Grace Hall - up to bat June 16

Rumor has it that the" Grace Hall" issue will return to the Woodstock City Council agenda on Tuesday, June 16. [CORRECTION: The rumor mill now is that June 16 is the earliest that the Grace Hall topic could return to the agenda of the City Council.]

This week's local weekly paper carries three good letters on this issue. Buy a copy of The Woodstock Independent (better yet, subscribe!) and read the letters from Kathleen Spaltro, Dan Lemanski and Jane Collins.

This must remain a front-burner issue.

Keep in mind that there were those who thought the corner where the Opera House would have been a great place for a parking lot. Now is the time for interest in preserving Grace Hall as a designated Landmark to increase.

The City Council tabled the recommendation of the Woodstock Historic Preservation Commission and then considered granting an approval to a special use permit requested by Woodstock Christian Life Services that would result in the probably-prompt demolition of this fine building at 318 Christian Way.

And for what? More of the little, plain duplexes that can be "sold" for $200,000 each. The competitive market plan is getting hotter. If Resurrection Center gets a green light to convert from a retreat to assisted housing, will this erode WCLS' market? How many of the existing duplexes are vacant? Any? Some? Many?

Many are working hard to identify a profitable re-use of Grace Hall. The only way to get strong WCLS attention is for the City Council to refuse a demolition permit and to then work with WCLS to support a good re-use.

Woodstock's motto, found on the City's website, is "True to its past...Confident of its future".

An improvement to that motto would be, "True to our past...Confident of our future".