Banting House National Historic Site of Canada, a brick two and one half storey house with a modern addition on the back, located in London, Ontario, is owned by the Canadian Diabetes Association. The Association operates the first and second floors of the original structure as a museum with the modern addition containing offices and meeting rooms. The small park in which the house stands contains a statue of Sir Frederick Banting, a time capsule entombed on the site in 1991 and a perpetual gas flame. The Association acquired the site in 1981 because the house, owned by Dr. Frederick Banting between June 1920 and August 1921, witnessed what was to be the defining moment of his life, and the beginning of a dramatic research trajectory that led to the discovery of insulin. In 1997, Banting House was designated a national historic site because it is importantly associated with an event and a person recognized to be of national significance. Additionally, it is the only extant structure associated with Banting between 1920 and 1921 and it is the site of a defining moment in Canadian medical history.
Commemorative integrity describes the health and wholeness of a national historic site. A national historic site possess commemorative integrity:
- When the resources that symbolize or represent the reasons for designation of the national historic site are not impaired or under threat;
- When the reasons for the site’s national historic significance are effectively communicated to the public; and
- When the site’s heritage values, including those not related to national significance, are respected by all whose decisions or actions affect the site.
A Commemorative Integrity Statement (CIS) is an elaboration of what is meant by commemorative integrity for a particular national historic site. The CIS provides the benchmark for planning, managing, operating, reporting and taking remedial action. The CIS for Banting House National Historic Site of Canada may be downloaded as a PDF.
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