TO judge by your recent letters pages, there appears to be a growing body of opinion in favour of retaining the new sense of spaciousness in the centre of Keighley, revealed by the demolition of the old Boys’ Grammar School and what was left of the Mechanics’ Institute.

While I lament still this irretrievable loss, I too can appreciate the value of the change to Keighley that has taken place. Now, one is much more aware of the beautiful green hills that surround this once-beautiful town.

I cannot understand why there is still some civic uncertainty on the matter, as to what to do next with this particular, currently-vacant lot?

It is adjacent to the Town Hall Square, which seems to become lovelier with each passing year. It is opposite the finest building in Keighley, the public library.

Please do not put-up a brand new ugly building or create yet another ineffective roundabout.

Do something aesthetically and socially in keeping with the town, with the elements you already have in place for the restoration of something akin to what the town once aspired to be.

Why not use something of the imaginative skill and creative ingenuity, recently used at Cliffe Castle, both inside and out?

Establish a centre of Keighley to be proud of, a place people from elsewhere might want to visit on a regular basis?

An article I read did some justice to the magnificent transformation of Cliffe Castle. By such means, it has become something closer to what it once was.

I may be wrong about this, but I think I once read that Henry (?) Butterfield particularly liked the location because he wouldn’t have to look at Keighley out of his windows; then a rather dismal industrial town, similar to many of its kind. Don’t let that happen again.

Instead, Mr Butterfield, who had been a habitué of London and Paris, preferred to look out at the rolling hills that run along the Aire Valley from Bradford to Skipton, in both directions and beyond.

Now, those same hills can be seen from the steps of Keighley public library. Appreciate this view, or regret its loss for the rest of your days; left wondering, like the rest of us, why a gang of bureaucrats could sanction yet another ugly glass and concrete box, to block your view.

CHRISTOPHER ACKROYD Bethel Street East Morton