As the Museums Officer for East Lothian Council, which is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Muir Birthplace, I feel I ought to respond to this, since the information in the letter is both misleading and inaccurate. The scheme to develop the Muir Birthplace was not "devised and approved in total secrecy" -- the Trust itself includes representatives of the local Community Council and Dunbar's John Muir Association, and plans for development of the house had been under discussion since 1998. Claiming that the plan is to "gut and destroy all three floors of this historic listed building" is misleading at the very least, since it is clearly meant to imply that the interior of the building is historic. It is _not_, and it is _widely_known_ that it is not. The interior of the building in fact dates from no earlier than 1980 (apart from some of the roof trusses, which will not be touched in any case). The "tower" will not be "packed with plasma screens, VDUs, computers and exhibition panels" - there will be one plasma screen (used because it takes less space than a conventional TV). The architect does not propose "that tourists and school groups should climb this tower via an internal staircase" as the staircase will be the existing staircase, and visitors will not merely "peep out through wooden window openings, to peer at the ruined interior walls of the Muir House, on which he will affix exhibition panels." since the exhibition will be in and around the wooden structure, but it will also include opportunities to see the original walls of the building, and also to see out through the windows of the building to Dunbar itself. The walls of the building are _all_ that remains from Muir's day. I strongly suggest that List readers who are interested in the facts rather than the hyperbole might care to check out the web site of the John Muir Birthplace Trust at http://www.jmbt.org.uk/ , where they will find an independent conservation architect's report on the building and background on the development plans, and that of Dunbar's John Muir Association at http://www.djma.org.uk/ where the background of consultation and discussion is laid out. Peter M Gray Museums Officer East Lothian Council ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lois Herr" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2001 8:28 PM Subject: Proposed Interpretive Plan for John Muir's Home I am sending this for a friend. Please respond to the address listed at the end of the message. Lois Herr Dear friends, I apologise for sending you an unsolicited email, but our need is great, and I hope that you would want to help us save John Muir's historic birthplace in Scotland, which is under threat of imminent destruction. As you may well be aware, Muir spent some time in Illinois working in the carriage factory where he was temporarily blinded. Please visit the website I have created at: http://www.savejohnmuirhouse.org.uk - and see if you feel moved to help. John Muir's house in Dunbar, Scotland, is one of the few sites of global environmental pilgrimage, and is as valued much as Aldo Leopold's Sand Counties Shack, Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond, or John Burroughs's cabin at Slabsides. John Muir House was built in 1780, and Muir as born there in 1838; it is a truly ancient building - created forty years before the death of Napoleon and some time before the American Constitution was drafted. An appalling architectural 'renovation' scheme has been devised and approved in total secrecy, which proposes to gut and destroy all three floors of this historic listed building. Nothing will be left but the walls, the roof and an empty stone void. In this eviscerated box, the 'radical' architect Richard Murphy proposes to install a: "free-standing, high-tech, timber framed tower", packed with plasma screens, VDUs, computers and exhibition panels. He proposes that tourists and school groups should climb this tower via an internal staircase and peep out through wooden window openings, to peer at the ruined interior walls of the Muir House, on which he will affix exhibition panels. We regard this as brutal, heritage vandalism of the most appalling kind. And we need your help to stop it. I append a few letters and articles for your information. We have just nine days left to lodge objections, but we are appealing to the Scottish Government to 'call-in' the planning application and instigate a full Public enquiry - and to stop this vandalism. HOW CAN YOU HELP? I hope you would help us oppose the destruction of John Muir's original birthplace by: a. Visiting the website and reading about the issues b. Distribute this email to your members who are on email c. Write a letter of objection in a personal, or an official capacity e. Use your journal or other media to communicate this issue to your membership network I apologise for sending out a 'round robin' but I am 3000 miles away and just harvested names from your website. I am not normally in the habit of cold-calling people, even if we share a common mission to conserve Nature. Graham White Save John Muir Campaign Broxmouth Gardens Broxmouth Park DUNBAR EH42 1QW Scotland, UK +44 1368-863 478 =================== Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.268 / Virus Database: 140 - Release Date: 07/08/01 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).