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i" Students protest religious exercise And it hasn't let council off the hook as far as deciding which apartments will be allowed to change to condominiums. That freeze said apartment owners could apply for conversion if 75 percent of the Monday wasn't the first time Major Hold- ings has requested conversion of West- mount Towers 1. In April, 1976 the com- pany's first bid for conversion was quash- ed when council enacted its first six-month freeze on condominium conversions. That point was made abundantly clear Monday when Dick Van Veldhuisen. vice- president of planning and development for Major Holdings and Developments Ltd., appeared before council to request conversion of the Westmount Towers I apartment to condominiums. By Mary Stupart Council's renewal Feb. 7 of its freeze on condominium conversions hasn 't thawed ot the city's relationship with apartment owners. The petitions were pre- sented by two concerned students. Dan Bernhardt, a Grade 13 student at Blue- vale Collegiate Institute and Steve Knight. a Grade 13 student from Kitchener- Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School. Petitions reflecting this view and representing 538 students and 15 teachers were presented to the Wa- terloo County Board of Edu- cation last Thursday. By Howard Elliott Mandatory religious ex- ercises in secondary schools are a violation of civil rights; according to a group of high school stu- dents. “A logo, on the other hand, is usually much simpler in design and therefore per- mits greater flexibility in its use and application. It can be more readily repro- The Mayor originally pro- posed the logo in his inaugur- al address in January. The new symbol should have more use flexibility than the city crest which is de- tailed and difficult to re- produce he said. City council Monday voted to sponsor a contest for a black and gold city logo, simpler in design and ap- pearance than the city's official crest. The prize for the winning submission will be$100. Thesearch is on for a city of Waterloo logo. Blew logo design _ is sought Condominium freeze doesn't melt criticism 122nd Year No. 8 waterloo chronicle Dan Bernhardt was one student who just wasn't satisfied with the decision. Last October he -- with the help of other students Last year the province in- formed the board that al.. though it was all right to drop religious instruction courses from high schools, the opening prayer exer- cises had to stay. The issue of mandatory religious exercises came into the spotlight about two-and-one-half years ago when school board trustees approved dropping opening prayer exercises and re- ligious instruction from area high schools. The committee will also be asked to recommend to council possible uses for the logo. ber of the Local Architec- tural Conservation Advisory Committee and the man- ager of the Chamber of Com- merce was chosen Monday to screen the three best logo designs. Council will choose the winning logo from the three finalists. A committee composed of the community services chairman, the community services director, a mem- According to the mayor, cities that have logos include Kitchener, St. Catharines and the Regional Municipal- ity of Waterloo. duced." It is easily recogniz- (Continued on page 2) However, Mr. Van Veldhuisen argued Monday that Major Holdings had been try- ing to meet the city's conversion condi- tions for six months on the assumption that empty units could be counted in the 75 percent figure. " According to Mr. Van Veldhuisen. the 57-suite Westmount Towers I apartment currently has 27 vacant suites and only 22 tenants who haven't agreed to condomin- ium conversion. Many tenants have volun- tarily decided to move into the company's neighbouring Westmount Towers ll rental building or other apartments because of the company's plans for conversion he said. rental project's tenants signed agreements to purchase or did not object to convert- ing the units to condominium status. Coun- cil further clarified this statement Feb. 7 by accepting a planning department re- port that said empty units should not be counted in the 75 percent figure. Wednesday, February 23, 1977 Russell Buie and his wife Pauline of 143 Bruce St Mr. Buie received Thursday night. He is the 20th r Kitchener-Waterloo Jaycees. " was awarded to hon “I'm finding it difficult to believe that people are moving out voluntarily. It seems “I'm not at all convinced that what is being done by Major Holdings is entirely fairor appropriate..." said Ald. Blake Hull. Several councillors refused to accept Mr. Van Veldhuisen's statement that pre- sent tenants are not being encouraged to move out of the building. Several noted that no leases had been renewed since April. Mr. Van Veldhuisen asked council Mon- day to grant the conversion. pledging that his company would give three-year leases to existing tenants who don't want to buy their units. "For those tenants who would like to remain longer than three years, we will attempt to sell some units to local in- dividual investors who will be prepared to sign a lease with those tenants." he said. "Major Holdings applied no pressure for anyone to leave." But the resulting empty suites are costing the company $5,853 a month in lost revenues he said. auline of 143 Bruce St., Kitchener hold the K-W Citizen of the Year award night. He is the 20th recipient of the award which is given annually by the . " was awarded to honor his volunteer activities in the community. Several aldermen agreed with this com- ment but argued that no increase in the con- struction of apartment units in the city had occurred in the last six months so conser- vation of the city's existing rental Supply was still necessary. Council referred the Westmount Towers l application for conversion to the city's planning committee for a report and agreed to discuss the item in three weeks. Mr. Van Veldhuisen agreed that his com- pany wasn't "too pleased with the set-up either. It's very unsatisfactory." However. he noted that council enacted its condo- minium freeze after the company had drawn up plans for the conversion and only a week after its original request. Aid. Mary Jane Newhinney said “I just have the feeling, despite your (Major Hold.. ings') past performance. that this is really a black mark on your record." that no leases are being renewed," said Aid. Marjorie Carroll.