To the Editor:

I am writing in protest of the pending demolition of 324 Townshend Ave., a historic residence recently purchased by the New Haven Parks Commission. This house, built in 1774 for Abijah Pardee, is one of the last 18th-century structures in all of New Haven.

It is contradictory that a city department, given the responsibility of maintaining the beauty, cleanliness and history of our environment, could reasonably tear down an irreplaceable work of our cultural heritage. They plan to tear it down in order to construct a driveway, a feature that should in no way jeopardize a historic structure.

As a solution, perhaps, the Parks Commission should be willing to renovate the building into a facility for its use. Grants exist that assist in rehabilitating historic structures, and once restored, the house would add to the attractive quality of the adjacent park. I encourage all Yale students to assist the people of New Haven in saving a remnant of our cultural heritage that is too quickly being removed.

We need to demand that our tax money and trust in public officials are not used to the detriment of one of our most prized resources.

Colin M. Caplan

August 29, 2002

The writer is a resident of New Haven.