I did not feel the love reading the news that the new Goodwin Memorial Library will be built on the site of the former Hooker School (“Hadley gets $3.9 million for library,” July 14).
The much-needed library will be impressive and the location practical and will even provide room for historic collections. (Like maybe the huge detailed bronze plaque now on Hooker School.)
Will no one else mourn the loss of that significant piece of architecture and history? In using the Senior Center and delivering Hadley’s Meals on Wheels, I sometimes imagine the children who ran up and down those massive, just replaced, concrete front steps. I wonder who was caught daydreaming out those large windows.
Yes, it is falling apart, but I admire downtown Hartford, Connecticut, where facades of historic buildings remain as totally unrelated buildings are built behind.
The timing for building the new building is uncertain. Maybe it will happen in 2022, marking the 100th birthday of Hooker School with the slam of a wrecking ball to its face.
Richard Grace
Hadley