The second battle of Reservoir Hill

 

The construction of the apartment building dominating this image was accomplished over strong opposition mounted by many concerned Londoners. The rise of land, known as Reservoir Hill, was the site of a skirmish during the War of 1812 which marked the deepest penetration by American raiders into the British controlled territory to be known as Canada.

200 years later a second battle of Reservoir Hill was fought but this time between Londoners and a well known developer. Building a high density apartment building on a historic hill overlooking Springbank Park struck many as simply wrong. They also had some solid engineering worries.

For one thing, it was argued that land was not suitable for such a development. Supporting the weight of a massive apartment building could cause a catastrophe if the right measures were not taken to ensure safety. The protests failed and the building went up and the right measures to make all work were put into place; the hill, the historic rise of land, came down where the apartment went up.

The apartment was constructed on solid land on a site carved out of the hill. What remains of the high hill is held in place by an erosion-controlling wall. Concerns about the site safely holding a building of the proposed size, concerns about grading and for the potential of serious erosion were all rendered non applicable by removing the land -- all except the erosion concerns. Erosion-control walls have a checkered rate of success. That said, the wall is holding up very well.

Blog posts were written, petitions circulated and protests staged at city hall and all to no avail. For more info, read Reservoir Hill: an uphill battle.