O-Pee-Chee factory now an apartment building

This apartment building in East London was built almost a century ago in 1928 to house the O-Pee-Chee factory. O-Pee-Chee was a candy maker famous for its bubble gum packaged with sports trading cards. Those cards, traded by children right across Canada, made O-Pee-Chee one of the most successful confectioners in the country.

The plant was in use until 1989. At that time it was closed and the new owner of the company, Nestle, moved the operation to a new plant deeper in East London.

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.

Popular comic book storeb in East London

 

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.

Street art lends life to boarded up windows

 

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.

476 Richmond is a heritage building

 

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.

Street sweeper leaves dust cloud in wake

 

"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.

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.