Grad House Demolition

Geez, what's the matter with University students these days. Are they so passive, no creative ideas? Why in my day if we had wanted to save a University building, we would have had a sit-in or two by now and sung Koom-Bhay-Ya.

I guess that is not in vogue these days so why haven't the students jumped on the bandwagon.

Surely someone has figured out that to get Council interested in saving the building one only need say that it has a relationship to homes in Sandwich or with its heritage or better yet, it would block the Bridge Co.'s plans! Didn't some famous Sandwich personality ever visit the building? That should be enough.

The building is the 80 year old Grad Building at the University of Windsor. The University's paper, The Lance, reported that a number of students want to preserve the building rather than tear it down to make space for the new Medical School. It was called an "integral part of our campus for many years." An attempt is being made to designate it as Heritage as well. In fact there is even an idea to move it to a new location!

The City's Policy Planner for Heritage did not offer much hope for designation since only the "best of the best" get designated although Craig Pearson of the Star however called it:

• "It’s just that, the Tudor Revival-style Grad House, recently and awkwardly renamed Café Sunset Bar, represents more than just eight decades of good times.
  
  The Grad House is easily the most beautiful home on Sunset Avenue south of University, in the heart of the campus."

Can they expect help from Ward 2 Councillor Ron Jones who is so concerned about historical homes. Here's the comment from the Councillor who is involved with Town and Gown:

"[He did not] express any concern when was asked what he thought about the proposed demolition. He said "I don't have any problem with it."

Nope....in this part of Ward 2, unlike Sandwich, there does not seem to be any need to "maintain historically significant structures -- and there are plenty of them in the [Sandwich] area."

If it is on Indian Road it must be the best of the best but not on Sunset it seems.