David Collins’ recent columns dealt with warehousing buildings and antiques left to conservators. A major change of attitude is needed to save our past for future generations. There is a vast difference between preserving the past and warehousing antiques. The "Mona Lisa" chest he wrote about in his column, “Connecticut’s ‘Mona Lisa’ sits inside a shuttered Landmarks house,” (March 9), is not being stored in an environment that will keep it preserved. Slowly it will become wobbly and fall apart. 

We live in the birthplace of our nation. The future is built on the past. Showing the next generation their history will help them realize what it means to be an American. What did it mean to live in the United States in the 1800s, or earlier? The early settlers learned to read by an oil lamp, grow their own food and weave their own clothes. The people that lived here were hard working and proud. Are we hard working and proud? 

The only way buildings, art and antiques can be preserved is to have them on display for the public or they become lost. Warehousing our past shows we are only interested in money and not the next generation. Clearly, some preservation groups need a good spanking.

Alma Richards

Mystic