Letter to the Editor: Best to knock down the Moran Plant

BURLINGTON FREE PRESS Letter to the Editor from a reader in Milton - 19 October 2007

Best to knock down the Moran Plant

It appeared that the fate of the Moran Plant was settled more or less. Burlington citizens responded to a survey on what to do with the ugly lakefront eyesore a.k.a. the Moran Plant. The majority said get rid of it. Put up a park or other space that the majority of people who live or visit Burlington can enjoy.

Now we read the plant is back on the table to become retail space (with little or no parking). A rock- and ice-climbing facility, ice rink, and boat house and/or dock. The questions I have are: How many of the 100,000 or so people in this area are rock or ice climbers? Same goes for sailboaters and ice skaters. My guess is the whole bunch would number less than 5 percent.

Speaking of skating, a few hours with a couple of ATVs outfitted with snow plows and Burlington could have a huge ice rink right on the lake. Oh, and those retail shops. The Burlington Free Press article says there would be limited or no parking at Moran park, so if you wanted to shop in one of the rapidly going bankrupt retail shops or dine at the almost always empty restaurant, you would have to park your car in the city and either walk or bus to the fabulous new facility.

I would suggest calling one of the companies that are successful at turning old buildings into rubble. I'm sure they can do the same to the Moran Plant for much less than $21 million!

Update from Waterfront Watchdogs petitioning drive:

We have over 500 signatures so far in our efforts to help get the demolition of the Moran Plant on the 2008 Annual City Election ballot! A total of 1,300 signatures is needed by the end of January of 2008 for this to be a sucess. Contact us at 802-355-5247 if you can donate some time to go door-to-door for signatures.