[spaustin]

I was there too and I was surprised that people there were talking compromise to a large extent. Maybe its a trust thing? (forgive the pun) Starfish simply has more credibility in preserving heritage than most of the developers out there. After attending the meeting I find that my feelings on this one are much more mixed then they were. I'm really not thrilled about losing the Roy, but if the neglect is too severe and the economics aren't there then maybe it, sadly, has to go. Right now they're talking bulldozing it absolutely flat and then rebuilding a replica. The facades won't be saved. I would feel a little better if they put some extra bucks into it and preserved the Barrington Street facade. I also think that they should really consider not knocking those two buildings down on the corner of Sackville and Granville. Streatching the Roy's style over where it never was seems silly. Why not keep the facade of those buildings and then incorporate something else above them on that corner? Extending a new Roy over them just feels like they didn't know what else to do.

In the bigger picture, if we can't save the Roy what does that say about the rest of Barrington? The Roy may be a little rough but it's in better condition than some of the others like the Green Lantern Building and the Pacific Building. If we let it go then what does that mean for the rest? A heritage district consisting of rebuilt facades seems pretty hollow and if that's where things end up going I think it would be a real loss for the city.