A few weeks ago I was on the fringes, mostly observing, of an on-line discussion about tearing down a historic building. This was the old Campbell Presbyterian church, which in latter years has been used part-time as an antique store (and has also been looking pretty tired). It’s been sold to Dollar General, and the Town, as I understand it, has approved plans to tear the place down and build a new store on the site.

Arguments on-line took one (or both) of two tacks: either the church should not be torn down, or the Dollar General should not be built. The church is historic by its age (mid-19th century), its Tiffany windows (being sold separately), and its associations (hyper-prolific author Grace Livingston Hill attended and taught Sunday school as a teenager).

At the same time it’s a sad reality that not everything historical can be saved. Some things are not really WORTH saving. Perhaps there are already many similar examples being saved, or perhaps it’s just not significant enough. Not everything OLD is actually IMPORTANT.

Even in some cases where maybe things SHOULD be saved, it’s no longer POSSIBLE to save or repurpose them. They’ve deteriorated so far… or they’ve been altered so much… that preserving them just isn’t a practical project.

There’s another important truth too, though since I’m a historian people might be surprised to hear me say it. We don’t WANT to save everything. Because if we never get rid of anything old, we can’t have anything new. And NEW is vitally important! We need the challenge, the innovation, and the adventurousness of the new. EVERYTHING was new once. Back in Tudor days people were looking at half-timbered houses and grumbling about how that ridiculous modern architecture was spoiling the beauty of their town. And why in the world would anyone want tile on the roof, instead of thatch?

Some thought that the church should be revived (easier said than done), and some thought there was no point to a new Dollar General, when there were others just a short drive away. But the same is true, of course, for Presbyterian churches. Why should there be one in Campbell, when there are sister churches in Bath and in Corning?

Some commentators felt that the Town officials were just trying to get the site back on the tax rolls, overlooking the fact that it had been a business, rather than a church, for decades. Others felt that proliferation of dollar stores was bad idea. You can certainly argue from that point of view, but officials must work from the laws as they are. If a Dollar General fits the laws, and it meets the requirements, then there’s not much choice but to issue the approvals.

We insist that we have a capitalist free (though regulated) market economy, as Arkport officials pointed out recently, when residents complained that a new Dollar General there would hurt existing business. Sad to say it probably will, but as a general rule the local government is not charged to protect one business against another.

When the school district in Bath sold the old Lyon School at Liberty and Washington, there was a plan to put a Rite-Aid there. That would have been very sad, but it would have been perfectly legal. Within limits, owners can sell their property for profit, and demolish or rebuild for profit. My take is that even if the SCHOOL were to be gone, the grassy SQUARE should be preserved. But that should be done by statute or regulation beforehand, not pulled out of a hat against a specific plan or business.