Welcome to Our Alma – a forum to discuss what should become of Alma College
Our Alma is a wiki, meaning its content is created by you. It's easy to share your opinions and incredibly important that you do - your words have a direct impact on Alma College's fate.
Changes can be made by anyone, to any page, including this one here:
- Click on the Edit page button above.
- Login with your e-mail address and the password 1877.
- Add your thoughts and then save them by clicking on the Save button below.
Our Alma can be navigated by using the SideBar in the box at the right of the screen. Make sure SideBar is selected. If it is, you’ll see FrontPage, ABOUT Alma College, etc. Those are the pages that have already been created.
You can also add pages if you find your ideas don’t seem to fit anywhere else. Click the New page button above and follow the prompts.
In this FrontPage section, add your general thoughts on Alma College in reverse chronological order.
Paul Jenkins, Tuesday, February 19, 2008 - This is a letter I submitted to the Editor of the St. Thomas Times-Journal.
The Ontario Municipal Board's recent approval to demolish Alma College makes me nauseous. The silence of our local politicians on the issue deafens me.
Where are the leaders of our community when we need them the most? Why has no one articulated a vision of what our city might be? Is this, then, the end of one of our nation’s most impressive pieces of architecture?
Not only does Alma College deserve a better fate than that engineered by the combined Scrooge-like forces of City Council and the Zubick family, so too do the most important stakeholders in the OMB’s decision. Together we are, the citizens of St. Thomas.
To say that Alma College is past repair is simply a lie – you don’t have to be an engineer to see that. City Council’s frugality does not make the College’s reconstruction impossible. The Zubick family’s absolute ignorance of our City’s heritage does not necessitate the arrival of the wrecking ball.
Understand, that if the Prime Minister of Canada or the Premier of Ontario announced that our college must stand, it would. Political will then, is the most obvious way to preserve Alma College.
The only way to motivate political action is through populist backing. If we want to serve our city in the twenty-first century we must consolidate our voices. Let's not talk exclusively and nostalgically about what Alma once was, but instead have a conversation of what next she can be.
On Wednesday, February 20, I’m interviewing Elgin-London-Middlesex MPP, Steve Peters.
I’ve created an online wiki to facilitate a discussion on Alma’s fate at http://ouralma.pbwiki.com.
I’ll put my interview with Peters, St. Thomas historian and Ontario’s Speaker, on my blog http://sinceyoudidntask.wordpress.com soon.
Join in the conversation and allow our city’s history to live to see the future.
I've recently sent this letter to the Minister of Culture:
Minister of Culture; May 23, 2008
I’m writing this letter because I don’t understand why the Canadian Historical Society or the Federal Government haven’t recognized the Historical significance of Alma College in St. Thomas Ont.. I understand that it is to be torn down and a police station is going to be built their.
Alma College has had the privilege of educating many international students. Through the alumni it has many links to various countries. I’ve seen on the television where the government of Canada wishes to build a Human Rights Museum. I find myself wondering why they wouldn’t just restore Alma College and make it the museum, especially since it already has international ties. Now I don’t know if the Federal government has plans to build new or maybe their waiting to see if the Shriners Hospital in Montreal gets built in London Ontario. If they were considering the Shrine Hospital, I would totally support that idea as I was an independent Medical Escort to the Hospital for 15 years. Now with that being said I would still submit that Alma College be considered as a satellite Museum for Human Rights. Both the Shrine Hospital and Alma College have significant international ties, one in Medicine and the other through Education. I truly believe the Government could advance Human Rights Internationally in this manner.
It is my understanding that the owner of Alma College was willing to sell the property. However an agreement to this respect was not arranged and now the O.M.B. has granted permission for it to be torn down .This matter has roughly 20 days before demolition may start. Now I don’t have an address to communicate with the owner, but I do hope that Ministry of Culture and the Federal Government will consider all of their options.
Sincerely Yours,
Randall H. Appleton
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.