Hosed Again! (Placeunmaking: Part Two)

Today's building has been Vandalized in the truest sense of the word. Think of Rome and its fall at the hands of the barbarians. The Vandals didn't just destroy the architecture that was Rome; they usurped it. They took over the buildings, putting them to new uses in keeping with Vandal culture. Over time many of the magnificent Roman structures were scavenged, picked bone-clean as the glory of Rome was dispersed in little bits, pieces and chunks of architectural stone around the boot of Italy.

I am sure that the man who bought the former Kayser-Roth plant thought he was an imaginative entrepreneur; he certainly would never think of himself as a barbarian, a Vandal. From the tone of The London Free Press article I found featuring the building and the present owner, he would never agree that plastering large, crudely painted City Centre Storage signs across the top of the former Kayer-Roth building, sealing the gorgeous doors, stripping the exterior of its heritage lighting and covering the windows with ugly metal sheets was a poor idea. Allow me to disagree. I think it is now a sad, forlorn building.

According to the blog Urbex Barrie: Copysix: In 1919, American industrialist Carl Freschl constructed this four-storey, 9000-square-metre structure on the corner of Bathurst and Clarence to house his hosiery business, Holeproof Hosiery Co. The company's flagship factory was in Milwaukee but was expanding by leaps and bounds. Holeproof already had a smaller operation in London, opened in 1911, but it needed to expand its production capabilities. As Freschl both received his raw materials, and shipped his finished goods, by rail, the new factory was built close to the rail yard.

This was a great location until the City of London closed the railroad grade crossing at Clarence Street in 1933. Holeproof sued for $50,000, which was no small amount of money during depression years. The case eventually worked its way to the Supreme Court of Canada. The blog Urbex Barrie: Copysix does not tell us how the case was resolved.

In the years to come, textile giant Kayser-Roth would buy the company and run the factory until 1989, at which time they closed the Bathurst Street plant. At its peak the big red brick factory had been a busy place employing 500 Londoners in the knitting, ribbing, dying, finishing, shipping and receiving areas.

The 110 metre corner tower once held the tanks of water needed to dye yarn. Today it holds fading memories.

Glass-wall-buildings at Sunset

Last night, I attended the Downtown Master Plan and Public Information and Visioning Session at Museum London. I couldn't stay to the end but the view of downtown London that greeted me as a I departed put the entire evening into proper perspective.

Glass-wall-buildings at sunset can be quite impressive, yes?

Cheers,
Rockinon

Placeunmaking

A buzzword making the rounds today among those focused on saving our cities is placemaking. I would like to propose another word: placeunmaking. We see it all around us. In fact, the reason many downtowns require a placemaking make-over is because they suffered placeunmaking first.

The four pictures today are from an area just a short distance south of the London downtown core. The top photo and the one on the right show a once fine home, note the elegant entrance with the large porch and Greek columns. The warm yellow brick was once common in the London area, I understand Fred Kingsmill has called it London brick, is now quite hard to find. This was the fine home of a well off individual. Obviously, this was once a fine neighbourhood. No more.

The home always had the Labatt brewery as a neighbour, possibly there is connection between the brewery and both buildings featured today. But the brewery was but a few small structures when our yellow brick home was built.

On the left and below we see another scene from around the same area, just one block east and kitty-corner to the Labatt brewery. This apartment building was once one of the prettiest buildings of its type that I had ever seen. It was red, clay brick with matching red tile roofing treatment at the front. The second and third floor front apartments all had elegant twin doors leading to small balconies with attractive black, iron railings. A few years back the brick was hidden behind some stucco-like material and then that was covered with white and yellow paint. It is just so sad.

They just keep blooming. Yes!

The first time I went to Horner Lilies, I went a little crazy. I know you will find this hard to believe, but I went a little overboard. I bought lots, as you now know if you've been following this blog. My wife wasn't so keen. Lilies, she said the name with a certain air of contempt. They're the orange flowers that grow like weeds everywhere, she said.

Well, someday I will defend those lovely orange flowers but today there is no need to launch a defence. My wife is in love, yes with me (blush), but also with my lilies. I think you can see why. If you live in the London area, visit Horner Lilies on-line, or even better go and see their lilies in person. And remember the lily beds are only open for viewing until the end of July, I believe. Horner Lilies is located near Thamesford northeast of London. (This is not an ad. I get nothing for plugging these folk other than the pleasure of getting out the word.)

Picture taking is looking up.

Since retiring, I've developed a rich love for London and southwestern Ontario. Appreciating your surroundings is cheap. Retired, I need cheap. If it's expensive, it may be out of my financial reach. It's lucky that I live where I do. It is one of the best places in the world. We would be wise to take better care of our little piece of Spaceship Earth.

Today the sky over London looked bright, rain-washed clear blue. There was not a hint of the all too common haze of air pollution. Today the sky had the dramatic look of clashing weather systems preparing for battle above the city.

I loved it. It was worth running here and there, finding different angles to best record the unfolding moment. Tip: always carry a small camera. You can't take pictures without a camera.

The U.S. had a neat series of stamps featuring different cloud formations. Check them out.

Cheers,
Rockinon

Home concerts, better than playin' bars!

I apologize about the quality of this photo. I wanted to capture some of the excitement of The Laws home concert and I find little, on-camera flashes kill the moment. Of course straight on strobe only kills the moment temporarily — for a thousandth of a second — just long enough to kill the photo. The room was quite dark, lit only by a warm, ceiling light off to the side. I apologize. (Oh, one other thing, the room was so small that I had to put two pictures together — one taken immediately after the other — to get this image. There, confessions complete.)
The Laws are a husband-and-wife singer/songwriter team from Wheatley, Ontario. Friday night they, along with Nashville guitarist Brent Moyer, played a home concert in London, Ontario. Hot damn! They were good! I'm going to blog about home concerts — a really cool venue for a concert. Check out Rockinon: the Blog for more about home concerts and The Laws.

Ghosts Come to Life

As you may have gathered, I love old cars. Many are aging works of art and are looking better in their 50s than they looked in the '50s. This DeSoto Firedome, I believe it may be a '57, proudly bears the fins that are today emblematic of a long-gone era in car history.

Car enthusiasts are amazing. They often take a rusting hunk of forgotten metal, a mere memory of a car, and with great skill and incredible ingenuity breathe life into the ghost of an automobile. Go to a cruise night near you and ask to see a car's restoration journal documenting in pictures its journey back from the grave. Many of those into car restoration have such a journal. You will be amazed. You will look at restored cars, and their owners, in a whole new light.
To see and learn more, visit Fins and Chrome. To find cruise nights in your area go to Google and search "cruise nights (your city)." It's that easy. Now, grab your camera and play.

Cheers,
Rockinon