A Society Ultimately Becomes What It Is Willing to Destroy
Shakesides, the historic Comox home of renowned Canadian naturalist and ornithologist Hamilton Mack Laing, was demolished by the current Mayor and Council to make way for a nature-viewing platform built directly over its original foundation.The decision proceeded despite opposition from many residents and numerous heritage, environmental, and conservation organizations. In the end, one of Comox’s most significant historic landmarks was reduced to rubble. Hamilton Mack Laing was a friend to all - my friend. That is why this loss is personal. But it is also far larger than one friendship, one house, or one community. Stewardship means holding something in trust for those who come after us. Legal authority is not the same as moral authority. Being elected does not give a council the moral right to erase an irreplaceable public legacy simply because it has enough votes around the table. Imagine a council deciding that a community war memorial had become inconvenient and replacing it with a decorative planter. The flowers might be beautiful, but the act would betray the trust placed in elected officials to protect what cannot be replaced.
Shakesides was such a place. It was not merely a building of wood and glass. It was a tangible connection to the life, work, and legacy of a remarkable Canadian naturalist. Historic places give communities something no modern structure can manufacture: authentic memory. Around the world, modest homes associated with poets, artists, scientists, and statesmen are preserved because their significance is not measured in square footage or architectural grandeur. They are preserved because the stories that happened there cannot be recreated somewhere else. Neither can Shakesides. And preservation was not impossible. Community members stepped forward. A local not-for-profit organization offered a credible alternative to demolition, to move, restore, and rebuild the home.There was a choice. Preservation or destruction. Stewardship or surrender. The choice was made. A boardwalk can provide a view. A plaque can provide words. Landscaping can provide beauty. But none can provide authenticity. None can restore the walls that sheltered Hamilton Mack Laing. None can recreate the place where his life unfolded. None can return what was destroyed.
That is why this is not simply a story about the loss of an old house. It is a story about what happens when elected officials confuse what they have the power to do with what they have the responsibility to preserve. Councils come and go. Political terms end. Policies change. But once heritage is demolished, history cannot rebuild itself. The true measure of leadership is not what a council has the legal authority to remove, but what it possesses the wisdom, humility, and courage to protect. Shakesides should still be standing. Instead, the boardwalk now tells visitors where to look, while the house that should have been there is gone. And someday, another generation will stand on that foundation and ask a simple question: “Why did they tear it down when they could have saved it?” There will be no answer that can rebuild those walls. No plaque can answer it. No boardwalk can answer it.
No explanation can answer it. Because the greatest failure of leadership is not failing to accomplish something. It is destroying something that can never be recovered. Hamilton Mack Laing’s home survived its builder, its benefactor, and generations of Comox residents. It did not survive the council entrusted with protecting it. And that is the part history will remember. Not the boardwalk.The absence of the house. Not what was built. What was destroyed. Not what this council had the power to do. But what it lacked the courage to save. A society ultimately becomes what it is willing to destroy. And Shakesides is what we chose to lose.
Shakesides, the historic Comox home of renowned Canadian naturalist and ornithologist Hamilton Mack Laing, was demolished by the current Mayor and Council to make way for a nature-viewing platform built directly over its original foundation.The decision proceeded despite opposition from many residents and numerous heritage, environmental, and conservation organizations. In the end, one of Comox’s most significant historic landmarks was reduced to rubble. Hamilton Mack Laing was a friend to all - my friend. That is why this loss is personal. But it is also far larger than one friendship, one house, or one community. Stewardship means holding something in trust for those who come after us. Legal authority is not the same as moral authority. Being elected does not give a council the moral right to erase an irreplaceable public legacy simply because it has enough votes around the table. Imagine a council deciding that a community war memorial had become inconvenient and replacing it with a decorative planter. The flowers might be beautiful, but the act would betray the trust placed in elected officials to protect what cannot be replaced.
Shakesides was such a place. It was not merely a building of wood and glass. It was a tangible connection to the life, work, and legacy of a remarkable Canadian naturalist. Historic places give communities something no modern structure can manufacture: authentic memory. Around the world, modest homes associated with poets, artists, scientists, and statesmen are preserved because their significance is not measured in square footage or architectural grandeur. They are preserved because the stories that happened there cannot be recreated somewhere else. Neither can Shakesides. And preservation was not impossible. Community members stepped forward. A local not-for-profit organization offered a credible alternative to demolition, to move, restore, and rebuild the home.There was a choice. Preservation or destruction. Stewardship or surrender. The choice was made. A boardwalk can provide a view. A plaque can provide words. Landscaping can provide beauty. But none can provide authenticity. None can restore the walls that sheltered Hamilton Mack Laing. None can recreate the place where his life unfolded. None can return what was destroyed.
That is why this is not simply a story about the loss of an old house. It is a story about what happens when elected officials confuse what they have the power to do with what they have the responsibility to preserve. Councils come and go. Political terms end. Policies change. But once heritage is demolished, history cannot rebuild itself. The true measure of leadership is not what a council has the legal authority to remove, but what it possesses the wisdom, humility, and courage to protect. Shakesides should still be standing. Instead, the boardwalk now tells visitors where to look, while the house that should have been there is gone. And someday, another generation will stand on that foundation and ask a simple question: “Why did they tear it down when they could have saved it?” There will be no answer that can rebuild those walls. No plaque can answer it. No boardwalk can answer it.
No explanation can answer it. Because the greatest failure of leadership is not failing to accomplish something. It is destroying something that can never be recovered. Hamilton Mack Laing’s home survived its builder, its benefactor, and generations of Comox residents. It did not survive the council entrusted with protecting it. And that is the part history will remember. Not the boardwalk.The absence of the house. Not what was built. What was destroyed. Not what this council had the power to do. But what it lacked the courage to save. A society ultimately becomes what it is willing to destroy. And Shakesides is what we chose to lose.
