August 2014 – historynerd.ca

The Glebe’s Good Sport

680 Bank Street, currently the home to Kunstadt Sports. Image: July 2014.

Note: as with any new toy, it will be used a fair amount more than it strictly necessary at first. That is, since I finally found a footnote tool that I like, I can finally add notes to these stories. Once the novelty wears off, I’m sure that I will use them more sparingly.

Business, such as it is, can either seem to be eternal or ephemeral. It sometimes feels that a business will last a century if it can last a year. Of course, the space a business occupies can also be as permanent or as fleeting. 680 Bank, at the south west corner of Bank and Clemow in The Glebe, has definitely seen its share of both types. To boot, both before and after the occupation of its longest-lasting tenant (Olympic Sport Shop, at nearly 40 years), this little-storefront-that-could has not once – but twice – served as temporary quarters for a Bank Street neighbour ravaged by fire.

In spite of the general excitement for apartment construction in Ottawa during the 1920s and 1930s, not all plans were able to materialize. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 27, 1930.

Occasionally, a parcel of land will remain vacant long after those around it have been constructed on and the south west corner of Bank and Clemow is one of them. Plans come and go, but issues in timing, the raising of capital, or just plain lack of desire may see the lot remain empty. This lot, at least at one point, was coveted by a small consortium of local builders that had hatched a plan to construct a $200,000 apartment building. Just another example of unbuilt Ottawa.

Entry from the 1949 City Directory. Note that the stated position on the north west corner of Bank and Clemow is incorrect. It would amended in later editions of the directory. Source: Ottawa City Directory, 1949, Pink Page 19.

This small building at 680 Bank Street in The Glebe first appeared in the Ottawa City Directories in 1948 as an office for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). ¹It has been somewhat difficult to reconcile the advertisements which appear in the local news papers with the record in the City Directories. While there do appear to be discrepancies between the advertisements published in the local papers and the listings in the directories, it would seem that company advertisements would be the more accurate of the two. This arrangement did not last long, however. This was probably due to the completion of the Veterans’ Memorial Building (East Memorial Building) in 1949 – allowing the number of small DVA offices around the city to be placed under a single roof.

Fire at 394 Bank. Source: Ottawa Journal, January 26, 1950, Page 1.

On January 26, 1950, a large fire broke out up the street at 394 Bank causing an estimated $400,000 damage. ²It wasn’t even the first electrical fire that the building faced. During the summer of 1945, a short in the fuse panel in the National Labour Hall rendered the residents in the apartments on the third floor homeless. One of those residents was Mrs. Britton, whose husband Lionel was overseas at the time. In addition to leaving 10 homeless, a number of businesses also found themselves without a premises. Three of the businesses were destroyed in their entirety by the fire: the Colonial Art Glass Company, United Refrigeration, and most relevant to this story, the Canadian Tire Associate Store. ³CCB Electric Works, the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, and the National Labour Hall received considerable smoke and water damage The cause of the fire, as reported by Ottawa’s Fire Prevention Bureau, was a short circuit in Canadian Tire’s neon sign. Like most neon signs, it contained a 15,000 volt transformer and the short heated the wires enough to melt the metal covering. ⁴Ottawa Journal, January 27, 1950, pp. 1, 16. The Fire Prevention Bureau was established by the Ottawa Fire Department in 1914.

The fire took the wind out of Centretown’s sails for a little. Source: Ottawa Journal, January 26, 1950.

In spite of the Ottawa Fire Department’s best efforts, it was a write-off. Source: Ottawa Journal, January 26, 1950.

Leroy and MacNish’s Associate Store did not have the distinctive inverted triangle. That came to be used at a later date and was registered as a trademark in 1952. Source: Ottawa Journal, June 28, 1952.

The first ad for Leroy and MacNish’s Canadian Tire Associate Store. Super-Lastic was the corporation’s brand of tires. Source: Ottawa Journal, June 8, 1935, Page 20.

Of the businesses rendered homeless, it seems that none were more popular than the Canadian Tire Associate Store. Established in 1935 by business partners Ed Leroy and Malcolm MacNish, the store quickly outgrew its first premises at 398 Bank and by 1939, it had moved to the much larger storefront at 394 Bank.

Leroy and MacNish quickly sprung into action, promising that they’d be back in action quickly and hinting that the new store was ready to come soon. Source: Ottawa Journal, February 1, 1950, Page 19.

Following the destruction of the store in 1950, Leroy & MacNish moved quickly to find a temporary location from which to conduct business. The chosen location was none other than the recently-vacated premises at 680 Bank. The reason why it was a temporary location is because plans had already been made for the construction of a larger modern store. The Canadian Tire Corporation purchased a lot at the corner of Laurier and Kent from the Kirby Realty Co. for $30,000 back in February of 1945.

The property at Kent and Laurier was the highlight property transfer in February 1945. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 8, 1945, Page 7.

As the flames ravaged the location at 394 Bank, the wheels (tires?) were already in motion. A new store was indeed in the offing. One that would see the company step confidently into the new dawn of the postwar period (or at least, so the ad copy claimed). The modern 21,000 square foot store at Kent and Laurier opened on July 5, 1952. The event was marked by the presence of acting Mayor L.L. Coulter and every customer that passed through was given a free “Spanish style Gaucho hat.”

1952-07-04-Full-Page-Ad-Kent-Laurier-Grand-Opening-Page-11-Display — Announcement of the Grant Opening. Source: Ottawa Journal, July 4, 1952, Page 11.

The opening was quite a party. Source: Ottawa Journal, July 10, 1952, Page 19.

While occupying 680 Bank, it was quite clear that the premises was much too small for the popularity of the store. At only 3,200 square feet, Leroy and MacNish found themselves dealing with lineups out the door, no parking, and angry customers who showed their dissatisfaction by discarding their spent oil filters and tires nearby.

The only image of the former Westboro Canadian Tire that I was able to locate. Though it had been actually open for a part of 1953, its official grand opening was May 1, 1954. Source: Watawa Life.

Of course, the Canadian Tire story in Ottawa continued further, with the opening of another store in Westboro two years later. Leroy continued with the Kent store while MacNish set sail for the Westboro location.

From the Ottawa City Directory, 1953. Once Canadian Tire departed, the Department of Fisheries rented out the space. — From the *Ottawa City Directory*, 1953. Once Canadian Tire departed, the Department of Fisheries rented out the space.

Following the departure of Canadian Tire in the Summer of 1952, the little building was once again put to use for federal government purposes: this time for the Department of Fisheries. As with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs before it, I am not certain about the function that the small office served for them. Once again, the Crown did not need the building for long and was gone by 1958. ⁵Though a small handful of advertisements in the Journal list Budget Motor Sales being at 680 Bank, the business was located at the back of the lot and had an address of 684 Bank. The 1956 fire insurance map shows the layout with 680 Bank as a Department of Fisheries warehouse and 684 Bank as a small structure at the back of the lot.
https://i0.wp.com/www.historynerd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1956-Insurance.jpg?w=564&ssl=1 564w" sizes="(max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px" />

During a fundraiser in 1961, Physiotherapist Margaret McCormack demonstrates some of the work of the recently-formed Ottawa Rehabilitation Institute with four-year-old Leslie Cody. Source: Ottawa Journal, January 14, 1961, Page 16.

The next tenant in the space was the Ottawa Rehabilitation Institute. The Institute was formed at the end of 1957 by the Welfare Council of Ottawa in order to provide rehabilitation services to Ottawans with physical disabilities. The Rehabilitation Centre did not remain there for long either. By 1967, it had formed a partnership with the Royal Ottawa and occupied some space there before moving to its own premises on Meadowlands.

The original Olympic Sports storefront at 753 Bank Street. Source: Ottawa Journal, October 26, 1967. — The old Olympic Sports storefront at 753 Bank Street. Today, it’s home to Naji’s. Source: Ottawa Journal, October 26, 1967.

A Glebe institution, Olympic Sports Shop was established by Karl Havelcik in 1952 and quickly moved to 753 Bank Street. While the Olympic shop began as a smoke shop with sports equipment being sold on the side, Havelcik, who had experience selling sports equipment in his native Vienna, developed a solid reputation in sports equipment. In addition to a mixture of high quality and low prices, Havelcik’s business was doubtlessly bolstered by his high level of community involvement as a popular soccer coach.

Images from Olympic Sport’s grand opening announcement. Source: Ottawa Journal, October 26, 1967.

Olympic’s grand opening took place on October 26, 1967 and it quickly solidified as one of the Glebe’s favourite destinations for sporting goods.

Workers restore the facade of 680 Bank following the departure of Olympic Sports Shop. Source: Google Maps (Street View, October 2007).

In 2006, after nearly 40 years in that location and 55 years in business, Olympic closed its doors for good. While a number of plans were floated (including for an Irish Pub), the next to open was Pannier, a food shop. The Pannier then closed in 2008.

680 Bank once again provides temporary refuge. Image Source: Google Maps (Street View: June 2009)

Once again, it was time for 680 Bank to be an obliging neighbour. In April 2009, the Tommy & Lefebvre, again up the street at 464 Bank, burned. While they were rebuilding, they conducted business at 680. By September of that same year, Kunstadt Sports ⁶Kunstadt appears to have been established in or around 1992. At least, that’s the first citation I was able to locate in the Ottawa Citizen‘s archives. took over and refurbished the space and has been there since. They are doubtlessly building the same relationship with The Glebe that Olympic did before it.

Notes[+]

Notes
↥1	It has been somewhat difficult to reconcile the advertisements which appear in the local news papers with the record in the City Directories. While there do appear to be discrepancies between the advertisements published in the local papers and the listings in the directories, it would seem that company advertisements would be the more accurate of the two.
↥2	It wasn’t even the first electrical fire that the building faced. During the summer of 1945, a short in the fuse panel in the National Labour Hall rendered the residents in the apartments on the third floor homeless. One of those residents was Mrs. Britton, whose husband Lionel was overseas at the time.
↥3	CCB Electric Works, the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, and the National Labour Hall received considerable smoke and water damage
↥4	Ottawa Journal, January 27, 1950, pp. 1, 16. The Fire Prevention Bureau was established by the Ottawa Fire Department in 1914.
↥5	Though a small handful of advertisements in the Journal list Budget Motor Sales being at 680 Bank, the business was located at the back of the lot and had an address of 684 Bank. The 1956 fire insurance map shows the layout with 680 Bank as a Department of Fisheries warehouse and 684 Bank as a small structure at the back of the lot. https://i0.wp.com/www.historynerd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1956-Insurance.jpg?w=564&ssl=1 564w" sizes="(max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px" />
↥6	Kunstadt appears to have been established in or around 1992. At least, that’s the first citation I was able to locate in the Ottawa Citizen‘s archives.

“An insult to the Greber Plan”

The much-hated Island Park Water Tower, in its final days (1988-89). Source: My Old Ottawa, via Lost Ottawa. — The much-hated Island Park Water Tower from the grounds of the Royal Ottawa in its final days (1988-89). Source: My Old Ottawa, via Lost Ottawa.

1950. 1950. 1950. 1950 was a major year for Ottawa. In addition to a rate and scale of (sub)urban growth that was entirely without precedent, the City of Ottawa had just put the finishing touches on an annexation of major swaths of Nepean and Gloucester Townships.

Of the many stories that can be told about such times of rapid change and development, one of the lesser-appreciated ones concerns infrastructure and the often problematic habit we have of building outside the serviced area in our efforts to depress development costs while simultaneously being (logically) unwilling to engage in meaningful preparatory build-out. The need for – and commotion over – the Island Park (Carling Avenue) Water Tower seems as good an illustration as any.

For any number of reasons, the Great Depression wasn’t as unkind to Ottawa as it was to other cities in Canada. In part thanks to the development of entirely new bureaucracies to manage the very necessary relief programs, Ottawa found itself in something of a housing shortage. While much of this was concentrated in the downtown area, areas such as Elmdale, Ottawa East, and the Civic Hospital experienced tremendous build-out during the Depression and Second World War.

Had that miniature construction boom been where the story ended, Ottawa’s then aging and substandard water infrastructure would have still been unable to service the residents that it did – let alone any additional large-scale developments. Indeed, a rather large number of lots in these outlying areas were, for all intents and purposes, unserviced. Well water and septic systems in dense neighbourhoods were worrying enough for the Health Department but at least those homes had the basics. There were a worrying number of homes that were serviced, at least in theory, but turning on the taps often resulted in little more than a trickle. A rather large number of homes for sale advertised pumping systems.

There was also the very problematic issue of fire services often being left with too little pressure to fight fires with. On more than one occasion in the 1930s and 1940s, pressure to the fire hydrants in these new outlying areas was far too weak and homes and businesses were lost as a result.

If all of that was not enough, development outside of Ottawa’s borders had picked up considerably. Nepean Township had come to experience a similar rate of development and, much like Eastview and Gloucester, had cut a deal with Ottawa to purchase water service. By the mid-1940s, Ottawa was having difficulties supplying residents of Nepean with water and they were placed under lawn watering restrictions. Not that they felt that they were receiving adequate service anyway.

Sorry Nepean, your proud midcentury lawns will be golden rather than emerald. Source: Ottawa Journal, July 8, 1948, Page 30.

In 1948, Ottawa’s Water Works Department constructed a booster pump on Carling Avenue at the foot of Sherwood (demolished in 2003-04). Reportedly under the assumption that much of the Elmdale/Civic/Island Park area’s water pressure issue was related to its relatively elevated topographical position, it was thought that the pump would solve the problem. At least this is how it was occasionally spun in the press when reporting on local grievances.

Suffice to say, while the diminutive brick pile would have been preferred by locals, it was only the first phase of a dramatic expansion of the city’s water system. City Hall watchers, who had read the Gore-Storrie Report, knew that the city’s west end was not only about to get a water tower, but also the Carlington Heights Reservoir.

The little booster pump that didn't. While it was probably an effective measure for some homes in the surrounding area, there was only so much it could do when much of the supply was being consumed before it made it. — The little booster pump that didn’t. At least not on its own. While most area residents would have preferred that it be the only measure needed, it was only part of a much larger project to improve the water service for the whole Ottawa area. Image source: geoOttawa (1958 Aerials).

Commensurate with what was outlined in Gore-Storrie, at the end of 1948 the Water Works Department issued a call for tenders for the construction of one 750,000 gallon water tower to be located on the northern edge of the Royal Ottawa Sanatorium’s property.

Problem? Meet Solution. Source: Ottawa Journal, February 24, 1950, Page 3.

According to the Water Works Department’s 1949 Annual Report, only a single bid was received: from Horton Steel Works, the dominant player in water towers. Council approved the contract on February 7, city workers prepared the site through the summer months, and Horton began to erect the tower on December 13. It was expected that the tower would be complete in April 1950.

It was only when Horton began to erect the steel tower that Island Park residents became opposed. It probably did not help that the tower, until completion, was a more natural rusty colour. As John Dalrymple of the Journal reported:

It’s unprintable.

To irritated residents of Island Park Drive, over whose homes it soars like a giant sun-shade, it is ‘that unprintable plumbing fixture.’

Since the start of construction of the $210,000 project last December 20, neighbourhood residents have watched, first with mild interest and then with growing curiosity as the weird structure began to take shape.

Abstract curiosity gave way to alarm as it grew higher and higher, finally rearing into view over the house-tops, dominating the model homes and million dollar Federal District Commission Drive.

Although widely publicized since it was first conceived in 1946, many annoyed home-owners in the area claim that it was only in the past few weeks they had discovered what the project was, believing at first that it was some kind of addition to the Royal Ottawa Sanitorium, which it adjoins.

John Dalrymple, “Monstrous Skeleton Haunts Island Park,” Ottawa Journal, February 3, 1950, Page 3.

One of the interesting points to the Journal’s reporting through the whole ordeal is that it was clear that the paper was very much in favour of the project as it was being implemented. The complaints of Island Park’s residents did not seem to actually curry much sympathy in the pages of the paper. For example, in the same story quoted from above, Dalrymple notes that it was mentioned in the papers no less than 14 times in 1948 when it was decided upon. Furthermore, the site was the only suitable one that fulfilled all of the engineering needs of such a project. Given that in the summer months, the Lemieux Island pumping station’s 42 million gallon pumping capability was well short of demand, it only made sense that the project had to be seen through.

Nevertheless, the opposition quickly organized, and by March a group of Island Park residents was set to present their complaints to City Council. In looking back at these complaints, it becomes clear that terms like “eyesore” and “monstrosity” have always been quickly deployed. One unnamed resident of the area even characterized the water tower “an insult to the Greber Plan.” (!)

While Council may have been more open to residents' criticisms, the Board of Control was not going to be moved. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 15, 1950, Page 3. — While Council may have been more open to residents’ criticisms, the Board of Control was not going to be moved. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 15, 1950, Page 3.

Once their objections were brought before the Board of Control, it was over. The Board was completely in support of the plan as it was being implemented and they were not going to climb down. For them it was as much a matter of absolute need as it was annoyance with the timing of the neighbourhood group. Controller Pickering lambasted them, suggesting that “if [they] were too busy to take an interest in civic affairs at that time, don’t blame us now.”

There was one compromise, however. Rather than the silver-coloured aluminum paint finish that it was to have in the original design, it was going to be painted “a neutral colour, probably one used extensively in highway bridges, notably the Ivy Lea international span.”

As noted above, the Journal was quite vocal about the Island Park residents’ complaints. Following the Island Park residents’ loss at the Board of Control and the general quieting of the opposition, the paper published a number of articles and editorials dismissing the complaints.

The Journal went as far as comparing the popularity of the two water towers in Sudbury to the reaction of Island Park's residents. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 17, 1950, Page 3. — The Journal went as far as comparing the popularity of the two water towers in Sudbury to the reaction of Island Park’s residents. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 17, 1950, Page 3.

While Greber didn't find it to be an insult to his vision, he did not find it aesthetically pleasing. To this end, he assured residents that by painting it the aforementioned grey-green that it would be camouflaged. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 18, 1950. — While Greber didn’t find it to be an insult to his vision, he did not find it aesthetically pleasing. To this end, he assured residents that by painting it the aforementioned grey-green that it would be camouflaged. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 18, 1950.

Ultimately, the grey-green (almost looks like Cambridge Blue) paint did have a sort of camouflaging effect it seems. Once it became clear that the Island Park water tower was in reality more or less as camouflaged as it could be, objections were quieted and withdrawn for the other planned towers, including the one planned for Alta-Vista.

Source: Lost Ottawa / My Old Ottawa

The Island Park water tower was officially put into operation on June 15, 1950 and while the Civic Hospital immediate received a much-needed increase in water pressure, the Citizen reported that when asked, surrounding residents hadn’t noticed much difference in their water pressure.

The Island Park water tower, complete with the long afternoon shadows. Source: geoOttawa (1958 Aerials)

While those in the immediate surrounding area didn’t notice much change in pressure, Westboro’s residents did. Once their water main was connected to the tower it was calculated that they would receive a much-needed additional 15 pounds of pressure. Much like the nearby residents, they too didn’t notice much difference. In Westboro’s case, however, it was because their water main broke under the intersection of Richmond and Churchill, losing 500,000 gallons of water in the process. A combination of frost damage and additional pressure were thought to have caused the break.

The tower was a presence in the west end. Source: Lost Ottawa (n.d.)

The implementation of the Gore-Storrie Report was ultimately successful and the City of Ottawa was able to fulfill the water requirements of not only its own residents in the older parts of the city, but also the newly-annexed parts of Nepean and Gloucester Townships. It also allowed the sprawling suburban development to continue at the clip desired and, as time went on, even the homes that were without service, received it.

As the city’s water system was upgraded and modernized over the years, the water towers constructed in the 1950s became unnecessary. The one at Island Park was dismantled in 1989. At nearly 40 years old, its dismantling does not appear to have either been celebrated or lamented. Looking at the Lost Ottawa Facebook Group, it does appear to factor in the memories of thousands of Ottawans, however.

It same down in very much the same way that it went up. Source: Lost Ottawa / My Old Ottawa.

Nothing but clear skies now.

Island Park Drive, from a similar angle as the the construction photo that was published in the Journal. Source: Google Maps (Street View, Image date: August 2012)