Established in 1967 Winter 1999 Celebrating our 30th year Volume 25, No. 4 Dedicated to Preserving Our Built Heritage CHUM now has City support to The President’s Report — erect its enormous tower in the Bytown Market. Visually offensive, The Year in Review monstrously out of scale, destruc- tive of the heritage integrity of this By Carolyn Quinn designated Heritage District, and, we now know, unnecessary for its This past year has been a busy one for sector company Eau Vive, who provided stated broadcast purposes. both canoe and boatman. Six other Heritage Ottawa. The organization has Byward Market resident John informative and unique tours kept partici- successfully fulfilled its mandate to edu- Edwards has been following the pants returning for more! cate and inform residents and visitors of curious twisted story and submits A special thank you goes out to all the city’s valuable heritage buildings and this probe of the strange goings-on. districts. The armchair and walking tours the intrepid volunteer guides who con- exposed many to the benefits of heritage tribute so much to the success of these conservation practice, however, our valuable tours: John Leaning, Terry advocacy work has been arguably less deMarsh, Fern Graham, Judy Deegan, The Proposed successful in meeting our preservation Glenn Lockwood, Louisa Coates and goals. Mark Brandt. Thank you one and all!! February and March saw the pre- Heritage Ottawa was also an active CHUM Tower participant in several events celebrating sentation of five instructive and entertain- If Moses Znaimer and CHUM, his the city’s history and heritage including ing slide-shows where topics ranged Toronto-based radio and television con- Heritage Day ceremonies hosted at All from the fascinating landscape history of glomerate, have their way, a 127-foot Saints’ Church in Sandy Hill, Colonel By the Central Experimental Farm by histori- tower, equivalent in height to a 10-storey Day activities and more recently Bytown an Edwinna von Baeyer, to a highly infor- building, will be erected on a squat 2- Days in the Byward Market. Heritage mative evening with architect Lyette storey structure in the historic Byward Ottawa will be represented in the Local Fortin who spoke on the restoration of Market along with a considerable number Architectural Conservation Advisory the Parliamentary Precinct. In between, of 13-foot wide dishes on the roof. Committee’s Quarter Century Report, we enjoyed the architecture of Werner From public records, from scrutiniz- due to be released in the new year, with Noffke with Gordon Cullingham; we visit- ing City files, from discussion with a vari- articles contributed by several members ed the Art Deco hotels and theatres of ety of experts and lawyers, and from an of the Board. Miami with Paul Stumes; and architect October meeting with Moses Znaimer These successes were accompa- Richard Limmert shared his restoration and some of his staff, an interesting tale nied by serious losses for Ottawa’s her- and adaptive re-use of the old Fraser emerges of an enterprise determined to itage. Over the summer City Council Schoolhouse at 62 John Street. get its way, an out-played city administra- approved the construction of a 45-metre Our walking tour season was a great tion, and a community fighting an tower in the heart of the Byward Market success again this year beginning with eleventh-hour action. and the demolition of two buildings on architect John Leaning leading the way CHUM is on track to pull off a Bank Street in the soon-to-be-designated through the back alleys of the Glebe and remarkable public relations coup — the Heritage District. In both cases the vote ending with architect Mark Brandt’s capti- creation of an attention-demanding bea- was a six-to-five split against heritage vating visit, via canoe, to historic Victoria con for their new premises, a signpost preservation. Island and Chaudière Falls. This latter visible from Confederation Square and tour involved partnering with the private Heritage Ottawa, among other Continued page 2 Continued page 3 1 President’s Report… preservation of the commercial function of Bank Street for the last century and longer. The LACAC voted unanimously groups, lobbied against the proposed against the demolition and pressed for STAY transmission tower at 87 George Street their preservation alongside Heritage as inappropriate for Ottawa’s most Ottawa at the Planning and Economic ALERT!!! historic heritage designated district in Development Committee. The City of terms of its size, scale, materials and Ottawa Official Plan states the block in Shocking as it may seem, the NCC detailing. Unfortunately, the majority question is the most significant heritage have not given up plans for the widen- of city councillors were blinded by area on Bank Street. Further backing ing of Metcalfe Street. The fixation Nokomis, the Algonquin goddess came from the City Centre Coalition with “la grande allée” or boulevard to weathervane that will sit atop the and the Heritage Canada Foundation. meet the Peace Tower of the Centre structure. So they gave CHUM Media But this support was not enough. Block at huge cost to the heritage the unfair advantage of having what The preservation of our historic building fabric of the city is still being amounts to oversized signage. (See urban fabric is not about being anti- considered. As the NCC celebrates it John Edwards’ report on page...) development. Providing designated 100th anniversary it is surprising that City Council also voted to give protection to important heritage more attention has not been paid to Standard Life the go-ahead to demolish resources in the community does not one of the first reports prepared for the two buildings at 142-148 Bank Street preclude redevelopment of the site. then Ottawa Improvement Commission that comprise one-third of the buildings Many examples of creative, award- by landscape architect Frederick Todd. on the west side of the block. This will winning solutions involving the He advises against approaching the result in the loss of a critical mass of adaptive re-use of heritage buildings city as a “Washington of the north.” its heritage building stock and destroy exist in our city. Mr. Gréber certainly recognized this the historic commercial streetscape. On a happier note, the Central when he proposed the widening of Combined the buildings of the block cre- Experimental Farm, recently given a Elgin Street, a boulevard that culmi- ate a high concentration of old National Historic Site designation, has nates with Confederation Square structures that have contributed to the seen a real commitment on the part of before curving westward to reveal the the department of Agriculture and Agri- city’s magnificent Gothic Revival pile. Foods Canada with the appointment of Heritage Ottawa will need all the sup- an official advisory council on heritage port we can muster to prevent the matters and the commitment of some butchering of centretown so some $250,000 to the restoration of the Booth politician or bureaucrat can leave their Barn. (Please see “Central Experimental mark, or in this case scar, on the city. Farm” on page...) As the NCC considers spending The year 2000 will bring new chal- untold sums on this misguided concept lenges for the organization. We must other heritage property under its stew- consider certain inevitable changes if our ardship, namely the modest but impor- preservation goals are to remain relevant tant houses on the Nicholas/Waller tri- within the expanding regional political angle, heritage resources that mark a structure. Our education mandate gateway to the central area, are left to deteriorate. It would seem that money Heritage Ottawa is a non-profit becomes more urgent within the wider context of the digital revolution’s launch for a basic maintenance programme organisation dedicated to advocating cannot be found. Andrex Holdings the preservation, restoration, and into a futuristic cyberspace. How will the Inc., which have successfully restored adaptive re-use of the National survival of the artifacts of our collective Capital’s built and natural heritage. past measure up against the kinds of many heritage sites in this city, includ- technological changes that discard as ing Wallis House, is waiting on the Membership fees: Individual $25 obsolete that which was deemed state- sidelines with a restoration/adaptive re- Family $30; Student/Senior $15 of-the-art little more than a decade ago. use proposal should the NCC be will- Patron $50; Corporation $75 These are issues that must be tackled as ing to negotiate. Stay tuned... Heritage Ottawa, 2 Daly Avenue, the new millennium approaches. Ottawa, ON, K1N 6E2, Tel. 230- 8841 1SSN 1483-9032 Guest Editor: Gordon Cullingham Layout: Tyrell Reproductions Ltd. 2 CHUM Tower… them any indication of the controversial tower record comments from Industry Canada offi- to come? cials from many of the approaches to the Market, City officials claim to have heard of a and a clearly unambiguous open letter from ironically because of past enforcement of tower only in March 1999. What powers did Dr. Peter Strickland, a specialist height restrictions in this heritage area. Their the City have over the erection of the tower in antenna technology associated with arguments go something like this: at that time? There would seem to have Carleton University, confirmed that • Technology is beautiful; a nest of giant been two: alternative ways of sending and receiving satellite dishes on a roof is attractive. A 1. The Ontario Heritage Act. To quote a signals at that location did indeed exist. 127-foot broadcasting tower, tarted up a senior City planner in early March: “I am Despite many presentations against the little with ornamentation, gets compared expecting an Application to Alter this proper- tower before Ottawa’s Planning Committee to the Eiffel Tower.