Blackfriars Bridge: Hasn't it earned its retirement?

Pedestrian walkway is original, the second railing is a modification.

It's time to put the Blackfriars Bridge out of its misery — and make no mistake about it, the beautiful, heritage structure is suffering. The passing years, 137 to be exact, have taken their toll.

Decorative caps are missing from fasteners on the walkway barrier, original iron bracing is bent and distorted, the structure has been modified for pedestrian safety and overall bridge integrity.

Some decorative caps covering fasteners are missing.

London's Blackfriars Bridge is a bowstring through-truss bridge built in 1875 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company (WIBC) of Canton, Ohio. With a main span of 225 feet, the bridge in London can brag it sports the longest span of any remaining bowstring truss bridge in North America.

Bowstrings are among the rarest types of truss bridges today but they enjoyed a brief period of popularity from about 1855 into the 1880s.

During that period, thousands of wrought iron bowstring truss bridges were produced by numerous American bridge builders but two Ohio-based manufacturers stand out: WIBC of Canton and King Iron Bridge, King Manufacturing Company, Cleveland. The bowstring was the most commonly erected all-metal bridge of the 1870s and both Ohio companies sold their own patented bowstring designs.

In 1875 not one but two WIBC designed and fabricated bridges were erected over the Thames River in London, Ontario: The Blackfriars Bridge and a sister bridge, the Victoria, at the southern end of Ridout Street. The Victoria was replaced in 1926.

Replacement support for upper handrail is a serious mismatch.

Both bridges were manufactured in Ohio and transported by rail to London. These were the first metal bridges to be erected in London.

Using some 9000 lbs. of wrought iron and cast iron, a bridge like the Blackfriars gives a whole new meaning to the warning "some assembly required." Often the factory sent along an engineer to assist with construction.

Contrary to local folklore, the London bridge is not the only wrought iron bowstring truss bridge still carrying vehicular traffic in North America. There are at least six others but not one carries the amount of daily traffic endured by the hard-working London span.

I believe asking a century old, and then some, bridge to carry 4000 vehicles a day 365 days a year is foolish. Think of the damage that winter road-salt alone inflicts on this treasure. And make no mistake, the London bridge is a treasure. The Boner Road Bridge in Indiana, built in 1869, has been completely restored. Yet, it is only asked to carry limited traffic.

Boner Bridge, a three span bowstring truss, has been completely restored.

And the Boner Bridge is not the only bowstring that has been lovingly restored. There are others but with one big difference: Most were restored and then retired to a future of pedestrian traffic only. I know of 20 bowstring truss bridges that have been re-purposed for pedestrian/cyclist use only.

Restored Rodrick Bridger relocated to university campus.

The Rodrick Bridge, built in 1872, was removed from its original location over Wills Creek, Coshocton County, to be restored and relocated in 1998 to Ohio State University-Newark Campus where it has been re-purposed for pedestrians and cyclists.

One of my favourite stories is the one surrounding the Old Richardsville Road Bridge in Kentucky. The old road, and thus the bridge, receives only limited use. Why: There is a new Richardsville Road.

Old Richardsville Rd. Bridge still carries vehicular traffic.

A gentleman living on the old road, David Gavin, assumed the upkeep of the beautiful, neighbourhood bridge. He has spent $175,000 of his own money replacing the deck with treated pine and replacing deteriorating iron rivets. A three span bridge made in 1889 by the King company, it's a beauty. David Gavin can take a well-earned bow.

The Blackfriars Bridge, with its 225-foot clear span, eliminated the intermediate supports required by the previous wooden bridges. In theory, the river-spanning length minimized the risk of a wash out caused by spring floods. It was a good theory; The Blackfriars Bridge is entering its 139th year of service.

It's time to find our beautiful, heritage bridge a new home. At the very least, let's move it a few feet up or down river — which ever makes the most sense. Let's restore our wrought iron work of art and craft. Let's give our now-rare-beauty another century or more of life.

Remember the five Rs:

1. Remove it
2. Restore it
3. Relocate it
4. Re-purpose it
5. Reuse it

Remove it, restore it and reserve it for walkers and cyclists only.

Below

The first three pictures (below) show the wooden bridges that once served the area. Note the mid river supports required by all the wooden structures.The last picture is an early image of the Blackfriars Bridge still in use today.

Note the in-river supports required by the wooden bridges at this location.

Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library, London, Ontario, Canada

Another photo from The Tree of Light

Here is another shot from The Tree of Light show. I wonder if the city could put the show on again in the summer when the warmer weather would encourage more folk to come downtown for the viewing.

Of course, the figure skating theme might be one strike against a summer showing.   :-(

They call it 3D projection mapping; I call it cool.

The show was called The Tree of Light and it was part of the City of London's celebration of the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships. The skating competition was held inside the city's Budweiser Gardens arena and the high-tech light show was held on the outside of the arena. Both were steeped in the wow-factor.

The neatest illusion of the light show was the "unwrapping of the arena." That was just so cool. But there were lots of other bits of absolutely gorgeous eye-candy. No surprise here as the show was done by the well-known Canadian company specializing in these shows called the Moment Factory out of Montreal, Quebec.

There has been a lot of controversy about the championships and whether or not hosting them was worth it. But, the argument is based on a false dichotomy. Hosting these events is not question of profit vs. loss.

These events rarely return big bucks to the host communities. What they do do is put a town under a stress test. Can the community be trusted to host a big, complicated event and pull it off smoothly, professionally, without a hitch? This is the feather-in-the-cap award and London walked away a winner.

The Budweiser Gardens arena is a fine arena. And it is run very professionally. It has been said to be among the top fifty entertainment complexes of its type in the world. The smooth delivery of support for the figure skating event certainly lends credence to that reputation.

Some days I am proud to say I'm from London.

London's jet d'eau in winter

The Walter J. Blackburn Memorial Fountain at the forks of the Thames shoots recycled river water from seven stainless steel jets daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. winter and summer. Financed by a $450,000 donation from the Blackburn estate, the fountain was the realization of a decades-old dream of the late Walter and Marjorie Blackburn. It may be inspired by the 'jet d'eau' in Geneva, Switzerland, but the London fountain is not a copy of the Swiss one. Google the Geneva jet d'eau and you will appreciate the fine design of the London installation.

Spring is in the air

The temperature hit 14-degrees Centigrade today in London, Ontario. Nice. The snow is melting, the roads are bare and folk can be seen walking everywhere throughout my neighbourhood.

You might notice in the above picture that people walk both on the sidewalk and on the street. A modern suburb, the streets are laid out in crescents and courts, with a few long, meandering roads servicing all. The heavy traffic is on the long, meandering roads. The remainder, the feeder streets are relatively quiet. For that reason, people often ignore the sidewalks.

I have touched on this in the past, but I'm going to flog this one more time. Suburban neighbourhoods like mine are walkable places. It is often a myth that downtown cores are more walkable places to live than the suburbs.

In fact, if you think about it, many downtown cores are horrible places to walk. Few stores to walk to but a gauntlet of street beggers that must be run.

Costco moves massive amounts of product

I hated Costco. I could not understand why thousands of Londoners (London, ON) packed the large warehouse-like store every weekend. Then my wife went there with a friend with a membership. My wife saw the prices and I saw the quality of the stuff she brought home. I understood.

Still, I resisted going to Costco. I wouldn't even go with her friend. And then I came across an article in The New York Times: How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart. I try to never buy anything at Wal-Mart.

Google Costco yourself. What you find may surprise you. It surprised me.

I've now been to the giant, warehouse store. I bought pickles. Montreal made pickles. Canadian made pickles. Costco didn't seem to carry those awful made-in-India pickles. The Montreal pickles are  wonderful except for one drawback. The jar is warehouse sized. The big question is "Can I eat all these pickles before they go soft?" If you have to toss 'em, they aren't a bargain.

So, I also picked up some Montreal smoked meat. It too was very good and there was enough to make lots of Reubens.

I went to the locally owned Angelo's and got some proper freshly baked bread, some deli mustard, some good sauerkraut and some real Swiss cheese. I returned home to make Reubens.

Interesting, I thought. Thanks to my Costco purchases I spent a small bundle at Angelo's.

Apartment building taking shape

I don't understand city planning. This apartment building is going up right next to a plaza with two banks, one credit union, a drugstore, a couple of restaurants, a fitness centre and a number of other commercial businesses. Why not put some of that commercial on the first floor of this large building, place some offices possibly on the second floor and then stack apartments on top?

As it is, this apartment is situated outside of the residential area and next to the commercial. It sits immediately beside a major east/west traffic artery. When I was a boy apartment buildings were nestled tightly into residential neighbourhoods. The apartments blocks were not quite so tall but they were still big compared to the nearby housing.

I like the idea of apartment living but I rarely like the way it is delivered. There are reasons many of us opt for a single family dwelling.

From the back new houses can look identical

Keeping construction costs down is important. Drive along a new suburban street and the homes often look similar in size but they seem to differ in design, but looks can be deceiving. Get a view of the back and sometimes the similarities are striking. In some cases, it appears one design has been repeated again and again with only the front facade changing from home to home.

Is this bad? Actually, no. Building a row of similar homes in the past was not uncommon. It kept construction costs in check back then and it keeps them in check today. My guess is that this approach to controlling costs results in fine quality homes at a competitive price.

On walking to the restaurant or bank or drug store

I believe the new Dolcetto is a locally owned business. The Italian diner is very handy to my suburban home. As can be seen from this picture, beside the Docetto there is a TD Canada Trust branch and next to that there is a Shoppers Drug Mart.

The common criticism of suburbia is that there are no businesses one can walk to. But there often are, as you can see from my pictures. But, do many folk walk to this shopping center. I'd bet the answer is no. Whether the folk live right across the street or some blocks away, I'd bet most residents of the neighbourhood take a car to the little, outdoor mall.

Is this all that much different from downtown? I doubt it. When I took my wife out for dinner recently, we went to one of our favourite downtown places. Of course, we drove, and I'll bet everyone in the diner that night drove.

When I was a kid we walked. I walked, my mother walked, the neighbours walked. Was this because the stores were even closer to our older, traditional neighbourhood? No. It was because back then lots of folk didn't have a car readily available for a quick, short trip to the store. Walking wasn't done by choice, life demanded one walk and walk and walk some more.

Sort of a snowman

Making a snowman is a winter must if you're a kid in London, Ontario. This winter has not been great for rolling the giant balls of snow suitable for making a large snowman. There have not been a lot of days offering good packing snow.

Today we could get the snow to stick and pack but it wouldn't roll along picking up layers of snow. The snowman had to been build one mitten of snow at a time. A carrot for the nose, some olives for the eyes  and some olives and bird seed for the mouth and we were almost done. A couple of windshield ice scrapers for arms and Pinky Pie was done.

I didn't name her. And yes, our snowman is a girl according to Fiona.

Downtown almost dead; Suburbia dull

At first I wanted to title this post "Downtown dead; Suburbia deadly dull." It had a good sound but it wouldn't have been true.

The downtown in London, Ontario, is sad but there are glimmers are good stuff to be found in the aging core: some fine restaurants, the central library design is brilliant and the arena/entertainment centre is one of the best in North America in a city the size of London.

And suburbia is often neat, clean, safe and handy. Saying suburbia is dull parrots an all-too-common description but it isn't really true. This little commercial strip sits beside my bank. I can get a ring re-sized, have my eyes checked, go for physio treatments, attend a Weight Watchers meeting or do a lot of other important stuff all in this one little shopping centre. To call this little commercial centre dull is somewhat true but it is hardly a full and accurate description.

As I have said before, what puzzles me is that we build stores without using the space above. We sprawl out and fail to expand up. A hundred years ago, stores like these would have had apartments above them. When I was a boy I worked at the neighbourhood drugstore and the one counter lady lived in an apartment above some stores. It was a nice little place full of lovely wood trim and real wood doors. It was small but it had style and class and it was affordable.

That lady took the bus to and from work. Her apartment, located on a main commercial street, encouraged taking the bus or even just walking.

Despite 17 below temp, I walked to bank

London's growing. When I moved to London, Ontario, I lived near the city core at the forks of the Thames River. There were lots of bank branches within walking distance of my home at that time -- back in the mid '70s. Today most of those banks are closed but I can still walk to a bank. I've moved to the suburbs and that is where the banks are all opening new branches. The building under construction in the background on the right will be the third financial branch to be built at the corner of Col. Talbot and Southdale Road W.

Saying London is growing is true but sad. The city is sprawling out, pavement poisoning farmland. Why can't North American cities encourage stores at street level, locate offices directly above the stores and then put apartments on the top levels? Some folks could actually ride an elevator to work rather than driving or taking the bus. Everyone could ride the elevator to shop. Putting the apartments on top gives all a better view, certainly better than looking straight out at a major roadway, and gets everyone somewhat above the road noise.

I look at the sprawl, shake my head, and walk home.

A winter storm rolls into Southwestern Ontario

A passenger gets a shot of winter driving conditions through a wet windshield.

Traffic moves slowly as vehicles navigate the snowy roads in London, Ontario. Canada may be famous for snow and winter but often Canadians living in the Southwest Region of Ontario are not well prepared for winter snow storms. Many drivers save money by not equipping their vehicles with winter tires. It's foolish but not uncommon.

Former country roads often missing sidewalks

Walking to the bank, the grocery store, the drugstore and other assorted places is not a long walk from my suburban home. The above photo was taken with a 28mm wide angle lens. The red light in the distance is clearly not all that far away. The stores are at that corner.

Yet, a lot of folk won't make the walk from my neighbourhood to the new stores that recently opened nearby. Why? Because of the lack of a sidewalk beside the major road which is the only reasonable route by foot to the new stores.

Luckily, there is an option. There is an older shopping area just a little farther away. There are sidewalks all the way to the older shopping disrict.

Not a lot of snow but certainly cold enough

I decided to walk to the bank this afternoon. Luckily I brought along a balaclava. It was -17 degrees Centigrade with the wind chill factored into the equation here in London, Ontario. I met no one else walking anywhere. The bank is rather nearby but it was still take-the-car weather.

Walking on water

One of the lights that guide vessels into the harbour can be seen in the distance.

Lake Erie is frozen. The lake is not frozen all the way accross, although this has happened when the winter is much, much colder than this year. On my visit to Port Stanley, forty-five minutes south of London, I found the ice simply hugging the shoreline.

Some years the ice creates massive, sculptural shapes thanks to the wind and the cold, but so far the results this winter are dull. Maybe the spring thaw will break the ice into large blocks to be blown into tall, jagged piles.

Living in the city

Suburban families enjoy the neighbourhood toboggan hill.

I've kept my granddaughter away from 'the hill.' It doesn't frighten her; It attracts her. I see the threat of injury; She sees the promise of fun — excitement. I'm a senior; She's a kid — a three-year-old kid.

'The hill' is a slope behind the houses immediately across from my suburban home. My granddaughter sometimes sees families leaving 'the hill' after an afternoon of sledding. She knows other kids use the long slope and doesn't understand why I won't take her there.

It frightens me. And after chatting with some of the parents, I've learned it frightens some of them, too. One common solution is to take the kids to the half-way point, or maybe a little further down, and let them slide down from there.

Most kids don't argue and I think some are quietly happy not to have to muster up the courage to slide down 'the hill' from the very top. It can be a heck of a ride.

Cold and snowy but spring is in the air

It is still quite cold in London, Ontario. The ground is still hidden under a blanket of snow. Yet, to someone who has lived his entire life in Southwestern Ontario, spring is in the air. The sun is strong and warm, it is no longer dark at six in the evening and warm days don't seem like a lucky breaks from winter cold but a sample of the warm spring days to come.

In less than a month Londoners will begin removing their snow tires and the first robins will be bathing in the bird bath which is now quite frozen.

Modern apartment tower cluster in London

After developments like the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis failed in such a spectacular fashion, a myth grew up around vertical neighbourhoods. In the States the failed clusters became known as the projects and the most infamous have now either been demolished or soon will be: Pruitt-Igoe is demolished; Cabrini-Green in Chicago is gone; Brewster-Douglass in Detroit is slated for removal this year.

There are those who believe the death of the American projects sounded the death knell for modern architecture as it applied to housing. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, despite the myth, all three of the developments mentioned were good places to live in the early years.

The developments in London are not unique. All over the world highrise neighbourhoods have succeeded. Still, I look at these buildings, so alike, huddled so tightly together, and I cannot help but think -- surely this could have been done so much better.

Mid-winter snow storm moves through London

A walk about my London neighbourhood did not find one car stuck in the snow.

It was billed as a big, mid-snow storm storm. So far it has not lived up to its advance billing.

It will be interesting to see how the media reports the storm. For instance, the OPP are reporting a lot of accidents, about 150, but they also add that there was no reason for such a high number. This may be Canada, famous for snow, but lots of Canadians haven't a clue how to drive in the stuff.

It is amazing how many Canadians don't bother with snow tires.

Snow hardly reaches the kid's knees.

No sled? There are still ways to get in a good slide.

Swings and slides are found in numerous neighbourhood parks dotting London, Ontario. One would think that winter would be down-time for the little parkettes. Nope.

While Fiona cleaned the slide with her snow suit, another child, sitting in a sled, was being pulled about the park by her mother and grandmother. It's funny but urban planners never make a big deal of these busy little spots. Places where children meet children and adults meet adults. Neighbourhood friendships are born and nurtured in these little parks.

Braywick Bistro in the urban core

The Braywick Bistro is a pleasant little restaurant on London's main street right in the heart of the downtown core. Taking pictures inside the restaurant at night, unless one uses a flash, is impossible. This is too bad as I would have loved to post pictures of our dinner.

We started by sharing an appetizer of mussels in a saffron sauce with a side order of hot, crispy, fried-to-perfection french fries. It brought back memories of Paris, France, where there is a chain of mussel-serving restaurants called Chez Léon. Other dishes are served but mussels with fries are the big draw. The serving size in Paris is far larger than anyone should ever be given. I found the only way to finish one's dinner in Paris was by washing all down with pints of Belgium beer.

My wife followed the appetizer with duck served with fingerling potatoes and fresh green beans. I had pan fried trout served on a bed of couscous and arugula. My wife had dessert and I finished with a coffee.

We live in the suburbs and like to dine at restaurants in the area where we live. I found it interesting that all the restaurants we frequent in Byron were full, unable to handle even one more reservation.

It takes less than fifteen minutes to drive from my far, southwest suburb into the city core. With a diesel powered Jetta it costs about a buck an half to make the trip. Why folk are always pitting the London suburbs against the old downtown core is a puzzle to me. It really should not be an either or situation.

Cities, at least small cities like London, should be working to stay small, to stop the sprawl and to improve transit. A hundred years ago, I believe, one could have taken a streetcar from my suburb to the downtown. Today, this is impossible; The streetcar service is long gone.

Another approach to dense housing

Clusters of low-rise apartment building in the above style are found in a number of locations in London, Ontario.

I watched some of these going up in North London. I was surprised to see what appeared to be a form of platform construction being used. Platform construction uses 2x4s. It is lumber and not steel that supports these buildings.

I worked at the local newspaper back then and I had a chance to chat with a fireman about the buildings in North London. He expressed misgivings about such large structures, housing so many people, boasting wood framed walls.

The science of building materials is often at odds with our gut feelings. I would not be surprised to learn that these buildings, despite the wood used in the construction, are as safe in a fire as other low-rise apartment buildings.

Dense residentail housing

Density is the word of the day when it comes to residential housing in London, Ontario. "More residents per square kilometre" is the mantra chanted by city planners. Today's picture shows one response to that oft repeated goal of high density neighbourhoods.

Personally, I prefer a highrise to a townhouse. I wonder how others feel.

Record high enjoyed by London, Ontario

Heavy fog Tuesday made driving to the grocery store in London a daunting task.

Monday it was heavy, wet snow. Today it is fog accompanied at times by pounding rain with thunder and lightening. The cause of this out-of-the-ordinary weather is the out-of-the-ordinary high January temperature for Southern Ontario: Environment Canada pegs the current temperature at 10.5°C. The previous record was 8.9°C set in 1975 and matched in 2006.

Tomorrow should start warm with the temperature surpassing today's high. By late evening sub-zero weather should return along with blowing snow.

[The store pictured is a Loblaw grocery store. The Loblaw chain is owned by George Weston Limited. Along with the Loblaw stores, the Weston folk also own No Frills, Fortinos, Zehrs, Provigo, Maxi, Real Canadian Superstore, Your Independent Grocer, and Extra Foods. And there may be more that I don't know about.]

A good snowfall brings out good neigbours

A snow scoop in young hands quickly clears a snowy drive.

I have a heart condition and all my neighbours know it. Last night a heavy, wet snowfall blanketed London, Ontario. I was not looking forward to starting up the snow blower.

At 8:30 a.m. the front doorbell rang. It was a lad from across the court. "Would you like your walk and driveway cleared?" I answered, "Yes."

I have always found that good snowfalls bring out good neighbours.

Zellers: A bit of Canadian history fades from London

This is the new, soon to open, Target store in Westmount Mall in London, Ontario. Just a short time ago this store was a Zellers outlet. The Zellers chain had a long, rich history in London.

In 1928 Walter Zeller, from the Kitchener-Waterloo area, opened four stores in Ontario, and one of his original stores was in London. His stores were such an immediate success that they attracted the attention of an American firm Schulte-United Ltd. The Yanks bought Zeller out and then the depression hit. The Yanks went bankrupt. Zeller bought back his chain in 1932 and he was on roll that would last decades.

Walter Zeller retired in 1955 at 65. He died just two years later. He was buried in Montreal where he had lived for some time. This is why the Zellers head office was located in Montreal. The years after the death of Walter Zeller were tumultuous ones with control of the chain almost falling into the hands of the American Fields Stores. In the end, Zellers made Fields into its own subsidiary. Then in 1978 Hudson's Bay Company became the sole owner of Zellers.

HBC struggled for years under different owners until in 2008 the U.S. based investment firm, NRDC Equity Partners, bought Hudson’s Bay Co. for $1.1 billion. The Yanks peeled Zellers free of HBC, selling the rights to approximately 200 Zellers’ leaseholds for $1.825 billion to the American Target. All but three of the remaining Zellers stores are slated for closure by March 2013.

By late spring, three Zellers stores, one in Toronto, another in Montreal and a last one in Vancouver, will be the only stores remaining open from the once oh-so-successful Canadian chain.

London: view from city hall

Two new apartment towers, one still under construction, grace the city's downtown.

Saturday, the City of London held the Build a Budget Workshop. The event presented Londoners with a window into the complex world of city budget development. With many on city council striving to maintain a zero percent budget increase for a third straight year, the budgeting task in London is becoming more and more difficult. City costs go up over time, that's just a fact of life; If a city's income doesn't go up too, cuts or increased borrowing will result.

Session looking at draft budget allocation for city services.

Unfortunately, my health was not good Saturday and I had to excuse myself after attending only one session. I believe the event was divided up into four main sessions with numerous other associated activities available.

For instance, there was a speaker's corner, based on the MuchMusic concept. Participants recorded 30 second video clips in which they presented their thoughts on the budget. The mayor and members of council were encouraged to make short video clips as well. All the clips will be edited together and the resulting video posted on YouTube.

The folk at city hall are certainly imaginative and aware of the strengths of social media. Using a free web-based service, tweets with the hashtag #LdnBudget13 were projected for immediate viewing at the event. Plus, all tweets tagged with #LdnBudget13 were collected for later analysis.

Mayor Joe Fontana at event on left.

Even though I could not stay for the entire event, I left feeling concerned that clinging to an arbitrary 0% budget goal may keep my taxes from jumping this year but it is just putting off the inevitable.  I have always believed that the day will come when one must pay the piper, or the snowplow operator, or the fireman, or policeman or the sewer repair crew, or the street repaving team . . .

Today the public discussion seems to be centred around whether of not to cut Sunday library hours at the downtown branch but there is far more involved. Reserve funds have been fair game in the past and the sale of city assets is again being discussed.

Oddly enough, some costs associated with the mayor's office have gone up by tens of thousands of dollars since the pursuit of a zero increase goal began. Maybe if the mayor were to show some leadership in making the tough economic decisions . . .

London, Ontario, igloo

Igloo on front lawn of a home in a London, Ont., suburb.

My granddaughter and I were amazed when a large, white igloo slowly took shape in our neighbourhood. It has now been standing for a number of days. Sadly, it may be in for a hard few days starting tomorrow; Warmer weather is forecast, as well as rain.

I especially like the whale sculpture adorning the entrance.

An urban constant: change

Cities, like everything in life, are not static. How cities, and the buildings within them, change through time has been a topic of interest to many. I gave a book to a friend delving into this very topic. In some cases, it was downright amazing to see a picture of a structure shortly after it was built published beside another picture of the same building a hundred years later. A lot can happen in a hundred years.

London children celebrate the New Year

Fiona, 3, puts on the hat made earlier.

It is not just adults who enjoy celebrating the arrival of the new year. In London, Ontario, there were are number of celebrations are held about the city aimed at satisfying children ready to party.

The Children's Museum in London held a four hour long event with face painting and new year hat making keeping kids busy while waiting for the 12 o'clock countdown, that's 12 noon and not 12 midnight.

At noon balloons dropped and children screamed: "Happy New Year!" The museum is three floors filled with fun stuff and after the balloons dropped, the children dispersed to all corners of the museum the check out the exhibits.

London Community News found Fiona at Victoria Park.

In the evening, there was a celebration held in Victoria Park in the downtown core. Again, children are encouraged to attend but early in the evening. Since not many toddlers are up at midnight, a truncated fireworks display was presented at 9 p.m keeping the young ones happy.

The local paper (The London Free Press) often runs stories referring to the Southwestern city as boring. Today there are hundreds of young people who would find fault with that description.