A bogus facade is hardly heritage

When I moved to London back in the mid '70s, the Talbot Block was a wonderfully intact row of historic buildings. It was possibly the most historically important block in the city. At one point, more than a thousand Londoners held hands to circle the block and loudly protest its proposed destruction. It was to no avail. Essentially, everything was taken down. 

Only a poor imitation of the old hotel's facade remains as the exterior wall of the north-east corner of Budweiser Gardens, a sports and entertainment centre.

The City Hotel goes back to 1865. In 1886 it was extensively remodeled and enlarged. Later the name was changed to the Talbot Inn. 

At one point, one could get a good Mexican dinner there along with a cold draft. At night one could catch some of the best blues musicians on the bar circuit playing next door to the old hotel. 

The facade of the inn barely escaped demolition when the other buildings making up the Talbot Block fell.

Why did the historic streetscape disappear? Why, to make way for a new downtown mall and hotel complex which in the end failed to materialize despite the hasty demolition.

I always thought that more of the old hotel should have been saved and incorporated into the present sports complex. Possibly some rooms could have been retained for out-of-town visitors in London for a London Knights game. 

Retaining but a poor memory of the true facade, blue painted glass in the street-facing windows destroying even the slightest hint of heritage, what remains adds little to the character of downtown.