WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 1985, PAGE5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson THE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell We don't need a dome I like downtown Whitby. I often shop there. I regularly, even frequently, patronize the dry cleaners, the restaurants, the florists, the green grocers. I buy groceries downtown. I use the drug store and have spent many hours and will spend many more hours in the used book store. There is much to downtown Whitby to like. There are a host of goods and ser- vices that can be purchased there at competitive prices from merchants who will take the time to talk to you because they still believe in'doing business the old fashioned way. In- downtown Whitby one will often find the human touch and that is something you don't find in the shopping mails and the computerized super- markets. After years of facing a slow death at the hands of the shopping malls and the developers, downtown Whitby seems to have finally started on the road to re- birth. Everything was going along at a even keel and a steady pace until last Wed- nesday when a reporter published a story in a competing newspaper. The story was essentially a puff piece, saying nice things about the core and its plans for the future. Like I said, everything was fine. That is, until this reporter and a host of other people read what Reg. Coun. Gerry Emm had to say. To put it in a nutshell, Reg. Coun. Emm thinks it would be a wonderful idea to build a bubble over downtown Whitby. That's right, we should build our own dome. Who does he think he is? Bill Davis? In the article, Emm noted that the buildings on both side of Brock St. are also the same height. The dome would be build and Brock St. would be closed off near Dundas St. Emm is quoted as saying "I think we should get into the 21st century" and try something like this. Our senior member of council also said "I'd like to have an architect here and look at that. That's something I would work for, if we could get a grant of some kind." Mr. Emm's remarks have not gone unnoticed. To put it bluntly if people aren't angry and upset over them, they are snickering at him and rightly so if you ask me. Ed Buffet, who's doing a dynamite job as chairman of the Downtown Business Area Board of Management, forced himself to reply to Mr. Emm's remarks with great restraint. He went so far as to preface his remarks with "I have the greatest amount of respect for Mr. Emm." But as for the dome, he told me: "In terms of financial viability, I don't think that is a do-able project. "It may be a wonderful concept, but I don't think that, during my life time that it will be a do-able project. "It's a nice thought," Ed continued, "But I don't think it will be financially viable today or tomorrow." Ed also went on to muse that if he was looking at this solely as a local tax- payer, he would have to question where this sort of idea came from and why it was proposed. He noted that money that could be used to build a bubble (or dome, if you will) it could also be used to provide facilities and services to the downtown core that are in much greater demand. The downtown businessman also noted that over the course of the next few years over $500,000 will be invested in the improvement facilities and services. Streetscapes will be done, parking lots built. Centre Ward Coun. Marcel Brunelle obviously miffed about this entire story. In fact, when I talked to him he was furious. He told me he has received a few anxious telephone calls from a few of his constituents on Green St. who wanted to know whether or not their street was going to become the major downtown access road. Because if it was, they wanted to sell before it was too late. The politest thing I heard Marcel say about Gerry's remarks was that they were "drivel". And you know something, I agree 100 per cent. Emm has been a member of Whitby Town Council for 17 years. As a seasoned politician he should know that one should speak and plan in terms of the feasible, the possible, the practical. People in this community believe that Emm speaks with the voice of authority. After all, he is a member of both our town council and our regional council. When he speaks, people listen and they have good reason to believe him. They elected him to office. They believe him to be responsible. When I hear remarks that those concerning the downtown bubble, I begin to wonder. In this case, Emm - probably to get his name in the paper, for all I know - made a statement that needlessly and irresponsibly upset quite a number of people. Instead of speaking in terms of the possible and the attainable, he speaks in terms of pipedreams and foolishness. This man was elected to council to behave in a responsible manner and to provide quality leadership and management to the affairs of the community. Suggesting that we build a dome over downtown Whitby is one of the silliest ideas I've ever heard. It's not practical and it's not viable. Marcel Brunelle was right. Emm gave us "drivel". Not the sound leadership and sense of respon- sibility that one would expect from a councillor with his years of service. I am disheartened and disappointed in him. BILL SWAN Underneath the image, Maelstrom is really four truly decent young men Entering the Palleske's garage is entering another world. Outside it is raining. But inside, a faint musty combination of mildew and trapped in- sulation greets you from amid the stored flats and sets for next month's rock concert. The stairs are sturdy but steep. And at the top, the hinged doorway swings back and we poke our heads into the loft. Some loft it is. Like something out of a boyhood dream: the roof peak meeting high overhead; the discarded furniture salvaged for comfort; the hinged door-in-the-floor with what I now see is a dead bolt for privacy. A perfect place for boys on a rainy day. Only these boys are now grown men, and in ad- dition to the discarded furniture, a few thousand dollars worth of amplifiers, speakers, drums, guitars, and other musical treats surround us. Here I meet the Palleske's, Antony and Loring, and Sean Roberts and Dave Raines. Together they make up the rock band, Maelstrom. Heavy metal. Young. Confident, but not cocky. Last year, this band won the annual Battle of the Bands at Lakeview Park in Oshawa. This year, they are looking toward a concert at the Civic Auditorium in Oshawa on June 29, and first professional appearance to pay for the sound equipment. "We also had to fight for every prize we got," Loring says. A little wiser this year, the quartet instinctively know that although their music is good enough, they are probing a difficult market. And in Heavy Metal, marketing often overtakes the music. "Do you know what Maelstrom means?" Tony challenges me. I lamely reply that it is a storm of some kind. "Naw. It is a hellish storm, a vicious whirlpool, the force of evil..." The key, of course, lies in the fact that the name Maelstrom will market well. Already t-shirts are on sale at Picture This in the Woolco Mall and through the band. To cut themselves away from the herd, the group has built a Gothic Castle set for their stage shows, used first in their Anderson concert. That set took a couple of weeks of volunteer help to build in the An- derson shop last spring. Commercially built it, would be worth thousands. The shoulder length hair? A Heavy Metal group with short hair would lack credibility. The bar- barian-lover boy image is part of the marketing, I end my visit before the guys start their practice. Roadie Brett Chapman, 18, lifts the door for my exit. Gingerly, 1 pick my way down, careful on the steep steps. I pick my way through the immense set, waiting, just waiting, for that concert at the Civic, and then in August at Iroquois Park. These are young guys with dreams, and stars are made of such material. Especially when the dreams are backed by hours and hours of work, practices, imagination. Despite the image of bararianism they would like to display, these are decent young men. How far they will make it in music remains to be seen. There are yet many hurdles to clear. But they have found the one magic ingredient for success in any generation: 99 per cent perspiration and 1 per cent inspiration. It seems to me they have 99 per cent of both.