Why I wanted to save CFB Rockcliffe.

After CFB Rockcliffe was decommissioned the land should have been retained by the federal government. And preserved as a green space, a Veteran's Memorial Park or an Aviation Museum Park. But that will never happen because the land was expropriated for public housing. I think it is shameful that all the physical evidence that CFB Rockcliffe ever existed was removed, all the aircraft hangars and the PMQ's are gone. My Dad spent time at the base during the 1940's and during my childhood I lived at Mather Air Force Base near Sacramento, California and Sampson Air Force Base near Seneca, New York. Canadian musician Bryan Adams is another Air Force Brat, he lived at CFB Rockcliffe.
 Mark my words, more than 15,000 people will eventually live there because appeals will be sought from the Ontario Municipal Board to remove height and density restrictions. The National Capital Commission should be banned from selling any more Experimental Farm and Greenbelt property and the CFB Rockcliffe land that was designated for a museum.
 Our memories, aviation history and green space are far more important than money and the desires of real estate corporations. A plaque or a street name cannot replace an original building.
 I am reminded of the 5th Dimension song "Ashes to Ashes" and the lyrics:
They're tearing down the street where I grew up
Like pouring brandy in a Dixie cup
They're paving concrete on a part of me
No trial for killing off a memory.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few years ago I visited Cape Hatteras, North Carolina because family members were devoted windsurfers. The Wright Brothers National Memorial Park is located in nearby Kitty Hawk, where Wilbur and Orville Wright "Taught the World how to Fly". The Americans have a lot of respect for their history. Walmart faced an enormous backlash when they tried to encroach on a Civil War battlefield in Virginia. And the Alcatraz prison is a National Historic Landmark. Yet Canada's government has approved the destruction of Kingston Penitentiary, the nearby Prison for Women and the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Penitentiary in Laval Quebec. All created with limestone and they could survive for thousands of years.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CFB Rockcliffe, Ottawa.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Former American First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and many other individuals saved Grand Central Station in New York City. Mrs. Kennedy wrote a letter to NYC Mayor Beame: "Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of her proud moments, until there is nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children?... If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Privy Council Order-in-Council that led to the divestiture of 91 acres of Experimental Farm land in  1988.The Farm will never recover from the loss of 60 acres of land to the Civic Hospital. And the popular Dow's Lake and Little Italy tourist areas will be impacted by noise, vehicle and light pollution. I believe that the Dominion Observatory and nearby buildings will be bulldozed and the old excuses will be trotted out---the convenient lies, claims that the buildings were full of asbestos or they were structurally unsound. During the 1990's the Government of Canada announced plans to flatten the Dominion Observatory because of "budget cuts" but heritage groups derailed their plan. I am watching in horrified fascination as physical reminders of my country's aviation/railway/penitentiary/postal and maritime history are disappearing.