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By Nancy Miller Chenier In May 2025, the Heritage Impact Assessment and Conservation Plan for the proposed development at 168-174 Murray Street stated that it would include “the conservation and rehabilitation of both the two-storey brick clad frame building located at 174 Murray and the one and one half-storey log/frame building at 168 Murray.” The…
By Nancy Miller Chenier In 1987, the Champagne Bath at 321 King Edward Avenue was designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The heritage plaque on this building heralds the fact that the Champagne Bath is “a serious work of architecture, a significant social document, and a distinctive element in the King Edward…
By Michel Rossignol In 1864, Ottawa’s municipal government decided to improve the city’s firefighting capabilities by buying two hook and ladder wagons for two fire brigades, one in Lowertown and one in Uppertown. There were no funds to buy horses, so the wagons had to be pulled by twenty volunteer firefighters. There was another problem….
By Nancy Miller Chenier This is the first in a new series that tells the stories of some of the 50+ individually designated heritage buildings in our community. The Ontario Heritage Act, first enacted fifty years ago in March 1975, allowed our municipality to designate individual properties for their architectural and historical value. When the…
By Michel Rossignol In troubled times, it is comforting to remember days in the past when residents of Lowertown celebrated. For example, there were many joyful celebrations on Monday, May 7, 1945. The day began quietly like most days that spring, but by the evening, people were dancing in the streets of Lowertown. Today, the…
By Marc Aubin Joseph-Thomas Duhamel (1841-1909) was one of the most influential residents of Ottawa’s Lowertown and Ontario’s French-Canadian history. He was the son of a blacksmith, the youngest of 12, and only two years old when his family came to Ottawa in 1843. Three of his brothers were local butchers. Fully bilingual, Duhamel was…
By Nancy Miller Chenier Only a few three-storey apartments are left in Lowertown East from King Edward Avenue to Cobourg Street. In the late 1960s, the widescale demolitions as part of urban renewal greatly reduced their number. One notable exception is 285-287-289 Clarence Street, a red brick building with multiple balconies displaying pot belly railings….
By Nancy Miller Chenier A magnificent, repurposed church, St. Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, home of the National Irish Canadian Cultural Centre, and the ruins of Our Lady’s, a former Roman Catholic school, now serve as monuments to the Irish Catholic settlers of Lowertown. Along the south side of St. Patrick Street between Cumberland and…
By Curtis Wolfe Tormey Street, bordering Macdonald Gardens Park in Lowertown East, commemorates William Tormey, a blacksmith and civic leader whose work during the Rideau Canal’s construction, and contributions to the development of early Bytown, had a long-lasting impact on the city. Born in 1795 in County Tyrone in what is now Northern Ireland, William…
By Michel Rossignol Thousands of vehicles travel on King Edward Avenue every day, but I remember a few occasions when there was little or no traffic on that street. On Wednesday, October 16, 1957, I was in my third-grade class at Guigues School on Murray Street between Dalhousie and Cumberland. Around 9:30, the teacher told…