ACO St. Thomas Elgin Branch

ACO St. Thomas-Elgin members: It’s that time of the year to renew your membership in the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. You can do so by visiting the ACO’s web site https://acontario.ca/ (Provincial office tab) or paying by cheque to: 401 Richmond St W suite 206, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8 ($35 individual, $40 household). The executive of the St. Thomas-Elgin Branch has decided, after 11 years in operation, to close the branch and has recommended such to the provincial board.... The fundamental issue was that membership in the executive was not being rejuvenated. I, for example, have been on the executive since the branch’s founding in 2009. Others are in a similar situation of increasingly fatigued dedication. We feel that we’ve made a mark on heritage preservation in Elgin County and St. Thomas nonetheless. One need only consider various tours and walks - Aylmer, Vienna, Iona, West Elgin, St. Thomas (court house area, taverns and breweries, architecture of John Findlay). We also succeeded in raising awareness of the need to preserve the Michigan Central Bridge, and promoted an awareness of achievements through an annual awards ceremony. Regretfully, the executive made this decision. There are other means to support heritage preservation in our communities through municipal heritage committees, which exist in St. Thomas, Central Elgin and Dutton Dunwich. These need to be established in other communities as well. Sincerely, Laurence Grant Past President

Lost but never forgotten. May 28, 2008.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK" / UrgentWe are rapidly approaching Monday, December 16, when the proposed sale of the National Historic Site at 399 Ridout Street will leave the conditional period (and will, baring a sudden change, become finalized).(This is an update on the previous version of this post.)...You are encouraged to consider emailing and/or calling London-area MPPs and MPs, urging them to speak up on this issue, both with Middlesex County Council and publicly -- to ask that closure of the sale be postponed.Postponing ratification of the sale will provide time for alternative arrangements to be made, to keep the site in public hands. National Historic Sites should not be sold off to the highest-bidder. As many will know, the former county court-house building was constructed in the late 1820s and is built on the site -- the area "bounded by Ridout, Dundas and King Streets," with the Thames River to the west -- which Thomas Talbot and Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe found in 1793. It was from this site that they founded what was to become the city of London and it was this site which Simcoe hoped to establish as Upper Canada's capital. Had Canadian history gone slightly differently, 399 Ridout could have become the seat of the Ontario provincial or even the Canadian federal parliament.This site has been a National Historic Site of Canada since 1955, through Parks Canada; regrettably, Parks Canada does not have enforcement powers over sites it does not own directly (Parks Canada does not own all National Historic Sites, it only owns some). Why does this matter? A public monument of this stature needs to be kept in public hands and, morally, it is not really the county's to sell, as it was given to the county by the Province of Ontario in 1979. Given; not sold. And, if the county wishes to vacate the site, the county should return the site to the province and/or relinquish the site (a transfer under mutually-agreeable terms) to another public entity, such as the city or Parks Canada. After all, it was given to the county under the assumption that the site would be open to the public, that it would remain publicly-owned, and that it would be surrounded by a public park.Local MPPs:London-North-Centre: Terence Kernaghan, [email protected]@ndp.on.ca1-519-432-7339London West: Peggy Sattler, [email protected]@ndp.on.ca 1-519-657-0368London-Fanshawe: Teresa Armstrong, [email protected] [email protected] 1-519-668-1104Elgin-Middlesex-London: The Hon Jeff Yurek, [email protected]@pc.ola.org1-519-631-0666Lambton-Kent-Middlesex: The Hon Monte McNaughton, [email protected]@pc.ola.org1-519-245-8696Federal MPs:London-North-Centre:Peter Fragiskatos, [email protected] West:Kate Young, [email protected]

This is exciting news!!

Attention Friends & Followers in St.Thomas and Elgin area! Our annual general meeting of the St. Thomas-Elgin Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario will take place on Thursday, November 28, at 7:00 p.m. Location: 42335 Ron McNeil Line, Central Elgin (first farm on the right from Wellington, that is, going east from Wellington Road)... Bob Martin, a restoration consultant and architectural salvage specialist, welcomes us to his place of operations. He will speak of his years of preserving architectural features of houses, places of worship and businesses, and take us on a tour of of his storage facilities. You will view stained glass windows, newel posts, signage, windows, doors, barge boards, brackets and numerous other features of the architectural heritage of Canada and the United States. Annual General Meeting and refreshments to follow. Limited space available. Please reserve by calling Laurence Grant 519-764-2384.