Having been a member of this group for a few months now, Ive seen a huge number of posts about the Terminal Station: virtually every one of them full to bursting with comments about what a tragedy the destruction of it was. Comments expressing this particular sentiment must, by now, number in the thousands at this site. It is, of course, indeed a great tragedy. But perhaps its simply time, for all of us Birminghamians, to truly *embrace* this great loss, on a spiritual and psychic level, and to stop the endless expressions of regret about it. To simply *know* that this gaping hole in the architectural fabric of our hometown is somehow at the heart of what it means to come from Birmingham. A kind of permanent sense of loss. A loss that, seemingly, we can never really make up for. A wound that will never exactly heal: inescapable, omnipresent, and therefore… part of the very air we all breathe. Back when they brought that mighty building down, certain people in positions of power deemed the destruction warranted. They were wrong. This hard and utterly final cutting off of our collective past is something that was imposed upon us by elected representatives and businessmen who had no vision beyond making money for themselves and their cronies. Any notions about a common historical legacy belonging to ALL Birminghamians, rich or poor or in between, was not considered. We were cheated and robbed by powerful people in the community with no imagination and no care for preserving what, by all rights, belonged to ALL of us, not just the holders of the deeds to the property. The best we can do now is to beware of greedy and shortsighted people in TODAYS positions of power who would steer us in the wrong directions. Who would arrogantly make decisions for us that effect our lives, but for which we are not consulted on. That will be the best way, I believe, the only way, to make sense of the sad destruction of our common heritage embodied by the wanton demolition of the wonderful old Terminal Station.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 16:44:48 +0000
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