Bright and early to the Downtown London office, on the corner of Dundas and Richmond, we were greeted by Kathy McLaughlin and Lisa Thomas, the most positive, cheerful, savvy women we could hope to collaborate with! We moved into the office, started booking interviews, making calls, and then went off to a fantastic lunch where we joined with another incredible Downtown London associate – Vicki Smith, to celebrate the birthday of their intern Sarah. Over lunch we were fascinated to hear a base of stories from downtown; what used to be here, what is new, who we should talk to, who we were already scheduled to talk to (yes – these ladies have things organized!). I was furiously note taking to try and take it all in. London is no small town. And at this first lunch, I got a hunch, that there are many many many stories in the living memory of this downtown waiting to be remembered…
The afternoon took us to the London Arts Council and London Heritage Council to meet with Andrea and Andrea. We heard about the vibrant community of artists downtown, and the history of some of the oldest buildings, the bulldozed buildings, the heyday of London visual artists in the 70’s, the selling of the London Free Press by the Blackburns, music venues like Notes and Call the Office, the food rotating in the old Albert’s Diner, City Lights, Mark Emery, and a great little anecdote about hiding in the fur coats in Simpsons department store. We cannot wait to listen through that interview to mine all the little story gems. One thing that struck us was hearing about a perceived stigma that surrounds the downtown. Apparently, downtown London is unsafe, undesirable and unclean according to the gospel of the suburbs. Bad press, or true? One thing is certain – we are here to get to the bottom of this urban myth….
