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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…
Par Michel Rossignol Des milliers de véhicules circulent sur l’avenue King Edward chaque jour, mais je me souviens de quelques occasions où il y avait peu ou pas de circulation sur cette rue. Le mercredi, 16 octobre 1957, une belle journée automnale, j’étais dans ma classe de troisième année à l’École Guigues sur la rue…
By Allen Brown The Lady Grey Drive retaining wall, built in 1911 with local stone, has undergone several repairs over the years, most recently in 2010. Despite these efforts, parts of the wall started to collapse near the Ottawa Rowing Club in 2020. The National Capital Commission (NCC) therefore has begun a project to replace…
By Allen Brown The feature story in the February 2024 edition of the Echo focused on city council’s approval of a new addition to the Andaz Hotel and an adjacent 22-storey residential rental building by Claridge Homes at 141 George Street. The article pointed out that the developer didn’t implement recommendations by the Ontario Municipal…
By Nancy Miller Chenier Viewing these sculptural pieces may give you a slight kink in the neck but looking up in Lowertown is worth the effort. Our quartier has a proliferation of outdoor public art featuring winged creatures. Some are representations of our feathered bird friends while others have human forms. All seem content to…
By Nancy Miller Chenier Though few in numbers, the Italian community in Lowertown made a noticeable contribution to the performing arts. A census of Lowertown residents identified Italian families as early as 1851 and by 1900, an estimated 700 Italians had settled here. This article focuses on members of three families. Rocco Graziadei played music,…