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  #501  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2012, 1:40 PM
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MEC is out near 401 on Wellington south of White Oaks. i hate that part of the city.
From what I understand, they just couldn't make a go of it any more. I know the owner's son (he teaches for us), if I see him, I will ask.
Kingsmills is still going strong. Dundas St. West is slowly being revived. Fanshawe College is building a downtown campus on Dundas, near the market.
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  #502  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2012, 2:31 PM
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From what I understand, they just couldn't make a go of it any more. I know the owner's son (he teaches for us), if I see him, I will ask.
I am curious if you find out make sure to let us know.

Maybe they should knock down that entire corner and build a bus terminal haha.
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  #503  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2012, 3:02 PM
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kingsmills is still going and from the looks of it quite well especialy for the prices they got
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  #504  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2012, 4:38 PM
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Novacks will start liquidating their inventory tomorrow.

Yes Kingsmills is still around. They even expanded a year or two ago.
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  #505  
Old Posted Nov 21, 2012, 4:39 PM
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What I've heard is the kids have no interest in taking over Novacks, also that MEC is here, the competition isn't the best thing.
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  #506  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2012, 4:04 AM
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London without Novacks...........kinda weird. Where is the Mountain Co=op in London, is it also downtown?
No. Being the environmentally conscious and socially-progressive folk that they are, they decided to locate near Wellington and the 401, one of the most desolate, anti-social and car-dependent parts of the city. Friggin' hypocrites.

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Apparently CAMI (Ingersoll) could face massive job losses. LFP headline article today was that there is a looming showdown between CAMI and the former Saturn assembly plant in Tennessee. One plant will get the contract, the other will probably be shuttered. Here we go again; Electromotive redux.
Speaking of hypocrites... didn't GM just have us bail them out with the promise of saving Canadian jobs? Considering how many of those god-awful Equinoxes they're able to sell, you'd think there would be room for both plants. I have a feeling the CAW's political games aren't helping matters one bit.

Funny that you should mention Saturn; my family was left out in the cold when GM decided to wind the company down, and then when they purposely blocked the Saab bid, we got left out in the cold once again. I don't think I'm going to buy a new GM product any time in the near future. If you actually want to buy a good product that supports Canadian workers, get a Honda CR-V (Alliston) or a Toyota RAV4 (Woodstock- just near London).
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  #507  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2012, 5:42 AM
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Being the environmentally conscious and socially-progressive folk that they are, they decided to locate near Wellington and the 401, one of the most desolate, anti-social and car-dependent parts of the city. Friggin' hypocrites.
lol pretty much. In the end it all comes down to making the most bucks and spending as little as possible to do it.
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  #508  
Old Posted Nov 23, 2012, 6:29 PM
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Bell ringing again with more bad news.
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About 90 Bell Canada workers in Ontario, including 22 in London, face a bleak Christmas without a job.
http://www.lfpress.com/2012/11/23/be...f-ontario-cuts
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  #509  
Old Posted Nov 23, 2012, 6:40 PM
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Spoke with people at MEC that knew a fair bit, the current plan is for the store to simply see how business is there. Then, they are going to, or currently now, looking at building a fully green building a la Burlington if the demand is there, which currently there appears to be. People from the States have mentioned going to London more due to MEC instead of driving further to get to it.
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  #510  
Old Posted Nov 26, 2012, 4:58 AM
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Originally Posted by MolsonExport View Post
Bell ringing again with more bad news.
Remind me, why are we still protecting these monopolists from foreign competition? Is it just because everyone's pension depends on them or what?

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Originally Posted by K85 View Post
Spoke with people at MEC that knew a fair bit, the current plan is for the store to simply see how business is there. Then, they are going to, or currently now, looking at building a fully green building a la Burlington if the demand is there, which currently there appears to be. People from the States have mentioned going to London more due to MEC instead of driving further to get to it.
I would certainly hope so. If what you say is true, and a lot of people come from all around to go to MEC, locating it downtown would certainly help create some sort of localization economy.
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  #511  
Old Posted Nov 26, 2012, 1:28 PM
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Great article! Personally, as a Grand fan, that's my vote. I think the only way that this route wouldn't work is because of farhi. If anything, the city should tell his parking lot ass to build what he originally promised with the Central Library / Tower, before he gets given any more breaks.


http://www.lfpress.com/2012/11/25/wh...its-your-money

It’s a tale of two concert halls that could bring the city’s simmering, decades-long battle to get a performing-arts centre to a head.

On one side there’s the Grand Theatre’s pitch to expand and build a 1,200-seat concert hall with no city cash, but a request for city land that’s already got the eye of one downtown developer.

On the other side, there’s the Orchestra London-led task force, Music London, seeking $10 million from the city for a similar-sized concert hall.

In the middle? Taxpayers, who are sure to foot some — if not most — of the bill.

Both groups — who made their pitches to the city’s investment and economic prosperity committee in June — are going back to the committee Tuesday to put their tinkered proposals on the record before city staff cut what’s become a very long list of big ideas for the core down to a few Dec. 18.

The Grand Theatre’s $100-million pitch first included a $25-million ask from the city. But it has shelved that cash request and now wants a city-owned parking lot on Queens Ave. The group would then swap that parking lot with one Sifton owns on Dufferin Ave. next to the Grand Theatre, allowing them to expand into that space while Sifton builds a residential highrise in the Queens Ave. lot.

The catch? The Queens Ave. parking lot is a coveted spot that downtown landlord Shmuel Farhi recently offered to buy from the city as part of his plan to build a $50-million highrise.

Music London wants three things from the committee: to acknowledge the need for a new facility to replace the aging Centennial Hall; a $10-million pledge to the project in its upcoming 2013 capital budget; to endorse the task force to lead the process.

“We have huge amounts of interest in the community in London over this and until the city says, ‘Yes, we’re going to replace Centennial Hall,’ pretty much everybody’s sort of sitting and waiting for that,” said David Canton, chair of the Music London task force.

Music London’s proposal comes with an ambitious timeline: they want a new “Celebration Centre” by 2017, Canada’s 150th anniversary, when federal money for legacy sesquicentennial projects will be available.

“We think this could be a really good project for the community to get behind for a legacy facility for the city of London and the entire music community in the city of London to get behind and to work for,” Canton said.

Any project that does move forward will need immense community support that doesn’t pale when the project gets criticized for being elitist, said political veteran Gord Hume, a longtime advocate for a performing arts centre downtown.

“That’s just wrong-headed thinking. This isn’t elitist at all, this is part of how you’re going to develop a creative, sustainable community,” he said.

“The fact is if we’re going to attract and retain Western and Fanshawe grads and attract young entrepreneurs, you need to provide facilities and community attractions that will help to make this a city in which people want to live and work and create jobs and raise their families.”

He also wondered whether there was a way to combine the two proposals on the table to create one, which would have a better chance of getting support.

Canton said the process is about finding the best site for a concert hall and that Music London’s proposal doesn’t compete with the Grand.

Music London has identified three “working model locations” for the concert hall: a parcel of land owned by London Life immediately north of Centennial Hall; another parcel owned by St. Peter’s Cathedral and immediately north of the church facing Richmond St.; land owned by Middlesex County facing the forks of the Thames.

In a letter going before the committee, the Grand Theatre’s Deb Harvey said the organization wants to work with any other “like-minded arts groups who see the need for a downtown concert hall.”

City staff will whittle the long list of projects down to a short list and bring it to the committee Dec. 18.

Short-listed projects will then go to public consultation in January 2013.

kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/KellyatLFPress

--- --- ---

Music London’s proposal

Cost: $40 million

Seeking from the city: $10 million

A 1,200- to 1,400-seat concert hall
The centre could be a mixed- use development with a 20-storey condo tower built by Auburn Developments.
Could also include a new $80-million to $90 million, 12-storey office building with underground parking that doesn’t need city money, but the building could serve as a site for a new city hall.

--- --- ---

The Grand Theatre’s proposal

Cost: $100 million

Seeking from the city: At first $25 million, now land

A combined theatre-and-orchestra vision with a 1,200-seat concert hall and a 400-seat theatre.
Expansion also includes extra space for rehearsals, the wardrobe department, an office, parking and a residential condominium.
Sifton and Auburn Developments would also build additional parking and a residential tower on the Queens Ave. parking lot.
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  #512  
Old Posted Nov 27, 2012, 2:28 AM
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  #513  
Old Posted Nov 27, 2012, 4:34 PM
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I wonder if there's enough demand right now to actually warrant a Grand Theatre expansion. With the economy the way it is these days in London, I wonder what attendance is like there. (I guess I should do some research on that!)

Still, I think the Grand project is a good qualifier for grants from the federal government like stimulus funding... So it can wait until such an event occurs.

Being a member of SkyscraperPage, I would much rather see infill development by St. Peter's. That's an excellent location, buses go by there all the time.
-My only concern is the chaos on Richmond Row when night falls. The building better be soundproof. I would also assume this building would appeal more to students and young professionals.
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  #514  
Old Posted Nov 27, 2012, 5:30 PM
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I wonder if there's enough demand right now to actually warrant a Grand Theatre expansion. With the economy the way it is these days in London, I wonder what attendance is like there. (I guess I should do some research on that!)

Still, I think the Grand project is a good qualifier for grants from the federal government like stimulus funding... So it can wait until such an event occurs.

Being a member of SkyscraperPage, I would much rather see infill development by St. Peter's. That's an excellent location, buses go by there all the time.
-My only concern is the chaos on Richmond Row when night falls. The building better be soundproof. I would also assume this building would appeal more to students and young professionals.
I try to go to the grand once a year and they always seem to be neer capacity for the plays, thy have also been in the black for a few years now iirc so i think the expansion would be sucessfull.
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  #515  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2012, 5:01 AM
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I now live in Kingston and the economy here is much better than London's.

<snip>

The people of Kingston are also extremely friendly and polite. It's a lot easier to meet people there than in London. The generally closed-off nature of Londoners is something that really bothers me about London.
Have to agree with you about the closed-off nature of Londoners. It's always been like this - at least as far back as twenty years ago when I came to London to live on a full-time basis.

<snip>

Quote:
I would love to see London be more than it is. I would also love to be able to be proud of this city. I still read the Free Press online every day, and check out this forum daily, to see what's happening in London. But the city has just so many problems, that I cannot possibly ever live in the city again as long as things remain as they are. The city could be so much more than it is.
I too, would like to see London become so much more than it is. I doubt that I'll see that in my lifetime or what's left of it. The situation with Joe Fontana and city council is such that I think it will take London two to three years to recover from at a minimum. Of course, that recovery period will only hold up the important work that needs to be done if London is to even attempt to improve its fortunes and its standing in the world.

Some would call me a pessimist for what I am about to say, but I see myself as a realist. I plan to retire in ten years, and I don't see London improving enough in that time to make it worth my while to stay. Besides, it's starting to get expensive to live here, and I doubt that my pension will be able to keep up with the rising cost of living in London all that well.
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  #516  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2012, 6:09 AM
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Some would call me a pessimist for what I am about to say, but I see myself as a realist. I plan to retire in ten years, and I don't see London improving enough in that time to make it worth my while to stay. Besides, it's starting to get expensive to live here, and I doubt that my pension will be able to keep up with the rising cost of living in London all that well.
Funny, for me London seems pretty cheap. Compared to Toronto, everything is cheaper: Rental accommodations, owner-occupied housing, insurance premiums, parking, groceries, hell even clothes are sometimes cheaper here. I notice that auto dealers here also tend to give more discounts on new vehicles. I guess London seems kinda expensive compared to Chatham or Windsor, but it certainly isn't outrageously expensive a la Toronto, and it isn't exactly unlivable.
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  #517  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2012, 4:19 PM
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I can appreciate people wanting to reduce their living expenses when entering retirement. What I find perplexing are situations like this. London doesn't have the things they want to live the life they want in retirement. Hey no problem with that. However if London is also too expensive to live in I don't know where one plans on finding comparable amenities as London with a lower cost of living. It is simply laughable if one suggest they will find better amenities and a lower cost of living elsewhere in Ontario, likely Canada.
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  #518  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2012, 4:25 PM
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WINDSOR - most affordable city in Canada with all the big city amenities just across the river in metro Detroit! Just sayin'
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  #519  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2012, 4:36 PM
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Windsor is an option then as long as you want to go to U.S. when you want to take advantage of the big city amenities.
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  #520  
Old Posted Dec 6, 2012, 3:56 AM
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They've been flocking to Windsor in droves over the past 5 years. It seems like the only things being built around here these days are drug stores, retirement villas, and funeral homes. There's tons of golfing in Essex County and other recreation with all the water surrounding us.
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