The game is rugby, not badminton

When you go out on the playing field, it's smart to know what game is going to be played that day. If it's badminton, you dress one way, and you expect to walk off the field in one piece.

If it's rugby, you dress a different way. You know there are no blood counts. The game goes on, regardless. You are going to get bruised and banged up. If you're lucky, you walk off the field and don't get carried off.

So, how does this relate to what is going on with Grace Hall? WCLS was playing rugby, and the folks in town have been playing badminton.

Now it's time to even up the game and to bring in the "closers", the heavy-weights, the clout, the experts.

Did the City Council make the right decision last week, when it ignored the historic preservation protection granted by the Woodstock City Code? Last October the Deputy City Manager informed the City Manager and the City Council that a super-majority vote of six (6) would be needed to over-ride the Landmark nomination by the Historic Preservation Commission.

And then in July of this year he wrote that only a simple majority (which turned out to be four (of the six present) last week) was needed. What happened between October and July? What influenced him? Perhaps some FOIA Requests are in order? Derik is an honorable man, and he also works for the City.

All that really matters now is whether influence and money show up fast enough to stop the wrecking ball. It will do no good for the members of the City Council to say "Oops", after there is only a pile of bricks and a huge dust cloud where Grace Hall used to stand.

I wish that every one of you could read the July 21, 2001, letter to Mayor Sager and the City Council from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The letter reads, in part, "Unfortunately we were not provided with WCLS' submittal until 2:57 pm yesterday (July 20) afternoon .. In spite of our repeated requests to WCLS for detailed background information ... " and "This lack of communication has characted our dealings with WCLS to this point..."

Does even that small part sound to you like WCLS met the City's standard for collaboration?

I doubt that any of the seven members of the City Council read the letter before voting to allow demolition of Grace Hall. Had they read it, they would have chosen to put the brakes on the project.

It's hard to understand why this City Council does not take more pride in preserving Woodstock's history. It is not a "private property" rights issue; no one is trying to take Grace Hall away from WCLS.

In fact, it would most likely cost WCLS less to rehabilitate the property and convert into four (not two) condominiums (not apartments!) that they could peddle for $200,000 and then re-sell and later re-sell again. They blew a smokescreen at the City Council with constant references to (oh, shame on anyone who lives in) "apartments." And the Council got smoke in its eyes and never reached for the Visine or the gas masks.