Constance M. Greiff

On the one hand, it's good to see that as long ago as 1971 there were people concerned with preserving beautiful places and trying to get the word out that maybe it's better to put that parking lot down the street than to tear down this really cool 200 year old building. On the other hand, it's just so sad to look at the beautiful photographs and then read the caption notating where the house, chapel, shop, station, or building was and what happened to it. Gone. All gone. Because owners didn't want to bring the building back to code, or they wanted to sell and make some money. Because conservation groups weren't able to buy them in time. Life happens and everyone has their own needs.

Okay, I know change can be good and nothing can last forever, and so I try to focus on how cool it is that I get to look at the photographs. At least, for this space in time, I have the book and the pictures and info inside. Do we make better choices now when we look at a 200 year old building and plan our parking spaces? I don't know, but thankfully that's beyond the subject of this review, other than to say this book does make me wonder about that. I consider that a good thing.… (meer)