Second Battle of Lundy's Lane? Fight is on to save storied War of 1812 site

On the eve of a War of 1812 bicentennial being heavily promoted by the federal government - and just days before a Dec. 13 deadline for bidders - the City of Niagara Falls, Ont., is scrambling to come up with a plan to purchase and preserve the site of the deadliest of all clashes between American invaders and British-led troops defending colonial Canada: the 1814 Battle of Lundy's Lane.

As it happens, Prime Minister Stephen Harper himself stood on the spot last year to declare the battle a key turning point in Canadian history.

Today, the patch of earth where more blood was spilled than at any other place in Canada during the war is the site of Battlefield Public School and its surrounding playground. But due to declining enrolment, the school was closed in June by the District School Board of Niagara and the property is set to be sold - potentially, heritage advocates fear, to a private developer....