What's the point of saving our heritage?

English Heritage, and similar organisations in the rest of the developed world, say that some old buildings are architecturally and culturally important and have to be saved.  When you watch some archeology programs, such as Channel 4's Time Team, when they are digging a site they often have artist's impressions of what the site looked like.  With preserved heritage, you do not need an artist's impression, as it is there, right in front of you.  Preserved heritage is also aesthetically pleasing, it 'looks nice' and certainly adds as air of authenticity to many a historical drama on the BBC or I.T.V. that a carefully designed set just does not have.  There is also the fact that some people have an interest in the history of their own area of a town or city and will search for things that satisfy this interest and make the history 'come alive'.  Preserved heritage is useful here too.  My own personal feeling is that it gives people a sense of where they 'come from', what sorts of things made their life and surroundings the way it is.
Now let me get to the point:  I am an adopted citizen of the city of Kingston-upon-Hull.  The bit of heritage that I would like to keep is Pickering Park, in it's entirety.  The Park was given to the people of Hull, in perpetuity, by Mr. Christopher Pickering, free-man of the City of Hull, and partially personally responsible for the growth of the fishing industry in the City of Hull.  The care of the park now falling to Trustees (elected officials of the City Council).  We have already 'lost' some of that heritage.  Some years ago an area was sold of to develop housing - the 'new bit of West Grove' so that the drainage of the park could be improved. This is not a model that is sustainable, as more and more of the park would be sold to preserve less and less.  The Friends of Pickering Park (I am a member of this group) have been trying, with some success, to get things happening in the park.  Proving that the park is worth preserving.  The Gates to the park, on the other hand, are in a poor state of repair indeed.  We have been trying for several years now to raise the funds necessary to have the gates restored.  But we feel that as time progresses, the gates are getting more and more fragile.  An analogy might be two heavy weight boxers leaning on each other for support, and they, in turn are supported by the ropes.  Each leaf of the gate weighs two tons, and is only being supported by the other leaf and the cast-iron pillars at either side, with bases set in concrete, and gradually rusting away over the 103 years that they have been erected.  You can support our campaign by going to our web site: http://www.friendsofpickeringpark.org.uk/park/gates or follow the Friends on Twitter or 'like' the Friends of Pickering Park on Facebook.