The Confluence Project. It seems like once a week something new is happening with the proposed community arts center and mixed-use development that will be located at the “confluence” of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers.

The latest issue involving the Confluence Project revolves around seven historic buildings on Barstow Street. These buildings are part of the Confluence Commercial Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This includes the “Kline Building,” at 6 Barstow St., which is listed independently on the register, and was a department store  for almost 50 years. In fact, all of the buildings that are slated to be razed for the Confluence Project were built between 1861 and 1936. In a report from the Eau Claire Landmarks Commission stated in their report on the Confluence Project that “the Confluence Commercial Historic District, as a whole, provides a historic and architectural overview of commercial changes in downtown Eau Claire . . . the entire district is a tangible reminder of the challenges experienced by residents of Eau Claire.”

So when the frequently asked page on UW-Eau Claire’s news bureau states that “an analysis of the buildings along South Barstow Street determined that they are not candidates for cost-effective renovation,” I begin to wonder whether the developers and the affiliates to the project really to into consideration that the history of Eau Claire is just as important new (and very expensive) construction.

In a Sept. 9 opinion in the Leader Telegram, editor Don Huebscher stated that these buildings on South Barstow Street need to be removed to make way for new storefronts a apartment style dormitory. In the same opinion, local developer John Mogenson (who has fixed up some historic buildings around Eau Claire) is quoted as saying I don’t think they’re worth saving compared with what we could get in the future.” Really? These buildings are worth saving because we could have something perceptibly “better” in its place?

To me, the potential of tearing down these buildings on Barstow Street is like tearing down the San Fransisco painted ladies because a mall needs to go there.

It’s not to say that I don’t like the Confluence project. An increased community arts presence is wonderful —  I just don’t believe that it should come at the cost of what makes Eau Claire so unique and special: it’s history.

I’m not writing this as a history major, but as a person who, for all intents and purposes, calls Eau Claire her hometown. I grew up just 40 minutes north of Eau Claire, in small Cadott — essentially a suburb of Eau Claire. And while I actually live in Cadott, I’m more connected to the history of Eau Claire. To see a vital part of Eau Claire’s history wiped out instead of preserved angers me.

In last week’s issue of The Spectator, John W.W. Mann, associate history professor wrote a letter to the editor on this topic. He takes the same stance as I do, stating “with more creative planning, we could preserve some of the irreplaceable fabric of our historic built environment AND erect a performing arts center and mixed-use development on the banks of the river.” Mann’s solution is to integrate the buildings into the Confluence Project, which I find as the best solution.

When it comes down to it, we must remember that once a building is torn down, we can never get it back, and the history that it embodied will be gone forever.