To the editor:

I’ve just learned of a new plan of Doug Compton’s to tear down the Allen Press building and replace it with a pharmacy chain store and a seven-story apartment building. I can only hope that the friend who informed me of the plan was mistaken, that he was having a very bad dream that certainly won’t come true.

However, knowing him as well as I do and now well-familiar with the ways of the City Commission when it comes to large, unsuitable building projects, I have no doubt that protesting approval of this further change to the character of Lawrence’s downtown and the East Lawrence residential area will be useless.

Completely out of character with the wonderful old limestone courthouse, architecturally having no similarities to the beautiful bank building that houses Watkins Museum of History, it will not blend in or benefit anyone who lives in Lawrence.

As with the opposition by property owners to the new ordinance requiring them to take responsibility for proper upkeep of their rentals, the City Commission will again ignore the public comments of those who will be most affected and bow to those whose investment is not in our community, but rather in their own financial security.

Whether it be the construction of new buildings or the preservation of history, the addition of even more student housing in the form of apartment complexes or an effort to maintain affordable decent rental homes for families, we can be sure that our City Commission will vote with those whose money enriches the city’s tills.