I’ve always been a fan of this picture. One of the busy Ottawa street scenes captured by Gilbert A. Milne & Co. on June 17, 1957. I wrote a bit about one of the shots previously, and Robert Smythe has taken the whole series in turn.
In the same way that Ottawa grew out during the 1950s and 1960s, it also grew up. The names were even the same: Robert Campeau, Garfield Weston, Ken Greene, and of course, Bill “Mr. Kanata” Teron. The Teron Building, located on the northeast corner of Laurier and O’Connor was Teron’s second office building in Ottawa and, at the time of construction, his tallest.
Maligned by some, I have never hidden my love for the Library and Archives building at 395 Wellington. I’ve always found Alvan Mathers’ design for the building to be both monumental and welcoming at the same time. To my eye it is certainly a “building befitting, in design and size, the dignity of the Dominion and the importance of the undertaking” of a National Library (and Archive).1F. Dolores Donnelly. The National Library of Canada (Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1973): 41.
Continue reading It’s a Library and it’s an Archive and it’s My Favourite
Notes
| ↥1 | F. Dolores Donnelly. The National Library of Canada (Ottawa: Canadian Library Association, 1973): 41. |
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There has always been something a little passive sounding to me about using “lost” to speak of buildings that are no longer standing. In so many cases, a building’s removal was a deliberate act undertaken with clear eyes and a clear purpose. The reasons may vary (no longer adequate, stands in the way of desired vistas, etc.), but the building’s demolition was no accident. To that end, I have begun a new series of much shorter posts that highlight a demolished building. I hope to get one done every two weeks.
When I last wrote of Stephens Block on the southwest corner of Bank and Sparks streets, I left off with the purchase of The Belmont Pharmacy, Tea Room, and Rainbow Tea Room by local restauranteur Peter Karson. In this instalment (the third and final), I focus on the various fires, both literal and figurative, which beset Stephens Block and Karson’s Restaurant in particular. It was only after having being forged in these fires that the resulting Embassy Restaurant was able to stand as the well-loved establishment that it was. At least until the need for federal office space proved too potent a foe.
Continue reading A Bank, A Spark, and the Fight to Keep Uptown Ottawa (Tinder) Dry
Last week, I wrote a short piece about Spero Andrews’ Embassy Restaurant, which was located at the south west corner of Bank and Sparks streets. As I concluded that story, I noted that there would be more to come, as that particular corner has, unsurprisingly, had a particularly storied history. In this instalment, I explore its history from R.W. Stephens’ purchase of the property to Peter Karson’s purchase of the the Rochester-Belmont Pharmacy, Tea Room, and Rainbow Tea Room.
Continue reading “The busiest corner on the busiest street.”
Until it was successfully controlled, that the Rideau River flooded each spring was not a surprising fact to Ottawans. Although the degree to which it did varied considerably over the years, that it did at all was largely a sure bet.
Given the reputation that Ottawa’s downtown has today, it may come as a surprise that it was at one point something of a hot spot in the city. Through the 1950s, 60s, and into the mid-1970s, a number of hotels, restaurants, and taverns kept Ottawans up and lively well into the wee hours of the night. In such venues as the Belle Claire Hotel, you could rub elbows with cabinet ministers, business personalities, and members of the high-flying Ottawa Rough Riders. The Embassy Restaurant and Tavern, though perhaps less well-known, was a popular spot in its own right, and was located right around the corner, at Bank and Sparks.
Continue reading The Embassy Restaurant, Bank and Sparks (1953)
I’ve been on a roll lately when it comes to the cluster apartments developments of the 1950s. Since 1965 is my next stop in the apartment list transcription project, it’s most likely going to be the case that what catches my attention in that year will not be the clusters that defined the 1950s. To that end, much like I have done with Doug O’Connell’s Westwood Park, I’ve decided to select a few of these developments that were completed after 1955. In this case, I’ve looked back eastward, towards Alta Vista’s Riverview Park neighbourhood.
Continue reading The Alta Vista Drive Apartments and the Alta Vista Shopping Centre (1956)
As it looms over Jack Purcell Park1I really don’t care that the racquet art was inspired by the wrong Jack Purcell., the Governor Metcalfe Apartments at 330 Metcalfe has been witness to a considerable number of changes that have taken place in its front yard, including the construction of the park itself in 1967 and its popular dog run in 2011. Continue reading Update! The Governor Metcalfe (1959)
Notes
| ↥1 | I really don’t care that the racquet art was inspired by the wrong Jack Purcell. |
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If you will remember my “Ottawa’s Apartments, 1955” piece a few days ago, you’ll probably remember that Doug O’Connell was a busy man during the 1950s and 1960s. Whether it be alone, or with his brother in law Allan Witt, O’Connell had his fingers in a tremendous number of pies through those years. As part of my own efforts to untangle the seemingly anonymous development the apartment clusters in Laurentian View, I was able to put a name to the cluster of 7 ten-unit apartments along Byron that lies between Sherbourne Road and the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral.
A few days ago, I posted a lengthy story about cluster developments of apartment buildings in suburban neighbourhoods during the 1950s. While I made every attempt to be as complete as possible, I had found that information pertaining to the three clusters (two of which were complete and listed in 1955) in the Laurentian View area was somewhat difficult to come by. There were few reports quickly found in either the Journal or the Citizen, and Might’s Directory, being what it is, was less than useful in learning names and ownership at the time. To that end, since it’s just so conveniently located, I headed out for the Land Registry Office.