Location: Canada Gender: Male Total Likes: 156 likes
| |
Man fighting to preserve historic London home on bank of Thames River < on 5/13/2014 10:38 AM > | Reply with Quote
Man fighting to preserve historic London home on bank of Thames River
By Dale Carruthers, The London Free Press Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Photos: Mike Hensen/The London Free Press/QMI Agency
Bruce Lamb hadn’t seen the inside of his beloved childhood home for more than three decades.
Then an urban explorer’s YouTube video brought Lamb back to his early days living in the Victorian-era home hidden on the north bank of the Thames River in London.
But the tears the 17-minute video brought to his eyes weren’t joyous.
Lamb, 51, was devastated to see the state of disrepair the 19th-century house at 1266 Riverside Dr., known affectionately as the Cedars, had fallen into. The windows were shattered, the doors ripped off their hinges and trash was strewn everywhere.
“I was pretty upset. It brought tears to my eyes,” said Lamb, who lives in Lucan.
Built in the 1880s, the Cedars served as an athletic club before Lamb’s great-grandfather, Herbert A. Sabine, bought it in 1906.
Lamb has vivid memories of riding horses, making maple syrup and playing pond hockey at his childhood home.
He lived there from 1965 to 1978, when his parents divorced and sold the property to Drewlo Holdings. The developer rented it to a family who raised mastiffs on the property until being evicted in 2013.
During those years the once beautiful building fell into a state of disrepair.
Now Lamb is petitioning the city to grant the Cedars heritage status. The building has made it to the city’s heritage inventory list, giving it a 60-day protection in case the owner wants to demolish it.
London’s heritage planner Don Menard said the house likely fell through the cracks when the city’s heritage inventory was put together in the early 1990s.
“It was put together by teams of volunteers who literally walked the streets and would note each building that had what they thought was architectural or heritage significance,” Menard said.
“I doubt they would have walked Riverside past a certain point because there weren’t any sidewalks. And even if they did, they wouldn’t have noticed (the Cedars) from Riverside. You can only see it if you’re standing on the other side of Springbank Park looking across the river.”
Drewlo Holdings has indicated it wants to preserve the Cedars to use as an amenity feature for future development on a parcel of land it owns on Riverside Dr., Menard said.
Drewlo declined to comment on its plans for the property.
Lamb, who unsuccessfully approached Drewlo about buying the home, just wants to see his old house preserved.
“They (Drewlo) haven’t put a dime into it other than to install the security system in there. If you’re really serious about making it an amenity building, fix it up,” he said.
“I would be thrilled to see anybody take the bull by the horns and invest some money into it and restore it to the way it was when we left in 1978.”
Re: Man fighting to preserve historic London home on bank of Thames River < Reply # 3 on 5/13/2014 5:11 PM > | Reply with Quote
Posted by Skye_Ann .. There's an alarm system in there now? God damn it, I was hoping to go here this summer. Guess I waited too long.
As far as abandoned house go, this one was quite boring aside from the crude dog kennels built inside. RNR & I kept expecting to run into a large dog or it's corpse.
Re: Man fighting to preserve historic London home on bank of Thames River < Reply # 4 on 5/13/2014 7:04 PM > | Reply with Quote
Posted by RiddimRyder
As far as abandoned house go, this one was quite boring aside from the crude dog kennels built inside. RNR & I kept expecting to run into a large dog or it's corpse.
The place did stink from the dog kennel, had been ransacked & left with garbage strewn all over the place, but the history & the architecture of this place & the small barn will probably put it on the heritage list. (Wilfrid Lamb was a past president of the Ontario Association of Architects)
If I had the cash I would buy this in a heart beat. My only concern would be potential flooding with the Thames river on it's door steps, but it was built as a rowing club in the 1880's so the proximity was the convenience.
The cities should start holding Drewlo & developers accountable for the maintenance of these properties. We have all heard of too many stories of heritage homes being demolished because of the neglect of the developers.