Longtime New Canaan Resident: Don't Tear Down Our 1913 Landmark

To the editor:

Is the town in which I grew up still the one next to heaven?

Please add my voice to those of us crying out -- not, I hope, in the wilderness -- to preserve one of the most beautiful buildings in our beautiful town, the 1913 Library structure.

And to our voices I add this from the N.C. Historical Society 1951 book, LANDMARKS OF NEW CANAAN, in which the Library chapter is by Stephen B. Hoyt, (illustrated by Edwin Eberman): "The architectural gem, designed by the late Alfred H. Taylor and built by John Mahon, of native granite every piece of which was thoughtfully selected for its particular spot in the structure, is our Parthenon.

Walk east on Cherry Street some Winter afternoon when the late sun illuminates the north facade and see the art and craftsmanship revealed in the mosaic which frames the paladin window. This was not accident. Mahon struggled to select these stones. His men worked long days in laying them. Then came Taylor, and refused. Stones were removed and others selected. Profit went to the winds. It had to be beautiful."

It had to be beautiful and it is. It has to be preserved. It is a Landmark. It is our Parthenon.

Sincerely,
Preston Neal Jones