by Robert Smythe The opening of the nearby Victoria Memorial Museum and its surrounding park attracted the first wave of apartment houses to the south end of Elgin Street. This type of building had become newly respectable to the professional…
Category: History
Skyline: The quest for public space
by Robert Smythe Centretown is a neighbourhood bereft of well-designed public spaces with great places to sit. Each new development has presented an opportunity to create new pocket parks, but the record is spotty. Is it possible to construct new…
Skyline: the early apartments of Centretown
by Robert Smythe Centretown has a rich legacy of apartment buildings, beginning in the early 1900s and reaching a stylish peak in the 1930s. Several major real estate developers were active in these years. Among them was Snear Miller (1879-1952),…
The long strange history of Bank and Gilmour
by Robert Smythe The intersection of Bank and Gilmour Street has seen its fair share of history. The Gilmour Hotel (above) at the northwest corner was built for the Cluff Brothers, a city alderman and a business-promoter with rascally reputations.…
Heritage Skyline: The ghosts of Jack Purcell Park
Library lessons learned: Will history repeat itself?
by Robert Smythe Library and Archives Canada has offered to sweeten the deal, and both of the potential LeBreton Flats developers are dangling the possibility of a “starchitect”-designed OPL. With the latest suitors, the Ottawa Public Library’s long search…
660 Maclaren Street: a window into Ottawa’s past
by David Lafranchise and Marc Lowell The substantial brick house at 660 Maclaren Street, near Bronson, grew out of the prime industry of Victorian Ottawa—the milling and export of softwood lumber to the United States. William Hamilton, a partner in…
Bank’s Heritage: the churches
By Robert Smythe Although its development was more closely associated with commerce, the Centretown section of Bank Street also had religious buildings. Here are four of Bank’s churches. (Photos: Library and Archives Canada, City Archives, Ottawa Journal)
Heritage File: The many banks of Bank Street
by Robert Smythe How did Bank Street get its name? The origin is murky, but it actually wasn’t because of the number of banks that once lined the street. Today there is only one remaining in the blocks between Laurier…
20 Years Ago In The Buzz. . .
Issue Three led off with an article on the establishment of the Women’s Monument in Minto Park. Five days before our print date (and 20 years later), the annual December 6 vigil remembering the Montreal Massacre was held at this…
Bank Street Heritage Files: The Halls
by Robert Smythe, City Editor Upper floor public assembly halls were once a feature of social and political life on Bank Street. At their peak, around 1900, there were at least half a dozen public halls on top of commercial…
20 years ago in the BUZZ – November ‘95: election results cause year-long legal battle
Cover stories in November of 1995 focused on the Centretown Heritage District Conservation Study, which proposed strategies for holding on to community history, a recount from the previous year’s municipal election, and the lack of community-based policing in Centretown. To…
From the editor’s desk: Happy birthday! Looking ahead
by Kathryn Hunt On October 2 and 3, we got together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this paper’s first issue. There was a party for our volunteers and supporters, and a session the next day to look at our…
After 90 years, it’s time to return the favour!
St. Anthony’s Catholic School invites the community to a gala to raise funds for its schoolyard greening initiative by Sonia Vani Most of us know that Ottawa’s Little Italy is built around Corso Italia’s restaurants, retailers and St. Anthony’s Church.…
“The Cold War began in Ottawa”: the significance of the Gouzenko house
by Kathryn Hunt You could pass it without noticing anything about it, really, other than its signature little round windows. I did for years, until a friend pointed it out to me as we walked past Dundonald Park. “You see…
Dalhoustories – Fire Station #7
That oddly-shaped building at 58 Arthur Street looks like it has had several lives. This month’s Dalhoustories will explain it all. This building has really only had two. For 50 years, it was the City’s No. 7 Fire Hall. Since…
From the editor’s desk: Looking forward to 2015
It has been a busy fall at The Centretown BUZZ. As we head into the new year, I wanted to stop and recognize the fact that we are also heading into the paper’s 20th anniversary year. The Centretown BUZZ was…