Increasingly, Londoners are concerned about heritage, history, culture, and architecture in the city. But this trend is more recent.
“London began in 1826. Became a city in 1855. So, we sort of have a long history. But I would say really, as far as preservation, it’s only been since about the 1960’s where people really began to get concerned about built heritage, the environment, the river, that sort of thing. Before then it was mostly very utilitarian, I think. Sewage was dumped into the river, buildings were used for whatever purpose they were built, but there wasn’t a lot of thought to ‘let’s save this old building because it’s old’,” said Arthur McClelland, head librarian of the London Room at the London Public Library Central Branch, when asked about how well London, Ontario has preserved its heritage.
With regards to how we’ve changed, McClelland pointed out that our built heritage- buildings that have been around for over 100 years- are still very British. But we have changed in terms of our culture. He talked about how now we are more multicultural and multiethnic. He said that this is reflected in restaurants, shops, and even collections in the library.
But as we move forward as a city, grow, and change it is still important to remember our past and preserve our heritage.
“If you don’t know where you’ve been, you don’t know where you are going so it’s kind of future looking,” said McClelland on the importance of preserving our heritage.
But also, “having heritage buildings or historic buildings like the Courthouse, the Eldon House, those kinds of things remind us of who we were and how far we’ve come in the sense that we’re still restoring those things.”
Comments