I appreciated and support for Burrell’s the letter written by Patricia Denzel on Aug. 13 and the letter by C. Burton in the Aug. 27 edition.
Burrell’s was also a place of employment for my son for many years. It was a place dogs came to visit him for the treats he gave them. It was a first job for many! It was a gathering place. I am sure it’s to be bulldozed for some ugly industrial complex now. We don’t seem so interested in preservation anymore! What happened to the “Heritage City?”
I have lived here 21 years. Recently I have watched this community shift. Institutions like Burrell’s (REO’s) and the affordable King’s (another gathering place) are no longer valued.
Instead, in the “new” Nelson we value industrial looking homes built after tearing down character homes, and squeezed in to every square inch, we value expensive Airbnbs and laneway houses, we are OK building and stealing views.
I hear the arguments — “we must grow” (no we don’t) and/or “it’s progress.” Destroying a quality of life is not progress — it’s greed! Not everyone only values money or measures wealth in terms of money!
Why have we chosen to fall under the spell of speculators and developers looking to make buck and why have we sold out? It was not our previous vision or pride in this community. Now we must just cope with a changing community (to further line the pockets of many) that no longer seems to honour our community institutions or the wishes of the generations who built this community or those of us who were seeking a simpler life! We are losing something very special and it’s happening in increments and it’s certainly not for the benefit of the average members of this community. The already well off come and build monster homes out of city limits thereby not even contributing to city taxes or building these monstrosities to flip while utilizing the now very stretched services! Regardless, Nelson is no longer tapped as a beautiful community for its own sake but rather is being sold out to exploiters. And with constant promotion of this community we have indeed created a monster as C. Burton says. This is not why I came but it may be why I leave!
Dwyn Roberts
Nelson