Grand Theatre

According to the published history, The Grand Theatre opened in 1901 as the Grand Opera House. The original owner and manager was theatre impresario Ambrose J. Small, who ran the theatre as a touring house for everything from road shows to vaudeville.

Ambrose Small disappeared on December 2, 1919 - never to be seen again. After his disappearance, Small's holdings, including the Grand, were bought by Trans-Canada Theatre Ltd which went bankrupt in 1924. The Grand Theatre was then purchased by Famous Players, the movie house company.

Today, it's days as a movie house are well past.

London Clay Art Centre

Much of the original streetscape in East London is gone but an architect told me that some of the remaining buildings have "good bones." The London Clay Art Centre is an example of the restoration possible with imagination and lots of craftsmanship. (Sorry about the use of a non-gender neutral word but what is the correct replacement. It has me stumped.)

My nephew and I read about the centre on the Web but we failed to notice that it is open only Wed. to Sat. from 11am to 3pm. We tried to visit on a Tuesday and found it closed. We discovered that many places associated with the arts have similar hours. Museum London and Eldon House historic home and museum are two others.

The place looked so interesting that I will definitely be paying it another visit, a midweek visit.

Once thriving businesses closed

Once East London was a thriving business district. When it started to die, the stores worked together to make the area more attractive. The main street running through the area was ripped up and replaced with a curved road. 

Why it was thought that a curved road would attract shoppers is a puzzle. It didn't. The businesses behind the curved road closed and the replacement businesses put part of the blame for the area's problems on the curved road. It was straightened. The area continued its downward spiral and most of the remaining stores closed.

Murals soften boarded-up-building look

 Many of the business which once lined Dundas Street in East London are gone and the former stores are boarded up. Murals soften the boarded-up-building look but the economic damage to the East London community is in no way mitigated. 

East London, once a rival to the downtown commercial core of London, is today an example of an urban renewal disaster. After a million plus dollars were expended by the city on the area, it is no closer to being a thriving  commercial area than it was some decades ago. In fact, it could be argued that the area is testing new lows as it continues its downward spiral. Very sad.

A bike bars window

 

A single bar obstructed the lowest windows of this apartment building in East London. Interestingly, a scrapped bike minus its wheels also blocked the windows. If the bike frames have been attached to the windows in place of proper bars, one has to wonder if this is really better or is it just messy. Maybe the building owner should have stuck with simple, traditional bars.

Original City of Toronto coat of arms in London

My nephew from the States is visiting, finally. After two years of restrictive COVID-19 border rules, the rules have relaxed. To celebrate his visit, we went prowling about East London.

A clock above the entrance of  a boarded up building aroused our curiosity. Actually, it was the coat of arms surrounding the clock that caught our attention. We took a picture. On getting home we discovered the elegant building was originally a branch of the Bank of Toronto. Hence, the City of Toronto coat of arms above the entrance. 

 

The London building is not alone in sporting this adornment. Another former Bank of Toronto branch, this one in downtown Brockville, also has a similar decoration.

Over the years the City of Toronto coat of arms had gone through a number of changes. These last remaining bank versions predate most of the changes and for that reason are reportedly very close to the original vision for the coat of arms.

It's odd to think that the best examples of the original City of Toronto coat of arms are found on former bank buildings scattered about the province. And now, unappreciated, they are in danger of being lost.

iPhone bests point and shoot camera

 

While taking a sunset evening stroll with a friend, we noticed a branch with buds about to open. A couple of raindrops added to the image, as did the warm light from the setting sun. My Canon point and shoot failed to take a good quality picture. It was too contrasty.

Then I tried my Fuji Superzoom, a glorified point and shoot. The image was soft. It was certainly not a super picture by an means.

My friend held up his iPhone. Click! He then emailed me the images as attachments. Done.