Village Squire, 1980-05, Page 19UPDATE
LONDON REGIONAL
GALLERY OPENS
The eye-catching new London Regional
Art Gallery, located at the city's historic
heart, the forks of the Thames, will
officially open May 3.
Among the guests at the opening will be
Ontario's Lieutenant - Governor Pauline
McGibbon, London mayor Al Gleeson and
the gallery's architect, Raymond Mori-
yama.
When the architect first unveiled his
plans for the gallery at a London city
council meeting in 1976, many Londoners
were startled by the gallery's contempor-
ary design. Mr. Moriyama told council he
designed the gallery as a spot to focus on
human activities and as a building which
would complement both the Middlesex
County Courthouse to the south (now being
restored by Middlesex County) and the
Labbatt's restoration homes and Eldon
House to the north.
The design Mr. Moriyama unveiled was
a relatively low scale building, three
storeys high, which was almost square in
shape and designed to fit the contours of
the site at the river forks.
The building includes seven galleries,
and large windows which overlook the
Thames River. One interesting feature of
the gallery is the forum, a multi -media area
which includes an interior pool. Visitors to
the gallery can view the forum activities
from the overlooking cafeteria windows.
When Mr. Moriyama designed the
gallery, he also took into consideration the
needs of handicapped and elderly
patrons. Elevators provide transportation
to the various levels of the galleries and
public telephones in the building have also
been designed for use by the handicapped.
The show which will open London's
multi-million dollar new gallery is the
Seven Ages of Man, an international
exhibition which includes more than 50
major works borrowed from North
American collections by artists like Renoir,
Chagall, London's Paul Peel, Alex Colville
and the late Jack Chambers of London.
Another show which will be featured
during the opening festivities is a collection
of drawings from Ottawa's National
Gallery.
A second special event planned for the
first month is a Family Day on May 24. The
day will begin with a parade in the noon
hour, and art buses will transport gallery
visitors from various parts of the city to the
forks of the Thames. Music will be
provided by a Dixieland band, and
students from Banting Secondary School in
London.
The day will feature a number of
surprises for children visiting the gallery,
including a chance to experiment with
theatrical makeup, under the guidance of
Theatre London personnel.
MARINE MUSEUM
FOR GODERICH
The town of Goderich may be adding a
marine museum display to the Huron
County Pioneer Museum.
The proposal, raised at a recent county
council meeting, involves moving the cabin
of a lake freighter, the Shelter Bay, to an
on -shore site in town to preserve the
wheelhouse.
The Goderich Harbour Commission
estimates the cost of removing and
relocating the wheelhouse at about
$31,000. The major expenses involved are
the removal and moving, estimated to cost
$9,500 and material for closing the deck
and labour costs of about $6,400.
If the project receives council's approval,
the Harbour Committee would have every
audible instrument and mechanical navig-
ational aid as part of the display to make it
more interesting for museum visitors.
It's also the intention to include the set
of cabins below the wheelhouse, otherwise
known as the captain's office and quarters,
as well as the passenger quarters, so that
many items now scattered around . the
museum could be located in these quarters
as an interesting and historically inform-
ative display.
The project to remove, transport and set
up the wheelhouse and cabins for display
as part of the marine collection, came as
the result of a donation from the Goderich
Elevator and Transit Company. The project
was originally outlined for a Wintario
application which was not approved.
Goderich reeve Eileen Palmer asked for
council's support on the grounds that
Goderich is an important port on Lake
Huron and nautical artifacts in the town
could be brought together to create a
marine museum. She said people from the
county would also be encouraged to bring
their artifacts in for display in the
collection.
Reeve Palmer said while she couldn't
speak for Goderich town council, the town
does own land in the harbour area where
the Shelter Bay could be located without
cost to the county.
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/MAY 1980 PG 17