrook area home for 25 years. We are proud to support the Mack Laing Heritage Society (MLHS) and applaud its plan to save a historic and beautiful house that we have long admired from a distance. We were thrilled when the Town and the BC Nature Trust purchased the property. What a wonderful opportunity it represents!

However, a handful of people are consistently demonstrating a lack of comprehension and/or distortion of the facts. Despite two detailed reports and several informational brochures produced by the MLHS, they continue to parrot each other – as if repeating falsehoods will miraculously convert them into truth.

We can create something special to inform visitors of the natural, ecological, scientific and social history of Comox – in an existing heritage building directly associated with them. Mack Laing was a Renaissance man. What better place to celebrate his many accomplishments and contribution to our town?

Baybrook is just one of many parks and streets in Comox with access to the shoreline – but no other has a building suitable for an interpretive centre. The MLHS will “re-purpose” a home which was occupied for most of its 90 years and is in good condition. To suggest otherwise is an insult to the Society and its partners, CVN and Project Watershed. The house will be repaired, not redeveloped. In fact, there will be less of it when this work is completed – and it will conform to modern standards of safety and accessibility.

The nature pre-school would teach children outside for the entire three hour a day program. It is not a daycare.

There will be no “conference centre”. The home’s main room is 20′ X 24′, smaller than a double garage. The smaller room, suitable for an office, is 12′ x 12′.

The MLHS financial plan was presented at the request of the Town of Comox. The Society is non-profit, but will repair and maintain the house, pay salaries, create displays – plus pay the property taxes, insurance and utilities. This would be unique for a non-profit in Comox.

Talk to the residents living near unattended parks, or the Parks employees who pick up and repair the damage, before claiming there’s no problem with vandals. The MLHS proposes to have someone on site. There would be an investment to protect – and the whole neighbourhood would be safer as a result.

Demolishing the house would be very costly – and taxpayers will foot the bill and the cost of any pavilion or signboards later erected. Revisionist history will not improve that. Why not utilize this building instead of destroying it?

An interpretive centre is something we would be proud to show visiting relatives and it would be a positive draw for businesses and young families, as well as an educational experience for everyone.

In the face of the strident few, there is only one thing to do – stand up and be heard. Many citizens do not condone their anti-social, short-sighted behaviour.

Finally, consider who stands to gain if the house is demolished (no one – the property would be a liability), and who would benefit if it remains (everyone – even the naysayers).

Pretty obvious, isn’t it?

A. Beingessner
Comox