ARGUMENT ANALYSIS

"In order to save a considerable amount of money, Rockingham's century-old town hall should be torn down and replaced by the larger and more energy-efficient building that some citizens have proposed. The old town hall is too small to comfortably accommodate the number of people who are employed by the town. In addition, it is very costly to heat the old hall in winter and cool it in summer. The new, larger building would be more energy efficient, costing less per square foot to heat and cool than the old hall. Furthermore, it would be possible to rent out some of the space in the new building, thereby generating income for the town of Rockingham."

Energy efficient buildings are the requirement of today’s era. The old town hall of Rockingham is an obsolete structure and consumes a lot of resources for its working. Most of them can be saved by using latest energy efficient devices. Heating in winters and cooling in summers of the structure is very expensive as the equipment being used is obsolete. The built up area has not been used as efficiently as it could have been used. The town hall is too small and it can’t even accommodate the people employed in the town. Hence the overall maintenance cost is very high for a town hall which is very small. According to the people of the town, building a new town hall would be an appropriate decision.

As the given passage suggests the town hall of Rockingham is a century old town hall, but now due to various factors using it as town hall is not economical. The town hall being very old could be used as a historical site for the town and tourism could be developed based on it. The old town hall could be used for any other purpose if not a historical site. The new town hall could be built someplace else in the town. Taking down the old town hall, then removing its remains would mean additional expenditure which can be avoided.

Building the new town hall elsewhere would mean developing the surrounding areas of the place as town hall is a center of business of any town. If the old town hall is taken down and the new one is built at the same place then during that period where would be the daily activities be conducted? If a town hall is built in a new place this problem won’t be faced. Building a new structure would mean a lot of initial investment, which the town government will need bear.

The new town hall if built at a new location would mean a bigger and a much more energy efficient, self sustaining structure. It can have the town hall, office complex, malls, sports club etc this would help in creating this complex as a business hub for the town. Building a new complex would mean a big investment initially but much larger returns at a later stage. The new building can have spaces which could be rented out or sold out hence generating income for the town. Selling out space would generate money so that the initial cost can be recovered and the rents will generate money for the daily expenditure of the complex. The old town hall can be kept intact and investing a bit in renovating it would be a better option. This would help in putting the old town hall to some better usage.