 | Home page |  | Text size |  | E-mail this page |
11th-hour outcry stalls demolition Passionate residents convince council to vote against scrapping Robertson Headframe
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, September 11, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
With the fate of the Robertson Headframe resting on the outcome of a city council vote, a group of more than 20 passionate Yellowknifers descended on city hall to dissuade council from proceeding with the demolition of the iconic monument.
City council voted to postpone demolition of the Robertson Headframe on Monday night, and will look once again at whether it can save the monument. - NNSL file photo |
It was an emotional evening and one that ended in triumph for those wanting to save the landmark. Council, which had previously shown little support for preserving the headframe, voted unanimously in favour of deferring demolition.
The decision was made after several speeches by members of the public, including an emotional plea from former Con Mine employee Norah Higden.
Higden, who worked as a lift operator at the top of the headframe for 23 years, struggled to hold back tears as she told the story of a girl whose life had been saved by using the steel monolith to find her way back to Yellowknife.
She added cities such as Toronto, Seattle, and Calgary all built steel monuments to attract tourists. Yellowknife, on the other hand, has been blessed with a gift from the mining industry.
"We have our very own steel tower that we didn't have to build. I don't want to see this opportunity go to waste," she said.
She ended her speech by saying that council would be held accountable for its actions.
"Does this city council really want to be known as the council that has destroyed the headframe landmark?" she asked.
Higden received a ovation from both councillors and the more-than-20 people who were gathered in the gallery to show their support for the cause.
Walt Humphries, who spoke before Higden, criticized both current and previous councils for their lack of action.
"For the last five years, you have been dithering on this," he said. "All you ever did was write a little report with ideas. There has never been a drive to save the headframe."
"Johnny Baker, Jock McNiven, Fred Jolliffe, Norm Byrne, Shorty Brown, Fred Henne, Mike Piro and countless others who came here to make their life in the mining town - what do you think they'd say to you if they could be here right now? They'd say 'save the headframe,'" he added pointing to founding fathers of the city.
He went on to threaten that if the headframe came down, he would make sure to erect a plaque naming every councillor that voted in favour of its demolition.
"Being a historical society, we can do brass plaques," joked Humphries.
To show that he was serious about saving the 36-year-old structure, Humphries presented a cheque for $1,000 to go toward saving the headframe.
The offer was quickly matched by Coun. Niels Konge who offered $1,000 of his own.
While no other councillors offered financial contributions to saving the monument, they were all in favour of finding a solution to preserve it.
Despite his support, Konge asked how the city could raise the more than $1 million, (the amount) estimated to preserve the monument.
Konge said if the headframe was going to be saved, it would have to be done with private funds.
"As a city, we can't spread ourselves that thin," he said. "We need somebody to spearhead this."
Higden pointed out that the city had already wasted 10 years in potential revenue by not using the site to attract tourists.
Other councillors suggested that the city should approach Newmont Mining Inc., which currently owns the Con Mine site, for funding.
Humphries said there might also be other mining companies and heritage societies across Canada that might be willing to contribute.
Coun. Rebecca Alty said the city has never applied to get heritage status for the headframe, adding that would also go a long way toward its preservation.
"Ultimately, at the end of the day, council wanted to make sure that we've considered all of these various factors before making a decision," said Mayor Mark Heyck.
It is possible that a solution for saving the headframe would include a combination of private and public initiatives.
"What that looks like remains to be seen," said Heyck.
He added that any sort of long-term solution would have to wait until administration had gathered more information about funding options for review by council at a later date.
While no firm solutions for saving the headframe were proposed during the council meeting, Humphries was pleased that the efforts of a few concerned residents had at least delayed its demolition.
"People say you can't fight city hall, but if you're passionate and you've got a just cause, you can make a difference," said Humphries.
Based on the fact Newmont wants to proceed with demolition in the summer, several councillors suggested a six-month time frame to develop a plan to save the headframe.
| 
