To the editor:
The Lodge at 98 Cecil Place has long been a gathering place for people to come together in the spirit of co-operation and sharing.
The 100 Mile Road House on the site was a welcoming place where weary travellers could rest en route to the goldfields.
Today, the building is the hub for the Agricultural Enterprise Centre, where innovative, forward-thinking committees work to bring together food producers, to provide public education and to promote food security.
The tradition of working together to create a better community continues. (Check the Ag Centre website [www.theagcentre.ca] to fully appreciate the work that is being done.)
The Lodge is a natural home for our community’s Ag Centre. It was a well-designed facility for sustainable living long before today’s awareness of the critical need for food security became a mainstream issue.
The District of 100 Mile has given an [notice of termination of lease] notice to the Ag Centre and has rejected the offer to share the space with the water treatment-plant building contractors.
This action is not in keeping with the spirit of co-operation long associated with the facility and devalues the excellent work that the Ag Centre group has done and is doing for our community.
It shows in a very public way, the District’s lack of support for the Ag Centre’s programs and projects.
Well done, however, District of 100 Mile, for deciding not to tear down our town’s most historic building and for proposing to build the water treatment centre on the adjacent property. The Lodge is a unique historical landmark and an asset to our town.
Everyone would agree that clean water is absolutely essential for one’s community.
The contractors would be welcomed to share the office space as is the custom of the place. (Even though most contractors have their own ATCO trailer offices.)
The Lodge has plenty of room for all.
No need to kick out the Ag Centre. No need to find an alternative space at the taxpayers’ cost.
District of 100 Mile House: be good kids, play nice and share the sandbox. Is a time-out in order?
Karen Johnson-Puckett
103 Mile