To the editor,
The Kin Hut deserves restoration, not demolition as one of the few remaining reminders of Terrace's part in the Second World War.
I was born in rural Saskatchewan in 1922. I lived through the Great Depression and the years of drought, caterpillars and the Second World War. I remember the hunger of the 1930s, the fear and determination of the 1940s and the pride we felt in building a new future, something better.
I spent three and a half years during that time building airplane fighter, then bombers.
My husband spent most of a year stationed in Prince Rupert after Pearl Harbour.
It was during that time Terrace was transformed from a tiny village into a large army post and buildings like the Kin Hut were built as well as the airport and the larger military hospital were Terraceview Lodge is here now, etc.
Nearly all of the original buildings have disappeared.
Once again the Kin Hut, once the officers' mess hall, is under threat of destruction at the cost of $110,000.
I believe the Skeena Valley Men's Shed has the finances and the resources to renovate the building into a workshop for seniors.
That would be a viable and useful project. The money could be used for construction, not destruction. And thank you to city councillor Brian Downie for speaking out.
MaryAnn Dilley,
Terrace, B.C.
