Part 1: Introducing Ward 10
Welcome to Ward 10
Cedric writes
We are continuing our journey through London’s wards in this summer series, and we are staying in the south end this week. We’re just making our way through the Bradley Avenue extension and we welcome you to the 12th ward in this series. Ward 10 is the centre of the southwest corner of London.
This is generally the Westmount ward, but the other districts that are located in Ward 10 are Bostwick and the western half of Highland.
You may be familiar with this ward if you’ve been to Westmount Mall, the sprawling two-story building that is many things to many people over the last few generations. If you or your kids have gone to Westmount or Saunders, you’ve studied in Ward 10. I became familiar with this area nearly 20 years ago when I did summer school at Saunders. I took advantage of a bus pass to get to know a corner of London that I barely spent time in outside of shopping in Westmount.
The Ward 10 constituent is slightly more affluent than the average Londoner. Bostwick is one of London’s most multicultural districts. While many of the people who live in the south end of this ward are new to London, they are building communities and entrenching them in the fabric of the Forest City.
Transit is useful if you are going from mall to mall or from Westmount to the core, but other than that, it’s hit and miss. I remember taking a bus between Westmount and Lambeth. The bus driver stepped out to go into the transit garage. I had waited for about 20 minutes until the driver came back onto the bus and noticed me. “I didn’t see you there; nobody really takes this bus route” 15 years later, I understand what he meant.
Cycling is also hit or miss outside of the quiet residential neighbourhoods. On the main roads, there are parts of the bicycling network in this constituency where the bike lanes just disappear. A bright spot, however, is the installation of protected bike lanes along the Bradley Avenue extension.
Outside of Westmount Mall, this is one of the quietest places I’ve been to, made up of people just living their lives. But how do they live together? And how do they live amongst the traffic of Wonderland, and all the concrete at points south?
That’s our challenge this summer: the story of London Ontario in 14 wards. Join us. We’re going by bike and by car, and we’re inviting Londoners into the conversation.
Cedric says:
Welcome back to South London, my fellow Londoners! It’s Cedric Richards, City Editor at the Loon. For this ward profile, we are shifting a bit west and in an effort to ruminate on Westmount and the surrounding area, we settled on the plaza at the corner of Viscount Road and Notre Dame Drive.
Mike says:
And I was happy to go along for the ride, learning even more about the Forest City and its long-established and well-populated nooks and crannies. Listen in as I slowly figure out where I am, and make some hasty predictions for the election.
Every week, we’re having a chat in the ward itself. Here are our musings together in Ward 10, where we found out about Ward 10 in one of the few public places, surrounded by houses and townhouses.
Ward 10: The Basics
Ward 10 - Westmount, Highland, Bostwick
Population - 33,338
Cedric writes
Ward 10 has always been the Westmount ward, always centred on London’s largest southwestern community. It was created in 2006 from the old Ward 7.
Every tweak to this ward’s boundaries has been to the northern and southern edges. This election’s boundary adjustment will be a major one, in which part of the southern boundary will be shifted west from Wonderland to Bostwick. It will bring in both sides of the Wonderland big-box strip under the same ward, but in the years to come, the Bostwick area will be the site of thousands and thousands of London’s future citizens.
Part 2: Around the ward
Highland
Cedric writes
Part of Highland is located in this ward. Andover Drive divides the Westmount and Highland districts, but it just feels more and more like Westmount when you go west of Wharncliffe.
If you’ve travelled southbound along Wharncliffe, you’ve seen wayfinding signs for the CTV London studios planted at the corner of Wharncliffe and Commissioners at Basil Grover Park. Once located at then-150 Commissioners Road West, suburban development pushed the studios to their own dedicated street known as 1 Communications Road.
I mentioned in our previous ward profile that Wharncliffe Road South was about the big ticket purchases. On the west side of the road, it’s more of a place where people live. There’s a tiny little subdivision in what was once known as the hamlet of Glendale Corners, and two paths off of Lenore Street that connect to another subdivision, historically known as Norton Estates.
Ward 10’s portion of Highland also contains the elusive “strip-plaza-within-a-residential-subdivision”, at Notre Dame Drive and Viscount Road. Formerly known as Plaza West, this plaza once had Home Hardware as an anchor tenant. It has since been replaced by a Dance Extreme. The area is not immune to contentious infill applications, as this plaza is seeing a proposal to replace part of its parking lot with a townhouse complex.
Bostwick
Cedric writes
You may know Bostwick as being home to all the big-box shopping in southwest London, but it has a lot of history. Long before there was an Airport Road in London’s east end, the section of Wonderland Road between what is now Southdale and Exeter was once named Airport Road. There was an airport located along the west side of the road from 1929 to 1942 that was not so much used for commercial flight travel, but for training and private planes. This airport was superseded by what is now known as London International Airport, which opened just north of Crumlin in 1940.
Meanwhile, the road kept the Airport name for nearly 50 years after “YXU” established itself. Westminster changed the name to Wonderland Road to reflect London’s Wonderland realigning to meet the former Airport Road. Into the 1990s, Wonderland Mall faced off against Westmount Mall in a battle for southwest London mall supremacy. Back when Westminster existed, retail at this corner drew the ire of London, which played a bit of a role in London annexing the town. London did not like the idea that Wonderland Mall, among other developments in Westminster, would benefit from lower property taxes and a London-centred customer base.
The irony of Wonderland Mall closing is that the strip morphed into a big box complex that threatened Westmount’s viability. The strip keeps adding stores every year as it fills in southward. You know a store on Wonderland Road has found its repeat customers when you hear someone rejoice that “[they] don’t have to go to Toronto anymore”. But deep down, I want to reply with, “we have local businesses at home”.
But it’s not just stores that are in this district. A community is starting to take shape. Along Southdale, the Bostwick branch library opened in September 2018 within what is now called the Startech.com Community Centre. Next to that community centre, is another hub named Noor Gardens, which is operated by the Muslim Association of Canada. Seven years after they opened their centre in Westmount, and 14 years after they started fundraising and organizing to build a new community hub, Noor Gardens had its grand opening this past weekend.
A transportation network is also taking shape in the area. Around 2012, a signalized intersection was opened at Wonderland Road, with the street crossing being named “Bradley Avenue” to signal a future extension of the White Oaks-centred road. Originally connecting both sides of the Wonderland big-box behemoth, Bradley Avenue West opened in 2018, connecting Wonderland to Wharncliffe. Kilbourne Road was also signed as an intersection along Wonderland in 2017, about seven years after London Transit opened their second garage to accommodate a growing bus fleet.
Westmount
Cedric writes
A sign you’ve just arrived in Westmount? “ACCESS TO MALL AND SCHOOLS VIA WONDERLAND RD.”
Another sign you’ve just arrived in Westmount? “TRAFFIC CALMING MEASURES HAVE BEEN IMPLEMENTED IN THE WESTMOUNT AREA”
Literally this pair of signs greet drivers and other road users whenever you come into the neighbourhood along both Commissioners and Southdale Road West. The first sign has disappeared along Commissioners, and the Southdale signs were replaced recently by smaller signs that you can only pay attention to if you were walking. There exist no other signs like these for other suburban neighborhoods in London, but there should be.
Westmount is the major neighbourhood in this ward, and has over a half century of history behind it. Sifton built this neighbourhood as a planned community over many phases, and developed London’s first-ever registered condominium in the neighbourhood.
The mall was the centrepiece for the neighbourhood, and it opened in 1971. Across the street on Viscount Road, there are a string of schools where Westmount’s children go to learn. From west to east, they are: St. Rose of Lima Catholic School, Westmount Public School, and Saunders Secondary School. Saunders is London’s most recently-opened English-language secondary school of a secular school board, having opened in 1972.
There is a bit of a trail system connecting Village Green Park, Westmount Lions Park, and Jesse Davidson Park. All you have to do is cross Viscount Road to visit all three of them. It was one of the places I walked and biked through in 2020, during the pandemic, to get out of the house.
The neighbourhood is also home to Reservoir Hill, which is part-park and part-water storage. The water reservoir for London was originally built in 1920, and contained a maximum volume of 45 million litres of water. Construction to replace this reservoir with a new one with nearly double the volume is nearly complete. Just west of the reservoir, is Snake Hill, and the downhill ride of a lifetime into Byron.
Part 3: Politics of Ward 10
Mike writes
2014 results
2018 results
2022 results
The presence of Paul Van Meerbergen dominates this ward, with this old-school small-c conservative having been its councillor in a near-unbroken line for 23 years. The exception was a four-year period in which he was directly affected by the bad publicity surrounding Mayor Joe Fontana, and his own involvement in the notorious Fontana 8 group. Virginia Ridley took the seat for one term, after a narrow win with just 500 votes in it. Otherwise it’s been PVM since 2003 and it’s difficult to see how his current four neophyte challengers, all nibbling at him and each other, can stop him being First Past The Post this time.
A full list of Ward candidates is maintained by the City Clerk’s Office here. And you can find a guide to every ward in our MEGAPOST here.
Part 4: In the news
Mike writes
Much like Ward 11 right next door, Ward 10 is a spot where people live in relative harmony, without too many story-generating hotspots. It does have some stories that we’re recognizing as London issues, and a few that are perhaps unique to the ward.
Here’s a selection:
Just two weeks ago, councillors showed support for a massive, 5,000-house subdivision in this area, as shown in the reporting here. It quotes local councillor Paul Van Meerbergen.
That same councillor - who, having been elected in 2003, goes back further than anybody else on council - was ready to stand up for Westmount in this absolute gem: Don’t diss Westmount; and this was about Carfax Canada’s proposed move to Westmount Mall, which is still under discussion.
At that same mall, the reptile attraction Repitilia is now well-established, having reached the end of its legal dispute with the City of London. You can find out more about that, and west London’s indoor zoo, in this story.
By the way, Paul Van Meerbergen also highlighted e-scooter safety issues and reporting from the health sector is suggesting he’s correct - here’s a good story in the Toronto Star, though it may be paywalled.
This ward also has Saunders Secondary, which shows up in the news sometimes and is often unfairly maligned. It’s just a really big school.
And let’s not miss the historic part of this general area, and the great traditions of Wonderland Gardens.
Part 5: And there’s more…
Our restaurant pick
Finding a local restaurant in this ward was quite the challenge, reminiscent of our profile of Ward 8. Much like other suburban communities, restaurants are confined to opening near nodes and corridors. Along Wonderland Road, Southdale, and Wharncliffe, many restaurants are national or international chains. So I had to look very hard for a unique taste in this ward.
Qbob is a Persian restaurant located in the basement of a commercial building on Commissioners Road that was once home to Lost Cycle, a spin studio. I had a koobideh kebob plate, which pleased all five of my senses.
The unmissable landmarks
Wonderland Gardens
The year was 1935. Years into the interwar period and the Great Depression, this venue opened at the northern end of a sideroad near the Thames River. For decades, the Wonderland Gardens hosted all things music from big bands like Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians to rock & roll acts like Deep Purple and Alice Cooper. The venue evolved into a dining and convention facility until 2005, when the dining hall was destroyed by a fire. In 2008, the venue was replaced by Springbank Gardens, with a redesigned pavilion and public square. Today, the Gardens is used for municipal run, fitness classes, and the occasional festival like HRZN FEST.
One of the etymological legacies of the Gardens is that it lent its name to the road it was located near. Originally, Wonderland Road referred to the segment between the Thames River and Southdale Road. In 1977, a new bridge linked Wonderland with Hutton Road, creating an arterial road named Wonderland Road with North and South halves. The bridge was named after Guy Lombardo, a prominent London-born musician who performed at the Gardens a handful of times.
The gardens are a part of a sprawling network of fixtures and buildings (like the Civic Gardens and the bust of Ludwig van Beethoven) at the corner of Springbank and Wonderland, which mark the eastern terminus of Springbank Park.
FURTHER LISTENING: Check out this audio column below from Larry Cornies on the old Wonderland Gardens.
Westmount Mall
Westmount Mall opened in 1971, and added a second floor more than a decade later during renovations. During its first two decades, it was one of Ontario’s largest malls outside of Toronto. During the mall’s overhaul during the 2010s, they separated the supermarket and theatre, along with a few other stores into separate structures. So if you were visiting Westmount, and you were in the main part of the mall and wanted to visit the supermarket, you’d have to go outside to go back in. It reminds me of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave that borders Poland and Lithuania.
After multiple exoduses of stores throughout the 2010s, the mall has remade itself as a mixed-use centre, with the second floor being home to offices and the former Target replaced with a Fit 4 Less. It feels like a lifetime ago that I did my first job interview inside Westmount Mall for a job at the A&W, or watched a movie inside the mall.
There have been at least two plans released over the last few years to increase either office space or introduce residential towers onto the property, both of which have yet to come to fruition.
CTV London
Located at 1 Communications Road, just off of Highview Avenue West, CFPL has been a mainstay of this area for the last three-quarters of a century. Signing on in November 1953, CFPL was the second privately-owned television station to take to the airwaves. It owned a lot of other Canadian firsts over the years, such as the first Canadian newscast at “the supper hour” of 6:00 p.m., the first to install videotape, the first to convert their news broadcasts to colour, and the first to computerize its news programming. No matter if you call it CFPL, Channel 10, CTV, or The New PL, it is one of the few things that is a constant across Londoners of multiple generations. The transmission tower is 1,034 feet tall, nearly 600 feet taller than London’s tallest building, the Centro.
That’s Ward 10
And that’s how we see it. We heard big band music, did some more shopping along Wonderland Road, went bowling at Palasad, and we offer you this guide to what it’s all about.
The Cedric/Mike teamup will continue next week! We have two more wards to go in this series:
Ward 3 - September 8
Ward 13 - September 15
You can follow along here at London Ontario Online News, where there’s new content every day and we live here, too.
We’d love you to stay engaged and in touch. You can send us any topics you’d like us to discuss, or questions, or most anything else. Thank you - see you soon!
A great profile, Cedric. You've got my part of town pegged pretty squarely. And thank you once again for your nod to my modest efforts.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane. When my family first moved to Ontario (from BC) in 1967, we lived in Westmount. We left for Etobicoke in 1972. So much has changed.