D
Darkstar416
Guest
simply Dan and myself decided to take advantage of having a car over the Victoria Day long-weekend and spent a day (and night) in Canada's 15th largest city! Don't get too excited, it's only London, Ontario. We still aren't sure why we went to be honest but managed to have an o.k. time.
The city hasn't changed much at all from when I was last there (about five years ago). It's certainly grown in terms of population, but most of that is on the periphery. The downtown looks mostly the same (with a couple of noticeable exceptions) and many of the businesses and bars have changed names/ownership. I think London is the perfect example of that type of Ontario town that the Quebecois like to make fun of for "rolling up the sidewalks at night" despite being a relatively big and somewhat powerful little centre.
Anyway, without further adieu...
Welcome to London!
London is home to the tallest office building in Ontario outside of Greater Toronto -- One London Place.
The 1992-completed building is 24 storeys and is considered class-A office space.
Close to One London Place is the fantastic Dominion Public Building which was built as a depression-era make-work project in 1936.
The building went under extensive renovations about 20 years back and still looks pristine today.
London is known as an insurance, banking, medical research, auto parts and university-supported town. Here's an example of London's long-standing tradition as one of the insurance capitals of the country -- The London Life Headquarters.
The older part of the London Life H.Q. (as viewed from City Hall.)
The horrible City Centre Towers which until recently housed Canada Trust's headquarters (before being taken over by TD).
London has plenty of downtown surface parking.
London doesn't have too much at this scale (or in this good of condition) so I figured it was picture-worthy.
Not sure what's in here now, but always great to see new uses for old buildings.
The former Hudson's Bay store in London's downtown mistake -- The Galleria Mall -- is now the central branch of the London Library System. Unlike the original Galleria Mall, the Library does address the street. For more info on the Galleria Mall's slide from grace, click here.
HMV left for the suburbs when the Galleria went south, but Sunrise stayed around town...although never bothered to update their signage.
The bland, but functional John Labatt Centre.
What is that you say? Well it's something called faux facadism (kind of like T.O.'s Jazz project). That's right, it's actually a replica of the Talbot Inn which was razed for the JLC project. Not one original brick was savaged, despite a heritage designation. This was done even though there's an abundance of surface parking lots all over downtown London. Shame!
The equally bland Covent Garden Market (and the equally annoying real-London copycat names that this town shoves down your throat at every chance).
One of the only things open on a Sunday afternoon (which is more than I can say for St. Lawrence Market).
Just a cool sign...
What was probably a bank is now a bar (and a nice looking one at that). Although, closed on a Sunday afternoon.
An alley behind the market.
The Royal Bank Building.
Brutalism left no London unchanged.
A new downtown conversion project. The old Park Lane Hotel is being turned into a trendy condo. It's called Time Condos and check out those starting prices!!! I'm not sure I believe enough in the rejuvination of downtown London, but if I did, it would be a tempting investment.
A side view. Something about this picture makes me think of Baghdad.
Another view.
A small, but active queer community can be found in London's downtown. As far as we could tell, there's only two bars that cater to the scene (both under the same ownership).
The best laugh we had all day...
Is that a giant new Taco Bell attached to an old modernist building? Actually, no, it's downtown London's new and hideous VIA Rail Station.
A freight train passes through.
And then another.
An interesting block across the street from the Via Station.
Despite the sign, Bud Gowan is still in business!
Sort of the Lee's Palace of London -- Call The Office. I saw Swervedriver here once upon a time.
While most parking downtown is surface, there are also a few street-killing multi-storeys as well.
The backside of the horrible London Convention Centre.
If I don't get too bored looking at these pictures and writing about London, you'll get part II tomorrow!
The city hasn't changed much at all from when I was last there (about five years ago). It's certainly grown in terms of population, but most of that is on the periphery. The downtown looks mostly the same (with a couple of noticeable exceptions) and many of the businesses and bars have changed names/ownership. I think London is the perfect example of that type of Ontario town that the Quebecois like to make fun of for "rolling up the sidewalks at night" despite being a relatively big and somewhat powerful little centre.
Anyway, without further adieu...
Welcome to London!
London is home to the tallest office building in Ontario outside of Greater Toronto -- One London Place.
The 1992-completed building is 24 storeys and is considered class-A office space.
Close to One London Place is the fantastic Dominion Public Building which was built as a depression-era make-work project in 1936.
The building went under extensive renovations about 20 years back and still looks pristine today.
London is known as an insurance, banking, medical research, auto parts and university-supported town. Here's an example of London's long-standing tradition as one of the insurance capitals of the country -- The London Life Headquarters.
The older part of the London Life H.Q. (as viewed from City Hall.)
The horrible City Centre Towers which until recently housed Canada Trust's headquarters (before being taken over by TD).
London has plenty of downtown surface parking.
London doesn't have too much at this scale (or in this good of condition) so I figured it was picture-worthy.
Not sure what's in here now, but always great to see new uses for old buildings.
The former Hudson's Bay store in London's downtown mistake -- The Galleria Mall -- is now the central branch of the London Library System. Unlike the original Galleria Mall, the Library does address the street. For more info on the Galleria Mall's slide from grace, click here.
HMV left for the suburbs when the Galleria went south, but Sunrise stayed around town...although never bothered to update their signage.
The bland, but functional John Labatt Centre.
What is that you say? Well it's something called faux facadism (kind of like T.O.'s Jazz project). That's right, it's actually a replica of the Talbot Inn which was razed for the JLC project. Not one original brick was savaged, despite a heritage designation. This was done even though there's an abundance of surface parking lots all over downtown London. Shame!
The equally bland Covent Garden Market (and the equally annoying real-London copycat names that this town shoves down your throat at every chance).
One of the only things open on a Sunday afternoon (which is more than I can say for St. Lawrence Market).
Just a cool sign...
What was probably a bank is now a bar (and a nice looking one at that). Although, closed on a Sunday afternoon.
An alley behind the market.
The Royal Bank Building.
Brutalism left no London unchanged.
A new downtown conversion project. The old Park Lane Hotel is being turned into a trendy condo. It's called Time Condos and check out those starting prices!!! I'm not sure I believe enough in the rejuvination of downtown London, but if I did, it would be a tempting investment.
A side view. Something about this picture makes me think of Baghdad.
Another view.
A small, but active queer community can be found in London's downtown. As far as we could tell, there's only two bars that cater to the scene (both under the same ownership).
The best laugh we had all day...
Is that a giant new Taco Bell attached to an old modernist building? Actually, no, it's downtown London's new and hideous VIA Rail Station.
A freight train passes through.
And then another.
An interesting block across the street from the Via Station.
Despite the sign, Bud Gowan is still in business!
Sort of the Lee's Palace of London -- Call The Office. I saw Swervedriver here once upon a time.
While most parking downtown is surface, there are also a few street-killing multi-storeys as well.
The backside of the horrible London Convention Centre.
If I don't get too bored looking at these pictures and writing about London, you'll get part II tomorrow!
