Don’t be negative about Cattle Castle

Re: Lansdowne lacking an Aberdeen fix, June 27.

Aberdeen Pavilion, another point of view.

This winter was cold. Every Sunday at dawn, I was welcomed by the opening of massive doors at the Cattle Castle. Early morning sunlight streams from one end of the building to the other; it moves to the other end over the course of the day. At dusk, I packed up, another beautiful day, energized by thousands of people looking for local food, direct from the farmer. I am a farmer at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market and our farm could not survive without it.

It is for this reason I speak up for that beautiful building. It is stunning from every direction, in and out, dawn to dusk. Sure the city needs to maintain it better. But this city would be amiss without it. I watched the tradespeople repairing it this winter, and was impressed they were doing repairs in an authentic fashion, using original salvaged roofing panels. Perhaps later they found that parts could not be repaired with salvaged panels, and whole sections had to be temporarily replaced. The first week, almost no heaters worked, but by the end of the winter, all were working. The city is trying. To David Reevely, who wrote the scathing report on the Cattle Castle, why see negative in everything? Negativity is what almost saw it torn down. It could have gone the way of the Daly Building. Think of how the rest of the world preserves its history. This is our agricultural history.

It received more attention and repairs this winter than since the renovation many years ago. All I can say is that older buildings cannot be maintained in the normal fashion of subcontracting out repairs. A building like this needs an experienced, well-seasoned tradesperson to “baby it.” This person could do 80 per cent of the repairs, understand and care for its mechanical systems, adjust those massive doors, glaze the windows, and love it like their own. We can justify maintaining it now, for it is being loved once again. As a farmer, I need it, and those interested in healthy food need it. The Aberdeen Pavilion is one of the city’s jewels. Let’s keep it beautiful. George Wright, Metcalfe