Ottawa’s Building Permits, 1945

James Beach and R.C. Greig teamed up to construct this apartment on Second Avenue at Bronson in 1945. Image: Google Maps (May 2016).

Due to the wartime material and labour shortages I noted yesterday, construction in 1945 was, to say the least, pokey. Where there were 55 “important” building permits listed in the 1946 Annual Report, the number was only 24 in 1945.

The single most expensive permit that year was for James Beach’s apartment, located on Second Avenue at Bronson in the Glebe. The 24-unit $100,000 apartment was completed in the Summer of 1946.¹”$100,000 Apartment For Second Avenue, Ottawa Journal, November 12, 1945, p. 1.; “1946 May See Biggest Boom in Ottawa Building,” Ottawa Journal, January 12, 1946, p. 1. Beach, of course, went on to construct a number of apartments through the 1950s and 1960s.

Nothing was sacrificed for Beach's new building: the slightly off-shape lot was empty. Image: geoOttawa (1928). — Nothing was sacrificed for Beach’s new building: the slightly off-shape lot was empty. The surrounding homes in the Glebe were, at the time, quite new. Image: geoOttawa (1928).

Another notable project that was permitted in 1945 is Hyman Berlin’s $60,000 Nelson Theatre, or the Bytowne Cinema, as it is known today. Earlier this year, Robert Smythe gave some of the theatres of that era a good shakeout, including the Nelson.

The Bytowne Theatre is probably the most well-loved feature of Uptown Rideau. Image: July 2014. — The Bytowne Theatre (born the Nelson) was 1945’s fourth most valuable building permit issued. Image: July 2014.

Owner	Description	Location	Value
Henry Birks & Sons	Store front alterations	Sparks Street	35000
H. Berlin	Theatre and Stores	Rideau Street	60000
Chateau Cheese Co.	Boiler House	York Street	15000
J.R. Beach & R.C. Greig	Apartment House	-	100000
Corporation of Ottawa	Storage Building	Bayview Road	14692
Roman Catholic School Board	School	Graham Avenue	78000
Ottawa Paint Works	Factory	Wellington Street	30000
H.V. O'Rourke	Store and Apartments	Somerset Street West	15000
Ottawa Electric Railway	Garage	Middle Street	27000
McCoy Service	Storage and Storage Building	York Street	15000
Ritchie Feed & Seed Co.	Grain Elevator	Boteler Street	25000
John Heney & Son	Garage	Catherine Street	30000
Hancock Tire & Tread Co.	Workshop and Garage	-	17000
J.R. Booth, Ltd.	Barking Drum Building	Booth Street	21000
J.R. Booth, Ltd.	Storage Building	Booth Street	20400
M.R. Lortie	Apartment House	St. Patrick Street	20070
Dept. of Finance	House to Apartments	Wilbrod Street	14200
Murphy-Gamble Ltd.	Garage and Warehouse	Laurier Avenue West	25000
Dept. of Public Works	Laboratory	Rochester Street	80475
Jas. More & Sons	Office Building	Laurier Avenue West	22500
B. Weiss	Repairs to fire damaged building	Rideau Street	15000
M.L. Cleary	Triplex	Rideau Terrace	22500
Dept. of National Defence	Transport Building	Lansdowne Park	55000
Canadian National Railways	Garage	King Edward Avenue	33708

Notes[+]

Notes
↥1	”$100,000 Apartment For Second Avenue, Ottawa Journal, November 12, 1945, p. 1.; “1946 May See Biggest Boom in Ottawa Building,” Ottawa Journal, January 12, 1946, p. 1.