City of London
London is a city in
Southwestern Ontario,
Canada along the
Quebec City – Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of 457,720; the city proper had a population of 352,395 in the
2006 Canadian census. The estimated metro population in 2009 was 489,274.
[2] London is the seat of
Middlesex County, at the forks of the non-navigable
Thames River, approximately halfway between
Toronto, Ontario and
Detroit, Michigan. The City of London is a separated municipality,
politically separate from Middlesex County, though it remains the official county seat.
London was first permanently settled by Europeans between 1801 and 1804 by Peter Hagerman[3] and became a village in 1826. Since then, London has grown into the largest Southwestern Ontario municipality, annexing many of the smaller communities that surrounded it. The city has developed a strong focus towards education, health care, tourism, and manufacturing.
London is home to Fanshawe College and the University of Western Ontario, which contributes to the city's reputation for research and cultural activity. The city hosts a number of musical and artistic exhibits. London's festivals contribute to its tourism industry, but its economic activity is centred on military vehicle production, medical research, insurance, and information technology. London's university and hospitals are among its top ten employers. London lies at the junction of Highway 401 and 402, connecting it to Toronto, Detroit, and Sarnia, but lacks an internal freeway. It also has an international airport and train and bus stations.
LABATT PARK
Labatt Memorial Park (formerly Tecumseh Park, 1877–1936) is a baseballstadium near the forks of the Thames River in central London, Ontario, Canada. It is 8.7 acres (35,000 m2) in size, has 5,200 seats and a natural grass field. From home plate to centre field the distance is 402 feet (123 m); from home plate to left and right field down the lines, it is 330 feet (100 m).
Labatt Park is the "oldest continually operating baseball grounds in the world", with a history dating back to 1877. Since December 31, 1936, the park has been owned by the City of London.
However, Fuller Field in Clinton, Massachusetts made it into the Guinness Book of World Records in September 2007 as the "world’s oldest continuously used baseball diamond/ field", dating back to 1878—a year after Tecumseh Park-Labatt Park opened in 1877—as Fuller Field's home plate and bases have purportedly remained in the same location since 1878, whereas home plate at Labatt Park has been moved (within the same field) from its original location in 1877.
In September 2008, however, Labatt Park replaced Clinton, Massachusett's Fuller Field in the 2009 Guinness Book of World Records (page 191) as the "World's Oldest Baseball Field." Then on October 10, 2008, Guinness's online record for the World's Oldest Baseball Field was switched back to Fuller Field in Clinton, Massachusetts. World's Oldest Baseball Field
The park's designation occurred after a six-month-long lobbying effort spearheaded by the volunteer, non-profit organization, The Friends of Labatt Park, which has undertaken a number of initiatives during the past 16 years to enhance and promote the ballpark, its history and ambience.
