What are good reasons to save old buildings?

Question

So, there are these three buildings that have a lot of character, they're old shops, brick exteriors with green tile on the fronts at least 100 years old, in fairly good condition - they have a lot of redeeming qualities and they're only three of maybe 40 buildings of that age left in the down town area around our historic courthouse where the city has been working with money from a "downtown revitalisation" grant - yet I just learned they're to be torn down soon so that a nearby bank can have a bigger parkinglot. I went and talked to the newspaper and come monday I've got an appt. w/ the editor but I'm stumped on what to say other than "they're beautiful and history is important and they add to the rapidly dissappearing character of the town and it would be a complete waste of beautiful materials" and I need more to say can you think of any other valid points... ? Why IS history important?

Answer 1

If they were an absolute eyesore or if they were to be replaced by a hospital or an opera house or something that is vital to society, that's one story but cities are losing their souls precisely because nobody is fighting to preserve what little there is left of the past. Today you can be in New York or Dubai or Shanghai and not know where you are. Old buildings have a history, you can run your fingers along the bricks and think of the men who built them, what happened inside their walls, all the events that they witnessed. To wipe them out, to erase the past that they stand for just to replace them by a car park is criminal. People should park a couple of blocks away and walk anyway. Look at Europe, they're not knocking down old buildings, if they did, they wouldn't have much left! In fact, they honor their buildings by putting up plaques saying 'so & so lived here' or 'this was the XYZ Butchers' from this year to that year. There is a respect for the past and an appreciation for the architecture. Once those bulldozers come, those old buildings will be gone from everyone's minds as if they had never existed.

It might be interesting (and productive) to go to City Hall and look up the architect of those buildings, he may have been a someone, may have built other, better and better-known structures elsewhere.

Answer 2

Not all old buildings are worthy of saving.  Some reasons why some old buildings should be saved are their priceless architecture and their invaluable heritage.But another consideration should be noted.  Old buildings  can be dangers to life and limb due to their age and they would need a lot of maintenance or repair.  Would the town have funds for this purpose.  Would the historical symbol and value of the old buildings outweigh the danger they post or the high cost of maintenance, repair or renovation that they would require? But of course history is very important.  Not only does it tell us how we evolved as a town or city but it also  guides us in doing the best for the future by learning from lessons in the past.  History is our heritage and without a history we are nothing

Answer 3

Are the buildings still in use, or are they abandoned?

Answer 4

Without history your town/city has no soul, no character.

There are no real reasons that will convince them if they cant understand that simple fact.

Answer 5

History is important because it shows us where we've been and gives us a record of events and achievements along the way.  With some old buildings there is a sense of craftsmanship in those old buildings, like the people who built these structures were doing a work of art.  

Granted these old buildings are not "green" but they're not the impersonal glass box either.  They have elaborate decorations such gargoyles, writings, friezes, decorative gables and brick work.  

They've also stood the test of time, through storms and the years.  It takes a lot of work to take these buildings down, they're built like fortresses.  Today's buildings can be taken out with a well-placed bulldozer.  

Not to mention, why build new structures that you can't rent retail space for anyway, when you have structures already built?