Research project gives a voice to London's SoHo neighbourhood
CBC
Public historians are putting out a call for stories of the city's historic SoHo neighbourhood.
The area, which was once a buzzing medical and manufacturing hub, will soon be the site of a new residential district that will fuse the past with the present.
"There's not been a lot of research done on Soho here, particularly because it's a working class neighborhood, and it's a diverse neighborhood," said Keely Shaw, a master's of public history student at Western University.
"The reason this is so impactful is because you're giving people a voice where they haven't been heard before."
In Spring 2022, construction will begin on 620 new housing units at the site of the South Street Victoria Hospital.
Two of the site's buildings will be restored and integrated into housing plans: the Health Services Building, opened from 1921 to 1965, and the War Memorial Children's Hospital, which opened in the 1920s. It was a forerunner to today's Children's Hospital.
A collaboration of affordable housing developers called Vision SoHo Alliance, united by the London Community Foundation, says 400 of the units will be affordable, and at least 200 of those will accommodate people with disabilities.
"Everybody has a story about the site and the Old Victoria Hospital. It's so exciting that the students at Western are taking the opportunity to try and preserve some of that," said Greg Playford, a London Community Foundation board member.
"The buildings there are a bit of a challenge inside. We're going to save as many heritage features as possible," he said.
Students in the public history program's 2021/22 cohort have already begun to conduct interviews about the buildings and neighbourhood.
They've so far learned that a hundred years ago, life in the area was bustling.
Beyond the hospital, many people resided in the neighbourhood because of its close proximity to downtown.
Much of the housing was modestly priced, and close to a soap factory, bread factory, and the Labatt Brewery.
Public history professor Michelle Hamilton said that a 1920s census reveals a multicultural neighbourhood community.
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