Knock 'em down... build 'em up

When I came to our 3 Churches in 2004 one of the first things I spotted was the Iorwerth Jones Home across Crystal Glen, in Trenchard Way. This was a care home and so we quickly made contact with them so that we could supply pastoral care, Holy Communion etc. It also was available for respite care, and so we kept in touch for that. 

After some years this care home (left) shut, and the building transferred to the NHS, where it would house some older former patients from Whitchurch Hospital. So again we had to establish relations there. Then it was judged no longer suitable, and Llandough was becoming the general centre for all such care. So now various other NHS bodies made their home there, including some admin from the Heath , and even a local podiatry clinic - which was great for me, just across the road!   However, this was not to last, as the site was eventually sold to the Council for development for housing. So that's what's happening now. We are experiencing the bangs and crashes of demolition. At 8 o'clock this morning it sounded like they were smashing hundreds of pains of glass - perhaps they were! 

Call me old (don't you dare) but it seems that more and more in Cardiff we are demolishing fairly new building to construct even newer ones. "No longer fit for purpose" seems to usually be the clarion call, and who am I to judge? While sometimes this is clearly the case, like schools and hospitals, but other times... maybe not...

As regards our city centre or "town" as we call it, I think on the whole a lot of the development has been good. But, and yes there a lot of "buts", where is the green - remember the bit that was where Admiral is now? And I gather the Motorpoint Arena, that ancient building is about to go, and its surroundings. Mind you, I was in charge of an event there in 1995 (the last Corpus Christi since you asked, but don't let's go there) and I have to say it felt a bit cheapo cheapo behind the scenes. 

So what am I saying? I dunno, it's all a bit confusing - but it's good to have a rant. However, think of older housing that could have been renovated instead of demolished.  I think it's just not always right to pull down a building just because it's just what someone wants.