275 Thames Street

An extremely important part of London history is threatened. Aboutown Transportation wants to level 275 Thames Street to make - you guessed it - a parking lot. Aboutown's Jim Donnelly says the building, which they own, is beyond saving.

This isn't your average old wreck though. It was the first chapel built by London's black community, mainly fugitive slaves who arrived via the Underground Railroad. It was originally named the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was later renamed the British Methodist Episcopal Church.

Abolitionist John Brown spoke here in 1858, appealing for funds to fight slavery in the United States. In all probability, Brown's plan was to form a black military company which would join other black fighting units from Ontario to bring about his proposed abolitionist revolution. The following year, his raid on Harpers Ferry acted as a catalyst bringing about the American Civil War.

Eventually the black community founded another church on Grey Street and 275 Thames Street became a residence. In August 1986, an historic plaque was placed on the building by the London Public Library Board. The plaque has since gone missing.

Londoners, and Canadians in general, should be proud of Canada's role as sanctuary during the years before the Civil War.  This is not a building to be lost. Somehow, a solution must be found.

Update, March 21 - A meeting will be held tomorrow night, Friday, March 22, at 6:00 pm, at Beth Emmanuel Church, 430 Grey Street, for all those interested in finding a way to save this building.

Update, March 29 - Fundraising efforts to move this building to a new site on Grey Street are well under way. Donations are glady accepted. See this site for more details.

Update, April 24 - Word is the building will be moved to its new site first, then designated. And gosh, even the mayor is behind this project, suggesting city hall can supply the cash for an archaeological assessment of the current site. Wonder what they'll turn up?

Beautiful Blackfriars

London's oldest bridge has spanned the Thames since 1875. Built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio, it was actually a kit, put together on site by Isaac Crouse. Now well past its intended life span, the bridge is still connecting Blackfriars and Ridout streets.

Local residents are getting used to the almost annual round of repairs. The bridge is currently closed since sections of its wooden deck are peeling off. The repair work will take about a month. Then, just as folks get used to the bridge being open again, it'll be shut down this summer to assess the condition of its steelwork.

Two suggestions have been put forward to help preserve the old bridge. The first is to make it one-way only. Like you can use it to drive to downtown but not back. Possibly a no-brainer considering it's only one lane wide anyway. When you pull up to Blackfriars Bridge do you stop, go ahead, or only continue if the vehicle coming the other way isn't bigger than you?

The other idea is to make it a pedestrian bridge. Though weather may be the main reason for deterioration of the wooden deck, we can be fairly certain vehicles also damage the surface. As a pedestrian bridge, Blackfriars would be an interesting asset to the Thames River Parkway, that pathway system along the river that connects so many neighbourhoods.

Is the bridge worth saving? Of course, for a great many reasons. According to Nancy Tausky in Historical Sketches of London: from site to city, quoting industrial archaeologist Christopher Andreae, Blackfriars is the oldest metal bridge in North America still open to vehicles. Furthermore, it's a good example of bowstring construction. The bridge has been a source of inspiration to numerous local artists and photographers. Walking across it gives one a rural feel in the middle of a city.

Even different levels of government have figured it out. The bridge was designated by the City of London in 1992. It's also on the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport's Ontario Heritage Bridge List.

Probably one of the reasons the bridge has survived so long has been due to its fairly low volume of traffic. It's time to cut the traffic off altogether.

Update, March 18, 2013 - The bridge has re-opened this past week. A detailed inspection has been recommended by City Hall for $300,000.

A Winter Garden

For many years, drivers hurtling past the intersection of Wonderland and Riverside would notice an empty house on the southwest corner next to McKillop Park. Abandoned because it was on a flood plain next to the Thames River, many would have called it an eyesore in need of demolition.

Yet its foundation was built of lovely stones the original owner collected from the nearby river. One would be hard pressed to find such workmanship and style in many houses built today.

In 2012, an interesting form of adaptive reuse took place. The best part of the structure, the stone foundation, was made into a garden by London Home Builders' Association. The Cancer Surivors Garden opened officially on June 3, 2012 and, as this picture shows, is a pleasant, attractive place even in winter. It's certainly an improvement over the five-storey office building Sifton wanted to build in 2007.

There's a metaphor here, of course. Cancer survivors are in a sense rebuilding their lives on the same foundations. They build their lives back up, stone by stone, just as this long-ago mason built his home. His craftsmanship lives on in this unusual tribute.

Thanks to the London Home Builders' Association for information.

Tea at Eldon

On January 21, Eldon House held a Community Round Table in which patrons could offer suggestions to staff on how to make the house museum even better. The minders of London's oldest home were looking for advice on how to present their artifacts and grounds to make Eldon House an even more meaningful experience than it already is. They were also quite happy to receive suggestions for future fundraising endeavours. All this ties in with the recent "divorce" from Museum London, since, as of January 1, Eldon House is under its own governance with complete control of its collections. The Round Table was well-attended by visitors who jotted down lots of ideas and handed them to staff. Then we had cookies and tea.

It reminds me of another forum I heard about, called "Envison: Help define a new mission for Museum London" held on April 2, 2011. The coordinators of the Museum London workshop  asked participants such questions as, "Who should be served?" and "What should be the primary goal?" I didn't make it to the M.L. event but I'm assured that their staff received several clear suggestions from members of the heritage community as to goals. Like more of London's material culture needs to be on display. And the city really needs an historical museum separate from the art gallery.

I wonder what Museum London did with those suggestions? My guess is they filed them away with their historical artifacts in the basement holding cell. Many of us interested in London's history could still make quite a few suggestions to the "Museum," like:

• Create a permanent historical display on the founding and growth of London, not just occasional exhibits on specific themes.
• Allow some of the stored artifacts to actually see the light of day.
• Encourage more history-related programming.
• In view of recent events, find a way to keep volunteers happy so they'll stay.

But it seems the real goal of Museum London was to make it look like they wanted community input. They'll continue to be an art gallery calling themselves a museum, while a real museum down the street, Eldon House, provides interesting history related programming for its patrons.  

Happy Birthday Harvesters

It's refreshing to read about a church that's celebrating an anniversary instead of closing. Harvesters Baptist Church at 9488 Westminster Drive is celebrating their building's 100th birthday with various special events from February 17 to the 25. As part of their anniversary celebrations, the congregation is recreating the original opening ceremonies, including tickets sold at the 1913 prices of 25 or 50 cents. They'll be wearing period costumes, serving old-fashioned scones, and might even use the same sermons.

Built in 1912 and opened in 1913, this church was originally Methodist and became part of the United Church of Canada in 1925. It was known for many years as Sharon Church, probably a reference to the Plain of Sharon mentioned in the Biblical book of Isaiah. It's been Harvesters Baptist Church since 1991.

Is this an extraordinary edifice? A great architectural treasure? No, just a simple country church that's been part of the county landscape for a century. Fun events like this help the congregation carry on by building a sense of community. Increasingly, this kind of morale-building is what it takes to keep an old church open. And there's an added bonus for history buffs - a heritage building in use is a heritage building preserved.

1st Hussars Recognized

City Council has voted in favour of recognizing Fanshawe Park Road west of Richmond Street as the 1st Hussars Commemorative Highway. A nice tribute to the regiment that has served Canada for more than 150 years from its base in London and a detached squadron in Sarnia.

The 1st Hussars have their own museum at 1 Dundas Street, a cute little c. 1880 cottage that's one of the last remaining original buildings near the Forks of the Thames. The museum portrays the history of the regiment through the Boer War, World Wars, conflict in Afghanistan, and peacekeeping missions.

As a labourer's cottage, it might seem like a strange place for a military museum. It looks more like it should contain displays about 19th-century working-class life. It also looks like it would be a good place for a display on the history of London and its relationship to the Thames and in fact it used to be The Forks of the Thames Interpretive Centre. In London, however, we present our heritage in whatever way we can, and it's good to see the building in use. Check it out.

Adaptive Reuse

It's always nice to present another heritage preservation success story. For years derelict, this cute little house at 24 York Street is  now the home of Decorating Resource Studio. Built c. 1870 the two-storey brick structure has a sympathetic new addition at the rear and retains some decoration on its bargeboard. It's a Priority 2 on London's Heritage Inventory and described as the vernacular style. Just an example of what can be done with an older building when you have access to a little cash and good taste.