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A matter of timing
Let us begin by saying that we’re not implying any malicious intent on the part of Durham Region against any of our hard-working community groups here in Uxbridge. We’re certainly not trying to say that anyone in the Region’s Public Works or Tourism Department deliberately set out to make things difficult in terms of attracting patrons to certain key events here in town, or making it even more difficult for them if they did attend.
All we’re saying is that the Region has been extremely careless in terms of its scheduling of certain major construction projects and other initiatives taking place in the township in late summer and fall. With a little research or consultation, a lot of hard feeling could have been avoided.
To take the least offensive item first, take a look in the third column of page 2, the Township Page, in this week’s issue. You’ll see an ad for something called Heritage Destination Day, Sept. 17. It’s a scaled-down version of what used to be called Doors Open, and it encourages locals to spend the day visiting some of the historical sites in their backyard, specifically the Foster Memorial, the Leaskdale Manse, the Historical Centre and the York-Durham Heritage Railway. We presume it’s an initiative of Durham Tourism (although it could be the Township’s idea), but it’s just bad timing. Sept. 17 is the first day of the Studio Tour, a tradition for 26 years in Uxbridge. We should be encouraging people to visit the artists that day, not heritage buildings. A far better date for a Heritage Destination Day would be in the spring; after being excited by their own heritage, locals could spend the summer promoting it to visitors.
Another example is the reconstruction of the bridge in the middle of Leaskdale, essentially shutting down Highway 1 for three months. Did anyone care that the Lucy Maud Montgomery Society is celebrating the centennial of LMM’s arrival in Leaskdale, and that during their biggest event in mid-October, all the out-of-towners are going to have a devil of a time even getting to the Manse? Wouldn’t it have been simple to start the construction after the conference, and still complete it before Christmas?
The worst example of poor scheduling is the construction of the roundabout at the corner of Hwy. 8 and the Sixth Concession. This was nicely timed to completely mess up the biggest annual fundraisers for two key groups in town, the Historical Society and the Rotary Club. Heritage Days, in the last weekend of August, had the worst attendance in years, despite a rainless weekend; the museum, which depends on the Historical Society for fundraising, will suffer as a result. And the Rotary Club, although it may ultimately prefer the new Little Sticks location for its Million Dollar Hole-in-One event, will inevitably pay for having to abandon the venue it’s always used. People are notoriously slow at adapting to change. If they go out to play the Hole-in-One and find a construction site, in most cases they’ll just drop the idea.
Again, we’re not accusing the decision-makers of any intent to injure here. What we are saying is that with a little care, mistakes that may prove costly to local groups could have been avoided.
July 14, 2011
