"Between 1899 and the outbreak of the Second World War the Commission developed about 900 acres of parks in the Ottawa-Hull urban area. Some of these, such as Rockcliffe and Strathcona are developed on lands leased from the City of Ottawa. Others, such as Major's Hill Park and Nepean Point are on lands owned by the Department of Public Works. Since 1945 the system has been considerably extended by developments at Hog's Back, waterfront parks on the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers, and additions to Jacques Cartier Park east of the Interprovincial Bridge in Hull."
Nursery, Greenhouses - The Commission operates a nursery of approximately thirty acres, one of the main functions of which is to grow first-quality trees to grow to large sizes which will be in scale with the public buildings and parkways when they are planted. The nursery is located in the Alta Vista area, partly on Commission-owned land and partly on land leased from the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Rideau Health and Occupational Centre. A small number of greenhouses are operated in Rockcliffe Park to produce annual flowers for border plantings. The greenhouses are operated from late March to early June.
Refreshment Concessions - The Commission owns refreshment pavilions in Rockcliffe and Hog's Back parks and Gatineau Park. They are operated as concessions, let on tender, and profits help defray costs of construction and maintenance. Cafe Champlain on Bate Island, by agreement between the FDC and the proprietor, comes into Commission ownership at the end of a twenty-year period, terminating in 1967.
Awards
Hog's Back Park and Picnic Fields - In order to provide better swimming facilities in the Hog's Back area the City requested permission from the Commission to construct a swimming beach at Mooney's Bay. (From: 1951 Annual Report of the FDC.)
After three years of development, seventy-five acres of fully-equipped picnic fields were opened to the public this spring immediately north of the fifty-acre park adjacent to Hog's Back Falls. Facilities provided include a refreshment pavilion, (an FDC concession) rest rooms, first-aid room, mother's nursing room with facilities for infant care and feeding; public shelter, loading platform for buses and passenger cars; paved parking spots for 540 cars, bicycle racks, picnic tables to seat 3,000 persons, numerous fireplaces of different types, drinking fountains, seven baseball diamonds, a square-dancing platform, a council ring and hiking trails.
Public address systems are available on rental and may be set up in numerous locations on a underground power supply network. Additional park structures are proposed, including a bandshell and open-air theatre. During its first summer of use the new park had registered picnics of 50 persons or over, with a total attendance of over 23,000 people.
Leamy Lake Park, Hull
Bate Island - Minor improvements were made in the parking lots and plantations on this small island in the Ottawa River, which is reached via the Commission's Champlain Bridges.
Hampton Park - Increasing use of this fifteen-acre park on the west side of Island Park Drive by day campers and tourists made necessary the construction of a public restroom, with attached tool shed for use of the park maintenance staff.
Dow's Lake Park - The Carling avenue widening project reduced the area of this park, part of which formerly was loaned to the City Recreational Department for junior baseball diamonds. A new park without sports facilities was constructed in the area bounded by Carling, Preston and the FDC Driveway around Dow's Lake. House of Commons Ottawa June 16, 1958 The Hon. Howard Charles Green (Minister of Public Works, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Progressive Conservative Party House Leader):
"Once these temporary buildings are torn down nothing will be constructed on the site." Hon. Howard Green, Minister of Public Works:
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| World War 11 temporary building No. 8 was located at 870 Carling and No. 5 was near Dow's Lake. The Sir John Carling Building can be seen on the left. The photo is from Eric Darwin. |
Bronson Park - Reconstruction of this small park at the north end of Bronson avenue was made necessary by the re-designing of traffic circulation lanes at the intersection of Sparks and Wellington streets. New grading, sodding and general rehabilitation have been carried out.
Strathcona Park
Rockcliffe Park - The design by Jean Issalys, MRAIC of a new refreshment pavilion located in the narrow waist of the two halves of the park has been approved. The public shelter and rest rooms constructed at the overlook of the Ottawa River many years ago will continue in use, however, due to the continuing extensive use by the public. The park, one of the oldest constructed and maintained by the Commission, is noted for its century-old white pines many of which are reaching the maximum size which the depth and type of soil will permit.
Rideau Falls Park
Jacques Cartier Park, Hull - Two acres of land were graded and put into turf. The old stone building, built about 1840 and reported to have been at one time part of an early ship-building establishment and a fur-trading post, located near the waterfront east of the Interprovincial Bridge is being restored and will be lent to the Hull Bibliotheque St. Joseph for use as a museum.
Brebeuf Park, Val Tetreau, West Hull - This small waterfront park once formed part of the Little Chaudiere Portage used by the early voyageurs of the Ottawa River Fur Trade. The setting of the monument to the martyred priest Brebeuf at its western end was completely reconstructed. The circular motor road around the monument was removed and replaced with a paved terrace for pedestrian use. The terrace, in the nature of a Commission experiment, is constructed of cast-in-place concrete flags, with the concrete brushed out to a shallow depth to take a surface of coloured crushed stone.
Pinhey Forest - The Commission continued to assist the Ottawa Board of Trade in the maintenance of Pinhey Forest, a 100-acre reforestation project in the Greenbelt east of Uplands Airport, the land for which was donated to the Board of Trade by the late Charles Pinhey of Ottawa. During the year 3,500 nursery trees were set out, and the usual fire protection practices were followed. The year's growth on the reforestation was excellent.
Mooney's Bay Beach - The Committee has leased land to the City on the east shore of Mooney's Bay on the south shore of Hog's Back for development of a municipal recreational area. The main beach has been graded and sanded, and staff consultations have taken place on preliminary building and site plans for which Commission approval is required.
(The 1958 Annual Report of the Federal District Commission, pages 41,42,43,44 and 45 out of 96 pages.)
(The City of Ottawa cares more about the needs of developers than the needs of the general public. The City believes that "pocket parks" or parkettes are acceptable and they are less than a hectare. "Greenspaces do not not have to be green"--- cement plazas are replacing 50 to 100 acre green spaces that have washrooms, picnic tables, grass, trees, beaches, recreational facilities, sandboxes...)
"The City's requirements for parks and open spaces have to be revisited to ensure that the types of spaces required by developers reflect the need for quality spaces of all sorts, at the right location, and at the right sizes. The goals of a review of parks and recreational land should be 'Quality over quantity of land'. One of the many appropriate types of public space is the plaza." (Recreational Land Strategy for Ottawa-2006-2031. 4.4.2. Parks and Open Spaces, page 74 and page 78.)
Barrhaven Downtown Secondary Plan Section 4: Parks 2.) Public parks and community facilities are permitted. Parks must generally be between 0.35 and 1.0 hectares of level land. Not contemplating sports fields. Urban parkettes will be 0.2 to 0.4 hectares.
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