Posted by: Renee Fancey

The owners of The Keg want to develop their neighbouring plot of land. But, inquiring minds want to know, how did they get their hands on such a golden piece of real estate? “Well,” the owners say, “we just kinda asked.” Which makes sense enough. Much like that awkward corner of your driveway that really belongs to your neighbour, that you can’t use and they won’t shovel. “Look,” you might finally say to them one day with annexation in mind, “it’s just a nuisance to you right? Let me take it off your hands.”

And the City is now abuzz with that complex subject: development.

Every time our landscape changes, we collectively recoil in fright and start eyeing each other suspiciously. Good, bad, or indifferent as the change may be, it’s like a bruise we find ourselves bearing, because inevitably, there’s something that has to go, something to mourn for. Of course change hasn’t always been an improvement, so our trepidation is justified. But even that word improvement is so subjective. I was gutted when my own personal Fred Penner’s Place was flattened to make way for the Outer Ring Road. (But now I’m at the cabin a full half hour faster than before, which is a really valuable extension when a Friday evening on the deck is in question.) I swore I would never shop at the Quidi Vidi Dominion no matter what. (But their flower market is so lovely — and they gave me free roses the other day! What was I supposed to do??)

Really though, we’d be kidding ourselves if we thought things could stay the same forever. Even in the inviolable sanctuary that is downtown St. John’s, it’s no surprise that places come and places go. A recent interest in old Newfoundland newspapers (owing to what I found behind the walls in my basement during a reno), gave me the opportunity to stroll Water Street via a handful of turn-of the-century ads. It’s only appropriate that advertising be used here as a vehicle into history, so let’s let these simple print ads guide us as we leave our post at Haymarket Square and head down over the hill… (no Big Box ads on this journey, thank you.)

Hankerin’ for an aerated beverage and a game of skittles? How about the Hotel de Paris?

103 Water Street… just over this way… in this…

… parking lot.

Ok well, let’s build our own “skittle alley” instead. If I find the Sign of the Circular Saw just down the street, Martin’s can hook me up with all my hardware needs.

143 Water Street… just here…

… in the middle of the street.

Don’t get The Sign of the Circular Saw confused with the Sign of the Shovel, further down the street at Sidney’s place.

This importer is just opposite the Market House, whatever that is. (Well, “nearly opposite”, you kind of have to veer across at an angle — watch that trolley!) Wait, that sign says…

… The Franklin Hotel.

Now I’m totally lost. What’s the next ad say? Perfect, Golden Pheasant Tea.

I recognize that one, right back where we started. That one’s in a tourism commercial, surely that’s not going anywhere…

Oh no!

Change is what it is, part of a natural life cycle that applies to cities, businesses and industries too, brought about by raging fires, retiring fathers or rekindled economies.

Perhaps our children will muse over Big Box stores as a neat trend in gluttony. I’m too not sure…

The least we can do is make sure that what we create today is something worth mourning when it’s gone.

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4 Responses to “Just a little bit of history repeating itself…”

1. Brian Carey says:

   February 10, 2011 at 10:05 am

   There’s a whole lotta change going on. We have to at least record the memories. In some of the outports some of the old ways still exist.
2. J.Reid says:

   February 10, 2011 at 11:16 am

   I’m not opposed to change in the DT area, in fact there are a lot of vacant buildings down there that i believe should be filled with something. What i dislike is the aesthetics of the buildings being proposed to being built. there is a look to downtown that should be maintained. The scotia center was the first blow to that and some would argue the rooms was another(although i don’t mind it). If Contractors would build build beautiful building people would have less problems accepting them but instead that propose glass monstrosities that stick out like a sore thumb.
3. Sean says:

   February 10, 2011 at 9:02 pm

   Nice post…with the benefits that the new may bring, we see the benefits of the old go.
4. Renee says:

   February 11, 2011 at 9:37 am

   Brian – yes, recording is important. Thoughts, opinions, images. I think I’m just a nostalgic person I love clues into/spending time in the past lol. Maybe that’s not a good thing!

   J. and Sean – that’s exactly where things start to get funny and subjective with words like improvement and benefit. The Rooms is a classic example. If something is new and different, something we’ve never seen before, then it’s going to take time to settle in. That doesn’t make it bad. It’s like new music – a take on a sound or style we’ve never heard before. If it’s truly new, we’re going to scratch our heads the first time, and maybe hate it. But after a few listens, it starts to grow on us. The same can be true for good creative! If it’s new, different, striking and makes you slightly uncomfortable, that’s probably a good thing. Spend some time with it, and it’ll start to make sense.