Plans for a casino at the Western Fair District could be scuttled by a proposal to preserve London heritage.
Councillor Dale Henderson is hoping to save a series of buildings from the wrecking ball to be used for the storage and display or historical artifacts.
The Western Fair District plans to tear down three buildings, the Special Events and causeway, the Old East Village administration office and the former Imax Theatre.
Henderson says not-so-fast.
He tells CTV News those buildings could have a future in preserving the past.
"This is what tourism is all about, let's keep our buildings," says Henderson.
Henderson is throwing support behind an idea from a local heritage group to take all the overflow archive collections and store and exhibit them in buildings at the Western Fair.
"We would have jobs created. We've got some volunteers already...we've got a whole bunch of things to display. They'll probably line-up to get in," exclaims Henderson.
But long-time advocate for the arts, fellow councillor Joe Swan says there's much worth saving.
"The Lombardo boat, the Lombardo artifacts, the Sports History Museum, the police history...there's really probably about 30 collections around...all sitting in peoples' basements," says Swan.
The idea that could throw a monkey wrench into the plans of the Western Fair District.
Officials want to tear down three buildings to make way for more parking, potentially paving the way for a brand new casino.
Western Fair manager Hugh Mitchell refused to comment without seeing a written proposal or business plan.
He says the organization is proceeding with a redevelopment plan council gave the green light to nearly two years ago.
Mitchell says contrary to what some believe, while the Western Fair and city co-own the land, the Fair owns the buildings on the property outright.
Henderson says he'll lobby to have them saved.
