Last summer, I wrote a very brief story about the corner of Bank and Slater that mentioned Saro’s Stereo and Television Centre.
Saro’s Corners Bank and Slater
Tag: Downtown
Quickie: Lord Elgin Hotel (1941)
Recently, the Lord Elgin Hotel celebrated its 75th anniversary. The wartime hotel on federally-owned land couldn’t have been constructed at a better time for a capital that was about to undergo a dramatic transformation. I was recently thumbing through the pages of some back issues of the RAIC Journal for an unrelated project and came across the following from the December 1941 edition.
Toronto-Dominion Sparks a Conversation
When I wrote about the recently demolished TD Bank branch on Sparks Street, I had noted that the one-storey midcentury gem necessitated the demolition of existing buildings. Here is a view of the facades taken on August 8, 1956. It’s all academic now, but I still prefer Mathers and Haldenby’s work to what it replaced.
City Parking, Metcalfe (1973)
I recently wrote a bit about the adventures and misadventures in development experienced by Bernard Herman’s City Parking Ltd. (Citicom) in Ottawa. The photograph above was taken by Bill Cadzow of the CMHC in February 1973, just before City Parking announced its Canada Centre project. For all it could have been, the Canada Centre was permanently iced when the National Capital Commission purchased the developer’s entire downtown portfolio in 1976. It would not be until 1984 that the site would be constructed on, with the Manulife Place office being completed in 1987.
Bank between Laurier and Slater (1960)
Another photograph from Ted Grant’s series “Meter Maids“. This time looking north on Bank, half way between Laurier Avenue and Slater. Outside of James Strutt’s rather disappointing renovation of the Jackson Building, one thing to notice in the shot of the Stage Door Restaurant. It’s difficult to make out on the southwest corner of Bank and Slater: just beside the third car parked on the left.
Demolished Ottawa: Toronto-Dominion Bank, Sparks Street
Earlier this spring, the Toronto-Dominion Bank branch on Sparks street was demolished to make way for Ashcroft’s much-delayed reResidences project.1Also known as the Canlands ‘A’ development. See Contentworks Inc. 111-113 Queen St. & 106-116 Sparks St., Cultural Heritage Impact Statement. June 2013; Patrick Langston. “Cosmopolitan Mr. Choo,” Ottawa Citizen, December 12, 2009, p. 19; Mark Brownlee. “Still waiting for a spark,” Ottawa Business Journal, October 30, 2012; NCC Watch, Canlands ‘A’ Archive; “Ashcroft to start over on facade of long-delayed Sparks street project,” Ottawa Business Journal, February 13, 2014; David Reevely. “Decrepit Sparks Street building to be demolished for Ashcroft project,” Ottawa Citizen, February 13, 2014; Ashcroft Homes / CNW. “For the first time in 150 years; 108-116 Sparks St. heritage façade work underway.” May 11, 2016. While the heritage façade of the former Centre Theatre seems to have garnered most of the attention, for one reason or another, it is the demolition of the midcentury modern Toronto-Dominion Bank branch that has captivated me.
Continue reading Demolished Ottawa: Toronto-Dominion Bank, Sparks Street
Notes
| ↥1 | Also known as the Canlands ‘A’ development. See Contentworks Inc. 111-113 Queen St. & 106-116 Sparks St., Cultural Heritage Impact Statement. June 2013; Patrick Langston. “Cosmopolitan Mr. Choo,” Ottawa Citizen, December 12, 2009, p. 19; Mark Brownlee. “Still waiting for a spark,” Ottawa Business Journal, October 30, 2012; NCC Watch, Canlands ‘A’ Archive; “Ashcroft to start over on facade of long-delayed Sparks street project,” Ottawa Business Journal, February 13, 2014; David Reevely. “Decrepit Sparks Street building to be demolished for Ashcroft project,” Ottawa Citizen, February 13, 2014; Ashcroft Homes / CNW. “For the first time in 150 years; 108-116 Sparks St. heritage façade work underway.” May 11, 2016. |
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The Regent and Stephen(s) Block
Captured Moment: Wellington Street (1957)
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.
It’s All Looking Up For Bill Teron
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.
It’s a Library and it’s an Archive and it’s My Favourite
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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A Bank, A Spark, and the Fight to Keep Uptown Ottawa (Tinder) Dry
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
“The busiest corner on the busiest street.”
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.”