Post Closure Disrespect and Community Action
After the farms closure much of the earlier promised preservation and respect of the property failed to materialize, the property, buildings, and graves left instead to fall into a state of decay and disrepair. Pictures began to appear of the gravesites of world famous Northern Dancer and other notable Windfields horses with 4 foot tall weeds surrounding them, as well as the historical structures falling prey to vandals, the elements, and time. Negative media attention in the fall of 2011 spurred the current owners of the "Core" property (Durham College and/or The University Of Ontario Institute of Technology) to step up maintenance of the gravesite areas and pledge to better respect the property, although no other commitments were made towards the future of the property at that point in time.
Supporters far and wide who wish a better ending for the iconic farm have banded together and are making their voices heard in the media, as well as in Social Media at the Friends Of Windfields Farm Facebook page.
As of the fall of 2012 the City Of Oshawa has become an ally to the cause for proper respect for the Windfields property, and at the behest of the city, UOIT has agreed to form a "Community Advisory Group" to allow all interested parties to discuss the future of the farm in detail. Parties who have requested to be privy to this group include a small number of core supporters of the aforementioned Friends of Windfields Farm supporters group, representatives from the Ontario Equestrian Federation, board members from Heritage Oshawa, as well as select City Of Oshawa staffers.
Read more about this topic: Windfields Farm
Famous quotes containing the words post, disrespect, community and/or action:
“Fear death?—to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)
“Less than five hundred souls inhabit the three quaint streets and the few narrow by-lanes and scattered farmsteads that constitute this small, decaying watering-place which may, indeed, be called a “backwater of life” without disrespect to its natives who possess, to this day, a salty individuality of their own.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“The people needed to be rehoused, but I feel disgusted and depressed when I see how they have done it. It did not suit the planners to think how they might deal with the community, or the individuals that made up the community. All they could think was, “Sweep it away!” The bureaucrats put their heads together, and if anyone had told them, “A community is people,” they would not have known what they were on about.”
—May Hobbs (b. 1938)
“We are oft to blame in this,
‘Tis too much proved, that with devotion’s visage
And pious action we do sugar o’er
The devil himself.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)