Though it may not seem like it today, certain parts of Vanier North and New Edinburgh were at one point a site of industrial activity and the sort of rough living that is often associated with it. Given its location at the corner of Beechwood and Charlevoix in Vanier (then Eastview), close to Betchermann Iron and Steel and the Dominion Bridge Company (to say nothing of the other nearby industrial organizations), it’s probably not a surprise that the El Ropo would attract a tougher clientele.
Though an award-winning project, the Highlands condominium on St. Laurent seems unremarkable – at least in style – to most. Indeed, in spite my own enthusiasm for this brown brick beauty, I’ve more often than not found that most seats on the bandwagon go unfilled. The same cannot be said for the people who have lived in the Highlands, however. Be it the case that they are current residents or past residents, all of those I have spoken to have shared fond memories related to it. To be certain, while tastes change, Irving Grossman’s early 1970s design has stood on its own.
Continue reading The View From Up Here (The Highlands on St. Laurent, 1970-73)
With all of the beautiful and interesting heritage properties that stand in Ottawa’s Sandy Hill neighbourhood, it’s somewhat interesting that the apartments above are (a) the first buildings that I really remember loving in the neighbourhood, and (b) still among my favourite. In a setting filled with delightful institutional architecture and numerous Victwardian houses, for some, it would be a wonder that a small handful of 1930s apartments are what have stuck in my mind.
Continue reading A Major Development in Sandy Hill (The Major Apartments, Besserer Street, 1937)
It all depends on how you slice and dice it, though it would not be unfair to at least entertain Thorncrest Village’s claim to be Canada’s first planned community. At least not Canada’s first post World War II planned community. To be certain, comprehensive community plans existed previous to the war and, honestly, claims to “first” tend to obscure the realities of invention and innovation. We all stand on the shoulders of giants, after all.
If you’ve ever looked into the construction of apartments, small commercial buildings, and industrial buildings in Ottawa during the mid-century period, there is a nearly 100% chance that you’ve come across a building that was either designed by or altered by J. Morris Woolfson.
Continuing with my use of Might’s Directories to collect data on apartment buildings, above is a map with all of the apartment buildings listed in the 1950 edition. For each of the points on the map, I have given the apartment building’s name (if it has one), its address, and if it has been demolished or replaced, date or date range for when that happened.
Almost nothing displayed was much of a surprise, really. The city’s 1932 atlas was published in colour and identifies numerous landmarks, buildings, and points of interest across the city at the time. Civic, federal, and ecclesiastical infrastructure are all about what would be expected.
Around four years ago, I wrote a short piece for Ottawa Start about the Elphin Apartments, at the corner of Gladstone and Metcalfe in Ottawa’s Centretown. Given the parameters, I was generally pleased with the results but one thing really bothered me: just who was behind the apartment?
Continue reading A Modern Elf (A Brief Update to a Brief History of the Elphin), 1966
It has now been a few years since I first wrote about the Gilbert Apartments, formerly located at 293 Lisgar and soon to be the site of a new 108-unit Claridge apartment. The Werner Noffke-designed walkup was neat as a pin, but had not really received the care it might otherwise have in the intervening decades and had reached its end of life.
Just a heads-up: this one does talk about the death of senior citizens in a relatively recent period.
Continue reading Ottawa’s MacLaren House Gets all the Wrong Attention, 1967-93
Interest-based research is a wonderful thing. Something catches your interest, you ride it out, put it aside. It’s that last part that really gets you. All that effort should, really, result in something. At least a poorly-written blog post, if not something more substantial. This has been one of my peskier issues. Continue reading Apartments, the Depression, and Research Never Completed
As I explore a bit in an upcoming piece about the MacLaren House nursing home (1967-1993) in Ottawa, shelter for seniors came to be a major concern in housing policy during the 1960s.1To be certain, it was a known issue long before that, but it was not until the 1960s in Canada that it received a dedicated policy response.
Continue reading The Heritage: Seniors Housing for Regina, 1971
Notes
| ↥1 | To be certain, it was a known issue long before that, but it was not until the 1960s in Canada that it received a dedicated policy response. |
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