The pine sentries guarding the eye-catching landscape in front of Kal Tire Place didn’t stand a chance when the earth-mangling machines moved in and began tearing at the turf.
What was once pleasant greenspace enhancing the dignified appearance of our arena, will soon become a black slab of asphalt to accommodate 42 parked vehicles along 43rd Avenue.
As I drove by and spotted the destruction in progress, Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell came to mind.
The words of her ’70s hit song, Big Yellow Taxi, unfortunately still relevant after all these years, spun through my mind:
“They took all the trees
“And put them in a tree museum
“And they charged all the people
” A dollar and a half to see ’em
“Don’t it always seem to go
“That you don’t know what you’ve got
“‘Till it’s gone
“They paved paradise
“And they put up a parking lot.”
Hopefully, if and when the need for additional parking spaces arises in the future, our city leaders won’t decide to use a large chunk of concrete to block a portion of 43rd Avenue’s sidewalk and westbound lane for that purpose.
That strategy has apparently worked well for years on 35th Avenue’s eastbound lane beside the police building, a situation that, in my opinion, is unsafe, insulting and disrespectful to all Vernonites.
Andrew Maksymchuk
Vernon
