COMMENTARY: Cornwall needs to do the complete job the first time

(Newswatch Group/File)

If Cornwall is going to move on from its industrial past it has to stop leaving footmarks behind. When I thought the North Channel Bridge was going to be dismantled and taken away, it would clean the landscape of the travel route that was likened to a “cow path” by some in the CAA Worst Roads campaign. Suddenly the skyline would be changed. But the idea was floated by a Federal Bridge Corporation representative at last night’s city council meeting that one of the pillars near the north channel would be preserved if it meets the okay of the Canada Border Services Agency. Doesn’t Cornwall want a fresh look for the waterfront and for the area around Water and Brookdale Avenue? This would look just as bad as the smokestack that still sits on the Domtar property years after the site demolition, looking like a forgotten cigarette put out on a prime waterfront location. It’s no wonder the land hasn’t sold. Cornwall has got to stop leaving little telltale signs behind of its past if it wants to look to a clean and bright future. The last thing we need is a giant cement column to attract vandals and taggers and have people idly wonder as they enter Cornwall from the U.S. “Why didn’t they do the whole job the first time?”

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