Just change the boundaries and make someone rich
A path to the big pasture; when Mr. Martin used to drive his cows up the hill to the best field in the area, it probably wasn’t much to write back to the Old Country about. After all, cow paths are important to a niche group. It would appear that the city is back to that mindset.
You see, this is a city that has too much history to go around. So much history that certain areas are at risk of losing their status. Among them, old Mr. Martin’s cowpath. Several centuries have gone by, with only a minimum of cowpies to mark the passage (horsepies are another thing). Parts of the housing have earned the title of most likely to collapse in ruin. A particularly large and well-situated building has gone from a place of worship to a place to squat to a place that someday might be part of a big hotel.
Here lies the real story. The promoter with the facade of a church to integrate has decided it might cut into the profits, and he has convinced the new city council that if this particular hill was no longer of any historical value, then the hotel could take on a whole new style. Get rid of any special status and roll in the bulldozers. Progress by revisionism.
From my point of view, the Côte d’Abraham is historically important. It does belong in the whole Vieux Québec diaporama. If the mayor lets a businessman decide what is historically relevant, then we might as well pave the whole thing over and park for free. When the original hotel idea was touted to all and sundry, the church facade was necessary to showcase the historical value of the area. What changed in a few short years (other than the mayor)?
