Some good news in the local newsblurb called The Londoner this week - sorry the photographs didn't copy but the link is below:

http://www.thelondoner.ca/2013/01/30/funding-injection-for-banting-...

Friday, February 1, 2013
London, ON
News Local
Funding injection for Banting House
By Shobhita Sharma, Londoner

Wednesday, January 30, 2013 10:04:28 EST AM

Photo Caption: Museum curator Grant Maltman at the "Dear Dr. Banting" exhibit at Banting House National Historic Site of Canada in London. Banting House received $147,419 as part of the federal government's Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund (CIIF).

Federal money is set to breathe new life into one of London’s best-known former residents.

Last week, Banting House National Historic Site of Canada was granted $147,419 from federal government’s Community Infrastructure Improvement Fund.

“It’s huge! We have a lot of stabilization projects that we want to undertake as a national historic site,” said museum curator Grant Maltman, Jan. 24. “It’s wonderful to have partners like the federal government see value in our site and say this is a project worthy of undertaking.”

The money will go towards the much-needed restoration of the century-old building — the residence of Sir Frederick Banting and the birthplace of Insulin, the hormone millions of people living with diabetes rely on each day.

Beginning in March, the front porch, roof and the chimney at the historic site will undergo repair work that is expected to take nearly a year to complete. The museum will remain open during repairs.

Each year, hundreds of people make the trip — a pilgrimage of sorts — to the Banting House to pay their tributes to the discoverer of Insulin. In fact, last year the museum saw record attendance with people from 77 unique countries visiting Banting House. So far in 2013, the museum has been visited by more than 150 already — a number Maltman said he is happy with considering January is usually a slow month for the site.

“People continue to leave Banting notes until this day (when they visit),” he said.

The museum has collected such notes left by visitors over the past five years and matched them with those Banting received from diabetics from all over the world in the 1920s and 1930s. Those letters are now a part of an exhibit — Dear Dr. Banting — which opened on World Diabetes Day, Nov.14.

“Things haven’t changed — although he has been gone for more than 60 years now, people feel compelled to leave these notes for him,” Maltman said. “We realize we’ve reached them. They understand the importance of Diabetes and the work that we are doing here and more importantly raise awareness to find a cure.”

The museum is planning to extend the exhibit that was initially scheduled to run until May.

Shobhita.Sharma@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @LondonerShobh
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It's great to see some help from the Feds going to this incredible reminder of how we got to be here today! Last fall, when we met with Nel, her sister-in-law was denied access to the second floor and the famous bedroom where first the insulin idea was hatched and so many other wonderful exhibits in the house of Frederick G. Banting as they were all on the second floor and many many steep stairs away from ground level.

We were fortunate enough to have a 'guided tour' with Mr. Maltman and he is a wonderful proponent for this historic site and for The Cure! He promised they would be adding an elevator to the museum just as soon as enough funds were collected. I hope this federal injection will help. I know Grant has worked very hard to secure these and all other monies from all parties, including our beloved gub'mint.

And yes, I left a note for Dr. Banting to maybe dream about a couple other diseases we would all love to see vanquished. But I suspect the postage on those cards (also supplied by the museum) is pretty much 'out of this world' so I left my card on his desk with all the other notes and best wishes to Dr. Banting. RIP doc. Too bad he could stick around and continue his awesome work.

~b