Read the latest issue of The Echo! (16-3, August 2025)
Download the full PDF version here.
Having the courage to change
By Josiah Frith, Lowertown Community Association There was a time when horses ruled Ottawa’s streets, pulling carts, carriages, and wagons through Lowertown and beyond. But the charm wore thin. Horses were unpredictable, left the roads filthy with manure, and limited the city’s ability to grow. So came the trains. By the mid-1800s, rail lines were…
Read the latest issue of The Echo! (16-2, May 2025)
Download the full PDF version here.
Farewell to the ByWard Fruit Market, and hello to Hard 2 Find, Hard 2 Get!
By Nadia Stuewer Owners Isaac and Miriam Farbiasz are sad to be closing the ByWard Fruit Market this spring, after 26 years of purveying fresh produce and gourmet foods to residents of the ByWard Market, Lowertown, and beyond. Their customers are sad to see them go too. Isaac and Miriam bought the fruit market…
Read the latest issue of The Echo! (16-1, Winter 2025)
Download the full PDF version here.
New consequences for demolition by neglect
By Allen Brown Representatives from the Lowertown Community Association (LCA) and Heritage Ottawa (HO) expressed their concerns about the proposed demolition of 79 Guigues Street at the December 10, 2024, meeting of the city’s Built Heritage Committee (BHC). The 125-year-old home is only a block away from three other buildings on St. Patrick Street lost…
A farewell to Saslove’s Meat Market – “The fight’s gone”
By Nadia Stuewer In early August, Saslove’s Meat Market, the beloved ByWard Market institution, announced that it will be closing at the end of September. The Echo spoke with owner John Diener. The first question on our mind was, of course, “why are you closing?” John replied that business in his store has been declining…
Beating summer heat in 1920s Lowertown
By Nancy Miller Chenier On July 13, 1921, the temperature in Ottawa reached 38° C (100 Fahrenheit). The heat had been building for weeks and residents of Lowertown were sweltering. Men, women, and children were seeking every method possible to get relief from the weeks of hot weather. So, what were some of the options…
Thoughts on a climate-resilient Lowertown
By Kate Laing Call it solastalgia or eco-anxiety, the feelings are the same – worry, concern, and grief about the future of our planet. Like many others, I am thinking daily about the climate crisis and how to manage its impacts, both globally and right here in our own community of Lowertown. We have dedicated…