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Although it would not be the cheapest thing a city could do to put some of the ideas into effect, the thought of cost has been taken into account. The report is just fine for the renewal of a downtown area but the real problems of Waterloo‘s core have only been touched at from a distance. They‘re playing the urban renewal song again and the melody has remained the same from when the meetings adjoined several weeks ago. And its still offâ€"tune. The urban renewal committee was formed to try to find a way of making downtown Waterloo a place where people would want to go, partiâ€" cularly to shop. Ideas and concepts have been exchanged and now after all the preliminary talk is done we have before us a report outlining what the comâ€" mittee thinks could be done in downtown Waterâ€" loo. The mall idea for King Street could never hapâ€" pen or at least not with the downtown existing as it does today. Let‘s face it. We do not have a major department store which can provide the needed attraction to the downtown. This idea is not a high priority of the report but it should be. . We feel that is what should have been given top priority in the report, not the idea of let‘s have a mall and make the downtown a nice place for people to be. Even if it is nice there has to be a reason for being there. We are not intending anything derogatory by that remark toward the stores that do exist on King Street. They have kept it as busy as it has been for this long. What we are saying is that people know they are there and if that‘s where they want to go traffic won‘t stop them. One of the reasons cited by the report for a mall is to get rid of the "traffic barrier‘‘. Traffic would certainly not be the reason why people do not cross the street. In some secâ€" tions of downtown Waterloo there is nothing to cross the street for. The report is fine. It serves the purpose where we once had no report and now we do. There were some valid statements made in the report with one being. "a basic shortcoming of the Square is felt to be the lack of an outdoor area, which attracts people to simply sit, watch and talk." Published every Wednesday by Fairway Press. a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Record Ltd. 225 Fairway Road. South. Kitchener. Ontario. Address correspondence to Waterloo Square. Waterloo. Ont. Telephone 744â€"6364 If the committee wants a place such as they propose by blocking off King Street where people can sit in the manner suggested, they need look no further. Instead of the committee flying off on a prinâ€" ciple which hasn‘t been proven they should experiment in this spot. Put a few branches there and present it as a place to just sit and then see what happens. Should it become so crowded popularity is eviâ€" dent. then reconsider a mall for King Street. The large concrete, empty space which surâ€" rounds the Cahmber of Commerce office in front of the Square is ideal. â€" Until it has been proven that people want to be in downtown Waterloo or could even accept the fact as it being a ~place to be" the mall idea should be dropped. Try replacing it with the idea of a major department store and then we‘ll start to listen. _ Waterloo Chronicle ESTABLISHED 1854 Waterioo Chronicle, Wednesday, July 11, 1973 Mall has no merit In Canada: one yvear $8. in United States and Foreign countries: one year $10 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Wendy Herman, editor Did you know that yours truly was once a shy little boy? Do you know how a lady can sell allâ€"Canadian crossword puzzles to newsâ€" papers? Do you know anyone who worked at the Milton brick works in 1914, before going off to war? Do you feel like writing a book? Do you feel like reviewing a book someone else has written? These are some of the things that came up as I opened my mail in the last few weeks. If a columnist does not have any readers, he very quickly ceases to be a colâ€" umnist. That‘s why I‘th so grateful to readers who drop a line and have a chat, tell me their troubles, or merely wish me good health. Going through some old clippings. she came across one which she sent along to me. The heading on Just before my birthday in June, I had a long letter from my Grade 1 teacher reâ€" minding me that we share the same natal day, June 2nd. She was the kind of pretty. young. sweet and kind teacher who can make that first vital year in public school a joy rather than the horror that it can be. Street widening isn‘t a new problem With all the talk lately about street ‘widenings. residents can thank the Waterloo council of 1857 for their foresight which alleviated what could have been a problem in our time. _ Minutes of i}_vlaw No. 3 passed in October 1857 show that couricil found it ~expedient and necessary to widen King Street to 76 feet. Street widening wasn‘t even easy then. In order to widen King Street to 76 feet from the north side of Erb Street to the land of John W. Bowman and from there 60 feet wide to the northern boundary of the Waterloo village corporation houses owned by Jaâ€" cob Beckle and Conrad Rau and a barn owned by Danâ€" ie Burkholder had to be torn down These buildings weren‘t lost completely according to reports though. Once torn down they were rebuilt in line with the other buildings to accommodate the widening Stroet"widening isn t just a problem of today It‘s been around a long time WELL, WE‘RE ALMOST HOME NORBM... PETTER TVRN OFF THE AIR CONOINONING S0 | CAN LOOK HOT, WORNâ€"OUT AND TIREP FOR THE WiIFE / | € FAUL * VUDI »h iz Bill Smiley Apparently after being beaten half to death after an escape attempt, 1 was so weak I couldn‘t move for twenty days. This is pure exaggeration. It was only five days. And when the Rusâ€" sians overran our camp, I walked 156 miles across Gerâ€" many and stumbled onto an advanced air base. Poppycock! It was only 90â€" some miles, I rode a good part of the way in wagons, Russian staff cars, German woodâ€"burning trucks, and a twoâ€"horse carriage. And I didn‘t stumble onto anyâ€" thing. I arrived at the adâ€" vance air base in a jeep. But that‘s a long story. the news story was FO Wm. Smiley Victim Brutal Hun Treatment. The rest was an extremely garbled account that makes me wince with embarassment even today. Anyway. _ my _ teacher, whom 1 still think of as Lauâ€" ra Walker, says of the clipâ€" ping: "I admit I shed some tears over it, for all I could see was a shy little boy in gray trousers and a navy blue blazer coming to my desk and announcing his name and birthday, to which I replied. ‘Why, Billie, we are twins. There were so Bill Shaker of Shifnal, Salops, England, reads me in the Canadian Champion, Milton. He likes my ‘"cheery notes" and writes a very cheery one himself, at the age of 84. He worked at the Milton Brick Co. in 1914, joined the army, went to France in the R.E.S. Guards Div. and was at Ypres, the Somme, Arras and Cambrai, names that ring a bell with oldâ€"timers. Lucky guy. But he wishes me best of luck and good health. _ > many of you in the same class who were in the War andâ€"my heart went out to you all for you were still my ‘little‘ boys and had no busiâ€" ness with aeroplanes." And it is even more reâ€" warding to see the tremenâ€" dously positive reaction of parents and children for such an event as our recent ~"Graduation _ Celebration presented by CHYM Radio at the Eat :N Putt Recreâ€" ation Complex . Layna Bateman of Staveâ€" ly, Alta., who reads me in the Brooks Bulletin, wants advice on how to sell a synâ€" dicated Canadian crossword puzzle. She sent me samples and they‘re excellent. Anyâ€" body any ideas? Her letter ends, "How soon do you beâ€" come a grampa? Congratuâ€" lations!" Every letter has a nice personal touch like that. The thousands and thouâ€" sands of people who took part in the two day event were simply marvelous to work with, and we had abâ€" solutely no problems with crowds or with any partiâ€" Celebration met with coâ€"operatiof It is, indeed, rewarding to be able to run a commuâ€" nity activity in which we can provide so much pleaâ€" sure for so many people. particularly children. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor. I enjoy hearing from all of you A Montreal publisher wants me to write a book. He doesn‘t even seem to realize, or care, that I haven‘t got the clothesline fixed and my wife is raising hell, day after day. Write a book indeed! Mary Johnson of Winnipeg wonders if I‘m the same Bill Smiley who wrote a series of articles on educaâ€" tion for the Salt Lake City Tribune. Sorry, Mary. ‘Twas another Bill. But Mrs. Johnâ€" son has written a book callâ€" ed ‘"*Programmed Illiteracy in our Schools®‘ and wonders if I‘d like to review it. Sure would. Send it along, Mary. Last time I* was at the Strand Palace, they nearly threw me out because I was sharing my room with the bearded lady from the cirâ€" cus. The maid had entered our room before my old budâ€" dy Singh Thandi, a Sikh from India, had got his hair up and his turban on. His hair hung to his tailbone and he had a beautiful curly beard. The maid gave one scream and ran: Singh was killed in Burma. cular individual on either day. And when you are dealâ€" ing with the numbers inâ€" volved, credit can only go to the citizens of this region who participated, and who followed â€" our _ suggestions and instructions to ensure everyone having such a good time. We would also like to exâ€" press our appreciation to the "Get Around Gang~ of the Kitchener Transit Syâ€" stem for their enormous coâ€" operation. and to the Editor of the Waterloo Chronicle for their support of our ‘"Graduation Celebration . Sincerely yours. CGord Hume. Promotion and Advertising Manager