By Mike Fallon, Iowa City
Jacob Simmering’s recent letter to the editor (April 11, 2024) is an argument based on circular reasoning or logic. Simmering’s argument begins where he wants to end, historical buildings are often boondoggles that the taxpayers should not tolerate.
Like many proponents of simple, profit-driven arguments, Simmering urges us to wash our hands of archaic structures and collect a juicy profit from the sale of the land on which they formerly stood. It’s easy to imagine Simmering addressing the hoi polloi from his soapbox: “If only you well-intentioned but economically clueless people would listen to reason! Imagine the bags of cash you could make from selling the land on which ‘unsellable’ historical buildings stand! Saving ‘unsellable’ historical buildings just doesn’t make dollars and sense!”
Simmering simply cannot conceive of a solution other than razing or demolishing historical buildings for financial gain. For Simmering, there’s little or no room for history of place or cultural identity. For Simmering, “saving an unsellable” historical building is folly or damned foolish. I beg to differ. With a fair amount of creativity and political will, historical buildings can and do find new places in proud, resilient communities.
