'New' Fugitive Slave Chapel nearly ready

New life for the Fugitive Slave Chapel Ground-breaking ceremony and federal funding announcement for London’s Fugitive Slave Chapel. CTV London’s Marek Sutherland explains.

The concrete foundation has been poured at Fanshawe Pioneer Village and will soon be ready to welcome the Fugitive Slave Chapel.

“Although we worked so hard 12 to 15 years ago to preserve the building, we believe in the restoration and preservation but, in the back of our mind never thought that we would get to this point,” says Carl Cadogan, the chair of London’s Black History Coordinating Committee.

The chapel seemed doomed a few years ago after fundraising efforts to restore the chapel fell short. But, when that campaign didn’t materialize, that idea of moving the chapel to Fanshawe Pioneer Village began.

“All the donors that came on board to help to make this happen, it's amazing. Every day, behind the scenes, it was a lot of work going on to see today. It [came] into fruition. It's just amazing,” says Nikisha Evans, president of the London chapter of the Congress of Black Women.

A federal grant of $150,000 announced Wednesday was enough to get the project moving, leading to the ground turning ceremony at the new site.

“We know that we have the resources in place to provide educational programming. This is a program that is not just for students, but for anyone that wants to understand the early history of London and early history of the black community in London,” Cadogan says.

There are some final permits that need to be secured before the move can happen, but the committee is hopeful that will be accomplished before the end of the year, with the restoration to begin shortly after.

The chapel is expected to be on display in the spring of 2023.