FOCUS - DECEMBER 2018 3 During the past year a number of Port Perry’s downtown stores have been shrouded in scaffolding. Now, it’s all gone and we can see the restored upper level storefronts. So LOOK UP, check out the brick- work; the brickwork around the second floor windows, notice the decorative elements in the bricks, and then LOOK UP to the roof level and see the renewed or rebuilt parapets and piers and the mini spires. Forthepastfewyearsseveralofthe downtown merchants have poured time and money into a concerted effort to restore the architecture of the buildings in the downtown core. Now we can see them in their glori- ous Victorian state. Just before midnight on the even- ing of July 3 1884, a disastrous fire be- gan where the post office now stands. It spread rapidly and destroyed the entire core of the downtown, leaving a charred, flattened landscape. After the fire, the entire business community rallied in a remarkable spirit of cooperation to rebuild the town. All realized that no merchant could survive alone, that they all needed each other to provide sales stimulus and growth. In October 1886 the Toronto Mail, the predecessor of the Globe and Mail, ran a huge three-page article on Port Perry and its remarkable recovery, stating, “In 1884, the place was devastated by fires, which swept away the entire business portion of the town. Within a few months of the day that saw Port Perry in ruins and ashes, the town was rebuilt in a style of archi- tectural beauty and good taste never dreamed of prior to its destruction and certainly not to be found elsewhere in the province in any town double or even quadruple its size.” Over the years, the effects of more fires, wind and weather have played havoc on the brickwork and particu- larly the brick parapets and other decorative elements at upper levels of the buildings. During the 1950s to the 1970s many communities across Ontario tore down their Victorian buildings and replaced them with modern architec- ture. In Port Perry at that time there were plans underway to tear down the Town Hall 1873 and Canada Post office. These plans were averted by lo- cal citizens and several owners of the downtown stores, led by Wayne and Carolyn Luke of Luke’s Country Store and Tom and Daphne Mitchell of the former Settlement House Shops who (a more in-depth story following the ‘letter to the editor’ in our October 2018 Mailbox on page 6) Claudette Brock, (owner of Brock’s) with daughters Marina and Julie (co-owners), invite you to LOOK UP at the renewed brickwork and recreated parapets of the Brock’s building. ...................... Please turn to page 4 PHOTOS BY PAUL ARCULUS