I am a resident of suburban metro Detroit and am considering a visit to Brighton and Hove in the spring, which is why I am reading The Argus online.

If I didn't know I was reading a UK paper, I would have thought I was reading about yet another sad loss of a historic building in the city of Detroit, where we have lost so much because of neglect and lack of interest.

We Americans tend to think, perhaps naively, that folks in Europe and the UK are much more focused on historic preservation and would never let a situation such as the West Pier's get to the point it is now.

Perhaps the thought that this is no better than what happens in the US all the time might spur some kind of activity, if only out of national pride ("Egad! We're no better than the Yankees!").

I hope, when I visit in May, I won't see pieces of the West Pier in souvenir shops, embedded in plastic, mounted or otherwise.

-Rick Zajac, Graceland Circle, Dearborn Heights, Michigan 48125, US