City rejects further study of a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) near Macdonald Gardens Park
By Allen Brown
On June 9, 2026, the City of Ottawa’s Built Heritage Committee endorsed a Heritage Planning staff feasibility assessment that recommended the city not proceed with an HCD study or prepare an HCD plan for the area around Macdonald Gardens Park in Lowertown East.
The assessment found that the area was not a strong candidate for designation due to its “. . . highly varied character, limited contextual features and low potential to meet the Ontario Heritage Act’s (OHA) test for designation.” On the other hand, it did direct Heritage Planning staff to evaluate a list of 10 individual properties for possible designation under Part IV of the OHA.
Rideau-Vanier Councillor, Stephanie Plante, said she was “disappointed that they [Heritage Planning staff] came to this conclusion, although I understand their reasoning in the report.”
Unfortunately, the assessment differs from the longstanding view of the Lowertown Community Association (LCA), which recommended protection for an area that is uniquely different from other Lowertown areas. It is considered to be visually cohesive and remarkably untouched by urban renewal. The neighbourhood features buildings by well-known Ottawa architects such as Noffke, Sullivan, and Richards and Abra, and has been home to prominent judges, parliamentary speakers, notable lawyers, doctors, and Sports Hall of Fame figures. The decision leaves vulnerable many of the nearly 50 buildings in the area that were recently removed from the Heritage Register.
summer house that presides over Macdonald
Gardens Park.
(Photo: Carleton.ca)
The Friends of Macdonald Gardens Park also expressed its deep disappointment with the assessment. They noted it was a departure from the community’s understanding that the 2017 heritage designation of Macdonald Gardens Park itself was the first step in recognizing the broader cultural landscape of the surrounding area that gives the park its meaning and context. They wrote: “Without an HCD, [development] decisions will continue to be made incrementally, without a clear framework to guide change. The long-term result is not immediate loss, but gradual erosion – something communities often only recognize when it is too late to reverse.”
The LCA’s Heritage Committee endorses this view and echoes the disappointment voiced by Councillor Plante. The Committee sees the recommendation not to proceed to a full HCD study in the area north of Macdonald Gardens as an unfortunate one. Once the Committee has had an opportunity to more fully evaluate the report’s recommendations, it hopes to provide a more detailed response to the decision.
The long-term result is not immediate loss, but gradual erosion – something communities often only recognize when it is too late to reverse.
