East London is in a word—sad. Yet, as an architect recently remarked on viewing the once vibrant core street, some of the buildings clearly have good bones. With work, and a bit of money, these buildings could be revived. These could be handsome structures once again.
The structure was considered well designed with hints of Art Deco, rare to find in London. It was ideal for conversion into apartments which, depending upon the size, rent for approximately $1250 a month.
There are a lot of things one cannot find in old East London but old comic books are not among them. If you are looking for a vintage Superman comic, East London is your destination.
So many storefronts feature boarded up windows and doors in East London that if it were not for the street art the street would be very dull.
Immediately across from the Grand Theatre there is a wonderful, heritage building. Like many of the structures in downtown London, both new and old, it is owned by Farhi Holdings Corporation. The last report I read, said that Farhi Holdings at that time owned hundreds and hundreds of buildings throughout Ontario extending from Windsor on the west to almost the Quebec border on the east.
"We should have left on our masks," said the fellow walking beside me. We had both just left the Grand Theatre where wearing masks was demanded. Now, outside, maskless, we found ourselves choking from the dust stirred up by a nearby sidewalk sweeper. As it passed by, everyone in the area was left coughing and wiping eyes gritty with nasty sidewalk dust.
