To the editor:
Some time ago the city stated its case. Our Centennial Conservatory is old and sick, and has to be put down.
The disbelief expressed in the community over that revelation has been met with an equally incredulous response from administration. Under controversial circumstances, the facility was shut down. Now we are told public areas will be partially reopened (for how long is uncertain), but the greenhouses should be demolished.
The future of the entire facility is in doubt. Citizens are to be asked their views respecting the future operations of the conservatory. That is a question we should first ask of council. What vision did they pursue? What result did they intend – looking on as they did amid reports of the facility’s ongoing deterioration?
Mayor Keith Hobbs comments are revealing. He says he hadn’t been to the conservatory and he wasn’t a fan of looking at flowers. He’s not sure other people are either. Some may be aghast at that, but we should be grateful for his candor. It informs as to the nature of the decision-making process that brought the conservatory to where it is today.
Having established that administration eschews the conservatory as a core service (like roads, sewers and bridges), what is to be done? Deciding we want the facility to live on is a good start.
Now we can talk about what kind of facility we want – which directions we would like to take. For that we can look to other botanical gardens in Canada and the world. Dare I say, many have become destinations: “Just imagine”. In biting cold we rush our family from the car through the winter snow to step inside the conservatory, and outside our everyday world. Our visit begins in a Culpepper garden.
As if walking through a time machine, children marvel at a world where history and astronomy, mythology and botany combine to reveal the wisdom of the ancients. They learn of a world where plants and herbs are grown and exploited according to the cycles of the stars by astrologer/physicians to cure disease.
Who would not take joy in the miracle of butterflies or tropical birds overhead as they explore the exotic plants and flowers in adjacent presentations? A photographer’s delight, you can rest by the water features, photograph your wedding party or just take joy in the tropical oasis that lives in your neighbourhood.
Stop to have refreshment in the coffee shop – perhaps a cup of hot chocolate, surrounded by exotic flora from around the world.
Continue on to presentations on plant taxonomy and plant chemistry because, as part of the University campus, the facility is now engaged in scientific research and efforts to preserve endangered flora and biodiversity on the planet. Finally go on to the gift shop, where you pick up a book or memento of your visit, to take home with you to help recall the experience you had today. These are all possible directions. Kill the conservatory? What a strange project to undertake.
William Olesky,
Thunder Bay
