New Canaan Advertiser, Thursday, October 14, 2010 page 5A (posted on ncadvertiser.com at 14:07)
Demolition man is waiting in the wing
Eco Man
by Richard M. Stowe
On “A Change Would Do You Good” video Sheryl Crow wails:
“Chasing dragons with plastic swords
…everybody wants more…
I’ve been thinking ‘bout catching a train…”
A change would do you good”
while the nine-time Grammy winner throws her possessions and then herself out an apartment building window.
Well, as sure as a Metro-North engineer blows the horn as the train approaches Richmond Hill Road, “change” is coming to New Canaan.
The image of Ms. Crow throwing herself and her possessions out the window may serve as an allegorical allusion to what may occur if New Canaan officials authorize a planned demolition of a stand alone, town-owned brick barn.
On The Police’s 1981 release, “Ghost In the Machine,” front man Sting sings:
“Tied to the tracks and the train’s fast coming…
Tied to a chair, the bomb is ticking…
You say this wasn’t in your plan
…don’t mess around with the demolition man
I’m a walking nightmare, an arsenal of doom
I’m a walking disaster…
But I’m nobody’s friend, I’m a demolition man”
The brick building is no longer used for storage; the shuttered boiler avoids $7500 outlays per winter. The chain link fence, auxiliary garage and debris have been cleared.
The Historical Review Committee recently denied Mary Findlay’s demolition delay request. A demolition contract is out to bid; bids are due October 14th. Public Works official Tiger Mann will review bids. On Tuesday October 19th he will make a recommendation at the Board of Selectman meeting.
All requisite town bodies reviewed and approved the demolition.
As Bob Dylan exclaims in Subterranean Homesick Blues: “Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters.” Translation: take a stand; its the eleventh hour; the clock is running; there’s no remaining time outs.
Standard Oil built the vernacular two-story brick barn in 1901, 4 years after John D. Rockefeller resigned as Chairman, three years before Ida Tarbell’s “The History of the Standard Oil Company” was published, ten years before the United States Supreme Court broke up Standard Oil into 34 companies and sixteen years before United States declared war on Germany.
Preservationists recently adopted the name Mead Park Carriage Barn; more familiarly it is the Richmond Hill garage. “Carriage barn” may inflate its first use, but “garage” conceals its origins.
The building’s first story housed a horse-drawn delivery wagon and two teams of horses; the second story was built expressly as a hayloft. The horses delivered kerosene. Its brick construction is more unique than its wooden barn counterparts. Its 1901 construction precedes the American automobile onslaught; “bicycle share” storage would serve as one green use true to that era.
Friends of the Mead Park Carriage Barn seeks community input for potential uses for a rehabilitated brick barn.
To halt this demolition, two no votes are needed by any two selectman – Jeb Walker, Rob Mallozzi, or Sally Hines. To request a no vote call, or e-mail Jeb, Rob and Sally by Monday October 18th. If the bid is accepted, it becomes nearly impossible to halt demolition machinery.
As Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones sing in Time Waits For No One:
“Time can tear down a building, or destroy a woman’s face
Hours are like diamonds, don’t let them waste
Time waits for no one, no favors has he
…The dreams of nighttime will vanish by dawn”
The fate of our brick barn is in the balance. You will make the difference.
Yes, change is coming to New Canaan and unless you say no, it will be brought to you by the demolition man.
Richard Stowe is president of the New Canaan Environmental Group and founder and director of Rail*Trains*Ecology*Cycling. He may be reached atbike.rail.politics@gmail.com
