Art & Architecture – Page 6 – OttawaVeloOutaouais

Pineglen and Country Place

Sunday afternoon, while we all paused between Easter egg hunting and holiday feasting, I decided to go for a ride and check out a small isolated residential community up the Rideau River just beyond Hunt Club Road. This community is made up of two smaller sections – Pineglen and Country Place. Based on the style of houses it appears Pineglen was developed in the 50’s and 60’s, and Country Place a bit later. They are surrounded by an industrial area to the north, the river and airport to the east, and farmland to the south and west.

Here’s how I biked there and back.

After stopping off at Herb & Spice on Wellington to pick up some herbs and spices (go figure) I headed south. To get across the Queensway I pushed my bike over this pedestrian bridge that joins the two sections of Harmer Street. Much safer than riding along busy Holland Avenue.

UPDATE July 29, 2018 : The Harmer pedestrian bridge is no more! They ripped it down this weekend and are building a new one that won’t be ready for 2 years. The city has installed a very controversial detour along Holland that will be fixed before the school year starts. I have adjusted the route on the above map accordingly.

Then I rode all the way down Fisher towards the Rideau River. Fisher is not a great road to bike along. Apart from a short section between Carling and Baseline there is little room and cars go fast along this straightaway. It would be great if they added bike lanes on either side, not only for the likes of me out on a Sunday ride, but to encourage bike commuters though out the year as well.

The first section encountered from Prince of Wales Drive is Pineglen, wherein I discovered a number of mid-century modern homes such as these.

There are also a few recently completed and still-being-constructed big houses such as these, suggesting Pineglen remains a coveted place to live.

At some point heading west Pineglen becomes Country Place. I couldn’t distinguish a specific demarcation, however there is a shift in architectural style from modernist bungalows to two story brick houses with decorative window shutters such as these.

I headed home along Prince of Wales Drive. On either side of Prince of Wales north of Fisher there are wide designated bike lanes, but south of Fisher the lanes are narrower or disappear completely. Most cars and trucks drive at Queensway speeds along Prince of Wales south of Fisher as well.

So, Pineglen is an interesting community worth discovering.
Prince of Wales Drive is fine heading out of town as far as Fisher. Beyond Fisher, not so great.

Bruce Garner – A bicycle tour of his sculptures in and around downtown Ottawa

Recent stories in the media surrounding the possible relocation of Bruce Garner’s popular sculpture on Sparks Street of a grizzly bear reminded me of the fine collection of his works installed throughout downtown Ottawa, all within convenient biking distance. So I came up with this tour.

We begin at the corner of O’Connor and McLeod to visit Bruce’s last work, Paso Doble.

Next stop, Ottawa City Hall, more specifically the southern entrance, where this sculpture titled Outreach sits perched high up on a ledge.

Over on Elgin Street, in front of the Provincial Courthouse, you will discover the sculpture Due Process.

The next sculpture at the eastern end of Laurier isn’t one of Bruce’s pieces. It is the Lord Strathcona Fountain sculpted by Marhurin Moreau and donated to the city by Lord Strathcona in 1909, however awhile ago I came across an article that described the time and care Bruce and his wife Tamaya dedicated to the upkeep of this iron sculpture. The article spoke of the passion he had for the piece, so I’ve included it in the tour. Unfortunately the article is no longer online for me to link to.

Back into town and over to the Byward Market where from atop the Chum FM headquarters fly these two winged wonders, a piece sculpted by Bruce called Dagain.

Next, over to Arts Court where sits this sculpture just to the left of the main entrance.

Follow Daly Avenue for a short distance as it dips under the Westin Hotel to the edge of the canal where you will find the Conference Centre. The main doors and transom were sculpted by Bruce out of bronze and copper.

To get to Sparks Street to view the last two works on this tour I suggest walking your bike up along the curved sidewalk, shown in the image below, to Plaza Bridge and continue in front of the Cenotaph over to Sparks Street. I’ve hi-lited this walk in red on the above map. I recommend becoming a pedestrian for this section of the tour because it is far less convoluted and dangerous than trying to weave you way through the usually busy traffic in this area.

Along Sparks Street, mid block between Elgin and Metcalfe, you will find Joy. As the accompanying plaque describes, it was ‘Donated by E.R. (Bud) Fisher to the Sparks Street Mall Authority and the citizens of Ottawa. Sculptor Bruce Garner.

A A bit further west where Sparks meets Metcalfe Street you will encounter the bear. This sculpture was recently relocated to this location from the opposite end of the block near Elgin.

FullSizeRender — Territorial Prerogative

Thus ends the first tour of sculptures by Bruce. A second tour of other works can be found by clicking here.

Brewer Park Pond

There is an isolated pond located at the South end of Brewer Park that has been re-connected to the Rideau River. I’ve never ventured over there as I had always assumed it was inaccessible swampland, but recent aerial photos suggest a path circles around the pond, so yesterday I went and checked it out.

After biking through the Arboretum and pushing my bike over the canal locks at Carleton University, I followed the campus road that runs along the edge of the Rideau River.

I love this spot along the shore.

I also came across this statue of Ghandi which had been unveiled by the High Commission of India in 2011.

Lousy photo of Ghandi statue, still recognizable silhouette though. — Lousy photo of Ghandi statue, still recognizable silhouette.

At this point I would like to acknowledge the incredible role dog walkers play in making many snowy paths throughout the city accessible to bicyclists. This winter I’ve come to realise that off-leash dog parks in particular have fine packed paths. This has been the case all winter through the arboretum and, as I discovered on this adventure, along the path from Carleton U under Bronson Avenue and around Brewer Park Pond. The path begins where University Drive turns away from the river.

The path continues over a little wooden bridge before arriving under Bronson, where you are treated to THIS!!

And that’s just 1/4 of the paintings which surround you when you are under the bridge. This is where the annual House of Paint festival is held each summer, although the graffiti changes on a much more regular basis.

The path continues along the shore and Brewer Pond appears on your left, like so.

The pond was formed in the 60’s to create a closed in beach and swimming area. The building up on stilts in the distance was the canteen. Shortly thereafter enclosed beaches were deemed unhealthy and this one was closed in the 70’s. Now plans are afoot to re-connect the pond to the river.

Here’s how a section of the path appears as it circles the pond.

This fellow was out ice fishing on the river, just downstream from the pond.

So there you have it – a fine discovery.

P.S.! Here are a couple of photos Carla took around the pond earlier this winter while Nick had a 7am practice at Brewer Arena.

The Richness of Reno’s – Big Buildings Getting Fixed Up

When I lived in Montreal I would occasionally walk through Notre-Dame-Des-Neiges Cemetery to get over the mountain. At one point they were blasting close to the older plots. Many of the majestic tombstones were supported with various lengths of lumber and wire, and wrapped in translucent plastic for protection. The light from the setting sun glowed through the plastic, creating a hazy silhouette around the stone monuments. I was struck by how the temporary protective materials seemed to suggest the rich fleetingness of human life, adding to the tombstone’s raison d’être. I wound up adapting the effect for the graveyard scene in a production of Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind.

Now what has all that got to do with biking in Ottawa/Outaouais? Well, ever since then I’ve been fascinated by the juxtaposition of temporary protective cladding around structures as they are being renovated, and right now there are a few extensive renovations happening in town, so I headed off to check them out. Here’s how.

First stop, the National Gallery, where they have just recently begun replacing the glass in the Great Hall. Here are views from both the outside and the inside of the Gallery.

View from inside the Great Hall — In looking out.

Second stop – the West Block on Parliament Hill.

They’ve got interpretive panels on the hoarding with information on the renovations, and a QR code you can scan which takes you to this site with even more info.

Here’s a night time view from New Years Eve.

West Block ay night — West Block at night

On the other side of Wellington renovations are happening to this building as well.

Right beside it sits the Press Club building which is wrapped up in a brown fabric.

That's a wrap! — Press club -that’s a wrap!

Clemow Avenue

Clemow Avenue is a unique street within the Glebe. It was supposed to become a grand avenue linking the Queen Elizabeth Driveway along the canal to the Experimental Farm but never quite got that far. More about it’s interesting history in this post. Yesterday I had a meeting on Clemow Avenue so I biked there. Here’s how.

These two houses, most likely identical at birth, have really taken on their own personality over the years.

This house at 170 Clemow was built in 1926 and is now the High Commission for Cameroon.

Here are a couple of other interesting houses along Clemow.

The eastern end of the street runs along Patterson Creek for a bit like so. When the canal is skate able the NCC usually clears the creek and installs a change shack a bit further east along Linden Terrace which would make for a fine bike & skate outing.

Clemow is a great street to bike down. It is nice and wide, there are traffic stopping planter boxes near Patterson Creek and no car access from Bronson. Unfortunately the bike lanes along Percy Street north of the Queensway aren’t cleared, requiring law abiding cyclists heading north to walk their bikes east to Bay Street.

Skiing along a bit of the O-Train path and the Ottawa River Pathway

The O-Train path isn’t bikeable in the winter, but is it skiable? The other day I went to find out. Blue line shows where I biked to, orange is where I skied. UPDATE – Nov 2014: The path is now being cleared and salted from Young St to the train stop at Albert. Should still be able to ski along the side of the path for most of the distance described below, or just ride to the Albert station and start skiing from there.

I am really liking the bike&ski concept. Many cross country ski trails, inconvenient to get to by foot or car, are but a quick bike ride away! The new trail along the O-Train is accessible between Somerset and City Centre. I locked my bike to one of the recently installed lamp posts like so.

I headed south along pre-set tracks. It is possible to access Gladstone, as shown in the image below, however I decided to turn around and head north towards the river after realizing I wasn’t too keen on having to take off my skis to cross a few streets if I was to continue south.

The backs of the Department of Public Works building and City Centre are visible from the trail, suggesting they were designed to cater to the network of trains and tracks which dominated this area not so long ago. UPDATE – April 2015: The DPW building has been knocked down.

To continue along the path beyond the O-Train station at Scott Street requires climbing over two of these short 3-rung fences.

The path from the station to the river is plowed, but not sanded or salted, so pleasantly skiable.

The stamped letters atop the railway bridge across the river reads INCE OF WALES. Strange name, but it could work with a little P.R.

The Ottawa River Pathway had evidence of all sorts of winter loving traffic – snow shoes, ski tracks and a well worn pedestrian path. I followed it west.

At the entrance to Lemieux Island someone had broken trail along the jut of land beside the river, an area I had never explored before.

The ruins of the old Hintonburg Pumphouse are located on the edge of River Street. It was originally built in 1899 but succumbed to fire in 1989.

Someone has cut a huge opening in the chain link fencing surrounding the ruins, however I would heed the DANGER – UNSTABLE STRUCTURE signs and stay out, for the building is obviously unsafe as you can see.

I then retraced my strides back to my faithful steed, packed up my skis, and headed home. A wonderful winters outing indeed.

First Nations

As I write, Chief Theresa Spence of Attiwapiskat is in her 23rd day of her hunger strike on Victoria Island halfway across the Ottawa River. The following press release re-iterating her cause was sent out on New Years Eve.

The entire National Capital Region is of significance to the First Nations as they were its occupants and guardians for thousands of years before Champlain visited in 1615. On Monday I toured a few sites and locations with specific reference to the First Nations. Here’s how.

First stop was the Odawa Friendship Centre ~~on Stirling Avenue~~ UPDATE – The Odawa Friendship Centre has moved to 250 City Centre Ave, The Centre’s mission is ‘To enhance the quality of life for Aboriginal people in the Capital region. To maintain a tradition of community, an ethic of self-help and development as well as to provide traditional teachings from our elders.’.

Around the side and back of the centre are the following murals.

Next stop, Victoria Island, or Asinabka. In the Algonquin language the word “Asinabka” means “place of glare rock”. It is considered a sacred site, where for thousands of years ceremonies and offerings have been made. Lots more on Asinabka here.

The cedar fence was constructed to house a summer interpretive program called Aboriginal Experiences. The tee-pee is where Chief Theresa Spence is holding her fast.

On the opposite side of the river at 10 Wellington in Gatineau are located the offices of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

A bit further down river sits The Canadian Museum of Civilization, designed by architect Douglas Cardinal who is of Metis and Blackfoot heritage. His First Nations background is said to have greatly influenced his indigenous style of architecture, as described in this CBC radio interview.

Entrance to the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Back over on the Ottawa side, behind the National Gallery, atop Nepean Point stands this statue of Champlain looking out over the Ottawa River. There used to be a bronze sculpture of a kneeling Anishinabe scout at the base of the plinth on which Champlain stands, but it was removed in 1996 at the request of Ovide Mercredi, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations. I did not know that the sculpture of the scout had been relocated to Majors Hill Park a short distance away.

Near the National Cenotaph is the Valiants Memorial made up of a number of sculptures of key figures from the military history of the country, including that of Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant, a Mohawk who supported the British during the American Revolution. He relocated to the area near the present day City of Brantford in southern Ontario after the revolution.

I then rode up behind Parliament Hill to photo the Ottawa River, the highway used by First Nations for millennia before more modern forms of transport took over, first by rail, and now by road and air. There is Victoria Island in the middle, with the Supreme Court on the cliff to the left.

My final stop was in Confederation Park where stands this monument ‘To Aboriginal War Veterans in Canada and to Those That Have Fallen’.

Biking to the Museum of Nature on a Sunday Morning

Yesterday was a wonderful day for a trip to the Museum of Nature.

After dropping off some books at the downtown library I biked along O’Connor to meet Carla and the kids at the museum. Now O’Connor is a street I would normally avoid as many drivers tend to zip down this one way street or impatiently jostle each other in their rush to get to the Queensway, but there isn’t much Ottawa traffic on Sunday mornings so I wasn’t too worried.

This view down O’Connor makes it appear as if bland mid-rise buildings dominate the street. This Urbsite post describes the boom in Centretown apartment building in the sixties that contributed to this image.

But tucked in in amongst these mid-risers are a number of jewels, such the City of Ottawa Public School Board’s old administrative building at the corner of Gilmour Street. Urbsite once again comes through with this post which not only describes the building, but the two big blue spruce flanking the entrance as well, and how this same entrance was incorporated into a logo used on Ottawa elementary school report cards in the’50’s.

As I closed in on my destination, Pleased with my safe journey along O’Connor, I was shocked to see this smashed up car at the corner of McLeod and O’Connor!

Right beside the faux crash site stand our faithful family of wooly mammoths that have been foraging on the grounds of the museum for as long as I can remember.

On the opposite side of the street sits this great sculpture called Paso Doble by Bruce Garner.

On the east side of the museum there are BIKE RACKS!

They’ve done a great job with the renovations to the museum. Here’s a view looking up from the old space into the new, of the gang looking down from the new into the old.

Rode home safely along Metcalfe and Somerset. A fine outing.

Biking to and skiing through the Arboretum

OK, I’m going to go a little off script on this post. With all the great snow we’ve been having I decided to go cross country skiing in the Arboretum yesterday, and what better way to get there than by bike? Here’s how.

The biggest challenge of course is how to transport skis and poles while riding. I stuffed mine into a ski bag and strapped them to the side of my big backpack like so. It worked well, but I’m going to try to attach them a little lower next time.

I biked down Booth Street which is normally quite busy especially during the week as it proceeds north to Gatineau over the Chaudière Bridge, but it isn’t so bad early Saturday morning. There are a great mix of buildings along Booth. This facade just south of Somerset, with all of it’s various doors and openings, some bricked up, others introduced as required over time, suggests many narratives that must have played out within it’s walls.

This small brick house a bit further south has survived the test of time nicely.

I'll be your brick .... house! — I’ll be your brick …. house!

This interesting building is a recent addition to the street.

St Anthony’s maintains a commanding presence at the corner of Gladstone because of its size and orientation to Gladstone facing down the hill towards Little Italy on Preston Street.

On the other side of the Queensway are a number of research facilities built for the Ministry of Natural Resources of Canada. This one built in the late ’30’s is a designated FHBRO Heritage building. I love the design and layout of the cast letters above the doorway.

This one on the opposite side of Booth was built in the mid ’50’s and also has FHBRO heritage designation.

I biked to the parking at the top of Prince of Wales Drive, as the bike lane on the shoulder was partially cleared and the traffic was light. You can also bike up the path hi-lited in purple beside Prince of Wales which is plowed, as I discovered on the way home. I found the snow covered bike rack and locked up my trusty steed. Time to ski!

The Arboretum is a very popular spot for dog walking, resulting in many well worn paths such as these that can accommodate any width of skis and bindings.

I also skid through Fletcher Wildlife Garden which I first discovered back in October and wrote about in this post. I even took this photo from the same spot – sheer coincidence, believe it or not.

Along with the network of dog walker paths throughout the Arboretum, there are usually a number of trails broken by other skiers or snowshoers, pretty much guaranteeing a fine ski outing.

Boxing Day ride through Hull

After a wonderful Boxing Day brunch with friends and family it was time for a quick ride through old Hull.

Rink flooding in the park off Ruelle Langelier

This church situated on Rue Ste Bernadette was built in 1938.

The Sentier des Voyageurs isn’t cleared, but it is well travelled and lit along the section through Parc des Portageurs, making it more than bike able.

It's starting to look a lot like Narnia, 'round here! — It’s starting to look a lot like Narnia, ’round here!

Looking good on Place du Portage — Another beautiful heritage building on Promenade du Portage

Et voila!