http://kitchissippi.com/2016/03/31/somerset-square-park/
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Somerset Square (the eastern gateway to Hintonburg)
A little history on the triangle of property where Somerset meets Wellington, now a neat little park and meeting area, but it has a varied past! Check it out at the Kitchissippi Times:
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
The early days of Kitchissippi's biggest foe: Cave Creek
I'm excited to share a link to my article in the new issue of Kitchissippi Times, which comes out tomorrow! This article I put a ton of research in to over several years, and will almost certainly write more about soon (it's tough being limited to a wood count in the Times - thankfully Editor/Guru Andrea Tomkins occasionally lets me write a little long and somehow finds a bit of extra room). The story of Cave Creek is an incredibly interesting one. It's more or less long gone now (there is still the occasional flood or water issue in the neighbourhood which can be attributed to the underground waters that are likely part of the original Cave Creek network), and has been solved for the last 90 years now. But up until the late 1920's, this Creek was an incredible nuisance to the community. It not only stunted development, and made prime real estate practically worthless, but it often caused illness and eventually even mass death.
So please follow the link below to the Kitchissippi Times, and check out my article and the photos the accompany it. Thanks!!
http://kitchissippi.com/2016/03/30/cave-creek-ottawa/
So please follow the link below to the Kitchissippi Times, and check out my article and the photos the accompany it. Thanks!!
http://kitchissippi.com/2016/03/30/cave-creek-ottawa/
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Spencer Street problems now ~ and in 1955!
Some local residents may be aware that Spencer Street is currently in the news as it will undergo some significant work during the summer 2016, as aged sewers are replaced and some (limited) traffic calming measures are implemented. Spencer runs east-west about half-way between Wellington and Scott, and has become a major cut-through for vehicles looking to access the Champlain Bridge, Tunney's, Island Park Drive, etc. Similarly, the streets running north-south off Spencer have also become cut-through streets for mostly non-local traffic, changing these streets from what they were not too long ago. I grew up (and still live) on one of these streets, Gilchrist Avenue, and the traffic when I was a kid in the 1980s is so different that how it is now. We spent hours on the street playing road hockey, baseball and football, but I can't imagine my kids doing that now (nor could I even allow it), what with the cars ripping down the street at all hours of the day. So some steps will be taken this summer on Spencer Street (here is a good summary of the information at our community association website here: http://wvca.ca/spencer-street-rehabilitation/), but arguably it may not be nearly enough.
So all the recent talk of Spencer Street reminded me of an accident which occurred on the street in 1955, which I thought would make an interesting and quick blog post today (haven't had any time to put into history stuff this week, as I was curling in the City of Ottawa bonspiel all week.
On the afternoon of Friday September 30th, 1955, a significant collision occurred between a bus and a truck at the intersection of Holland Avenue and Spencer. It is important to note that at the time, Spencer was actually the through-street. Traffic coming down Holland Avenue had a stop sign at Spencer. Here is a photo below of the intersection from a year earlier, in 1954. The houses on the west side are both still there, while the old Beach Foundry can be seen at the north-east corner (now Holland Cross), and Reiss Motors is on the south-east corner (now Canvas, and the Car Clinic). If you look closely at the photo (click on it to enlarge it) you can see the stop signs facing the Holland traffic, but no signs for Spencer drivers.
By 1955, the intersection was a noted concern for Ottawa's traffic planning committee. A series of accidents had occurred at the intersection regularly, including three fairly serious ones in 1954 (in January, a veterinarian was injured when his car collided with a bus at that intersection; in March, another car was damaged significantly when it collided with a fully loaded brick truck; and in May, two women were injured in a two-car crash). So it was on the watch-list, and in fact Traffic Committee in July of 1955 published a series of recommendations for Ottawa traffic concerns, including the recommendation that the stop sign at Holland and Spencer be reversed, so that traffic stopped on Spencer, and flowed through at Holland.
Nothing had changed by late September, and it appears it was going to take a serious incident for the city to finally act (which is an approach that has not changed all too much in 60 years).
On the afternoon of Friday September 30, 1955, the serious incident finally occurred. An OTC bus was travelling west on Spencer (a primary neighbourhood bus route used to run down Parkdale from Carling, west on Spencer, then north on Carleton), driven by 46-year old Alban Binda. Unfortunately, it was T-boned in the middle of Holland Avenue by a loaded gravel dump truck heading north on Holland, driven by 20-year old Fernand Leclerc. After impact, the bus went out of control along Spencer, swerving up on the sidewalk and crashed into the house at 85 Spencer Street. The house was more than 100 feet from the actual crash scene.
The crash had destroyed the buses brakes, making it impossible for the driver to bring it to a stop. The bus plowed through the brick wall of the house doing extensive damage to both the interior and exterior of the home, which was owned by Daniel and Anne Palombo. The total damage was estimated at over $4,000. Though Mrs. Palombo was home at the time, she was upstairs and was not injured. The majority of the damage occurred in the front vestibule and kitchen of the house.
For several minutes after the crash, Binda, the bus driver, was pinned inside the bus which had embedded itself four feet into the house. Gas and oil had poured all over the intersection.
Thankfully, there were no fatalities in the crash. Three people were hurt, however, including most seriously the bus driver Binda, who had shock, scalp lacerations, cuts to his legs, and "other minor injuries". He was taken to the hospital in the Fire Department's emergency car. Several passengers were also taken to hospital, including 75-year old Mrs. Annie Maunsell of 1842 Scott Street, who suffered a broken left leg, and 52-year old Mrs. Mabel Fortier of 68 Northwestern Avenue, who also had some minor injuries to her legs. The driver of the truck Fernand Leclerc was uninjured (sadly however, he would die just 8 years later, at the young age of 28, while working as a garbage collector. The early death was surprising, and required an inquest. Though medicine was able to explain why he died, it couldn't explain how he had been alive. The doctor at his autopsy noted he had a seriously enlarged heart, and a valve that was working at one-seventh of what it should have been. "The most reasonable opinion I can give" the doctor said, "is that he should have been dead long before he was.")
The damage to the bus was estimated at $7,000, and to the truck for $1,000.
The Journal reported that "truck driver Leclerc told police he was unfamiliar with that part of the city. He said he did not see the stop sign at the intersection because of another OTC bus which was stopped at the corner discharging passengers." Investigators later pointed out that if the traffic committee recommendations from earlier in the year had been implemented, the crash would have been avoided. They felt that since the truck driver's view of the stop sign on Holland was obscured, and since he was unfamiliar with the area, that he understandably believed Holland to be the logical through-street.
The Board of Control for Ottawa, which had a reputation of ignoring the civic traffic committee's recommendations, began to act to remedy some of the obvious issues within Ottawa. This crash was likely a key factor in pushing this problem. It appears the City soon after switched the stop signs so that traffic stopped on Spencer, not Holland. However, City Council took it a step further in 1956, when it announced that the intersection would be one of the first four in Ottawa to feature the "new Four-Way Stop Control" system, a new strategy in traffic control. What we now see everywhere as a normal (and necessary) part of our road system, did not exist in Ottawa in 1956.
Six intersections were chosen by council to pilot the concept of a four-way stop, though only four would initially receive it: King Edward at Stewart; Chapel at Stewart; St. Laurent at Hemlock; and of course, Holland at Spencer. The city Traffic Director Woodrow Rankin noted that "four-way-stops are to be used at intersections where control is needed, but not quite to the extend of a traffic light". Rankin called them "courtesy intersections". The Journal went on to detail to readers for whom all of this was new, that "application of the new control requires the erection of stop-signs facing in all four directions. Motorists come to a stop, and proceed when the way is clear." They added that the "rule-of-the-road applies giving right-of-way to the motorist on the right."
The new four-way stop, the first in Ottawa, was installed at Holland and Spencer on Friday April 5th, 1957. Again, it was prompted by a series of accidents culminating in a serious one that led city officials to finally take action. Luckily it was not a fatal accident that led to the change, and we can only hope for similar luck as Spencer Street continues to be an issue 60+ years later!
So all the recent talk of Spencer Street reminded me of an accident which occurred on the street in 1955, which I thought would make an interesting and quick blog post today (haven't had any time to put into history stuff this week, as I was curling in the City of Ottawa bonspiel all week.
On the afternoon of Friday September 30th, 1955, a significant collision occurred between a bus and a truck at the intersection of Holland Avenue and Spencer. It is important to note that at the time, Spencer was actually the through-street. Traffic coming down Holland Avenue had a stop sign at Spencer. Here is a photo below of the intersection from a year earlier, in 1954. The houses on the west side are both still there, while the old Beach Foundry can be seen at the north-east corner (now Holland Cross), and Reiss Motors is on the south-east corner (now Canvas, and the Car Clinic). If you look closely at the photo (click on it to enlarge it) you can see the stop signs facing the Holland traffic, but no signs for Spencer drivers.
 |
| Spencer Street looking east, approaching the intersection of Holland Avenue. February 12th, 1954. (Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-3195) |
By 1955, the intersection was a noted concern for Ottawa's traffic planning committee. A series of accidents had occurred at the intersection regularly, including three fairly serious ones in 1954 (in January, a veterinarian was injured when his car collided with a bus at that intersection; in March, another car was damaged significantly when it collided with a fully loaded brick truck; and in May, two women were injured in a two-car crash). So it was on the watch-list, and in fact Traffic Committee in July of 1955 published a series of recommendations for Ottawa traffic concerns, including the recommendation that the stop sign at Holland and Spencer be reversed, so that traffic stopped on Spencer, and flowed through at Holland.
Nothing had changed by late September, and it appears it was going to take a serious incident for the city to finally act (which is an approach that has not changed all too much in 60 years).
On the afternoon of Friday September 30, 1955, the serious incident finally occurred. An OTC bus was travelling west on Spencer (a primary neighbourhood bus route used to run down Parkdale from Carling, west on Spencer, then north on Carleton), driven by 46-year old Alban Binda. Unfortunately, it was T-boned in the middle of Holland Avenue by a loaded gravel dump truck heading north on Holland, driven by 20-year old Fernand Leclerc. After impact, the bus went out of control along Spencer, swerving up on the sidewalk and crashed into the house at 85 Spencer Street. The house was more than 100 feet from the actual crash scene.
 |
| 85 Spencer Street (at left) from Google Streetview 2015 |
The crash had destroyed the buses brakes, making it impossible for the driver to bring it to a stop. The bus plowed through the brick wall of the house doing extensive damage to both the interior and exterior of the home, which was owned by Daniel and Anne Palombo. The total damage was estimated at over $4,000. Though Mrs. Palombo was home at the time, she was upstairs and was not injured. The majority of the damage occurred in the front vestibule and kitchen of the house.
 |
| Photo of 85 Spencer Street, from the Ottawa Journal, October 1, 1955 |
 |
| Photo of 85 Spencer after the bus was removed from the corner. From the Citizen October 1, 1955. |
 |
| The damaged dump truck. From the Ottawa Citizen October 1, 1955 |
 |
| The damaged OTC bus after it was pulled out from the house. (Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-34533) |
 |
| Daniel Palombo showing some of the damage to the inside of his house. From the Citizen, October 1, 1955. |
For several minutes after the crash, Binda, the bus driver, was pinned inside the bus which had embedded itself four feet into the house. Gas and oil had poured all over the intersection.
Thankfully, there were no fatalities in the crash. Three people were hurt, however, including most seriously the bus driver Binda, who had shock, scalp lacerations, cuts to his legs, and "other minor injuries". He was taken to the hospital in the Fire Department's emergency car. Several passengers were also taken to hospital, including 75-year old Mrs. Annie Maunsell of 1842 Scott Street, who suffered a broken left leg, and 52-year old Mrs. Mabel Fortier of 68 Northwestern Avenue, who also had some minor injuries to her legs. The driver of the truck Fernand Leclerc was uninjured (sadly however, he would die just 8 years later, at the young age of 28, while working as a garbage collector. The early death was surprising, and required an inquest. Though medicine was able to explain why he died, it couldn't explain how he had been alive. The doctor at his autopsy noted he had a seriously enlarged heart, and a valve that was working at one-seventh of what it should have been. "The most reasonable opinion I can give" the doctor said, "is that he should have been dead long before he was.")
The damage to the bus was estimated at $7,000, and to the truck for $1,000.
The Journal reported that "truck driver Leclerc told police he was unfamiliar with that part of the city. He said he did not see the stop sign at the intersection because of another OTC bus which was stopped at the corner discharging passengers." Investigators later pointed out that if the traffic committee recommendations from earlier in the year had been implemented, the crash would have been avoided. They felt that since the truck driver's view of the stop sign on Holland was obscured, and since he was unfamiliar with the area, that he understandably believed Holland to be the logical through-street.
The Board of Control for Ottawa, which had a reputation of ignoring the civic traffic committee's recommendations, began to act to remedy some of the obvious issues within Ottawa. This crash was likely a key factor in pushing this problem. It appears the City soon after switched the stop signs so that traffic stopped on Spencer, not Holland. However, City Council took it a step further in 1956, when it announced that the intersection would be one of the first four in Ottawa to feature the "new Four-Way Stop Control" system, a new strategy in traffic control. What we now see everywhere as a normal (and necessary) part of our road system, did not exist in Ottawa in 1956.
Six intersections were chosen by council to pilot the concept of a four-way stop, though only four would initially receive it: King Edward at Stewart; Chapel at Stewart; St. Laurent at Hemlock; and of course, Holland at Spencer. The city Traffic Director Woodrow Rankin noted that "four-way-stops are to be used at intersections where control is needed, but not quite to the extend of a traffic light". Rankin called them "courtesy intersections". The Journal went on to detail to readers for whom all of this was new, that "application of the new control requires the erection of stop-signs facing in all four directions. Motorists come to a stop, and proceed when the way is clear." They added that the "rule-of-the-road applies giving right-of-way to the motorist on the right."
The new four-way stop, the first in Ottawa, was installed at Holland and Spencer on Friday April 5th, 1957. Again, it was prompted by a series of accidents culminating in a serious one that led city officials to finally take action. Luckily it was not a fatal accident that led to the change, and we can only hope for similar luck as Spencer Street continues to be an issue 60+ years later!
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
The legendary Elmdale Theatre
I've been excited to get to this post. I've intentionally waited a while to cover it, because the Elmdale Theatre is one of my favourite topics, and I was looking forward to digging in deeper into it's history. This building, which is now a church at the southeast corner of Wellington and Hamilton, has a 70-year history in the neighbourhood, and is indelibly linked to many of the memories of those who grew up in the neighbourhood. Often I meet people who are relatively new to the area who ask me if the building used to be a theatre, since it looks like it is. I'm happy to say that it was a theatre, and always add that I wish it still was today. I have a lot of childhood memories of going to that theatre. Saying that makes me sound old, and realizing that its been closed now for 22 years makes me definitely feel old, since it doesn't seem that long ago that I was checking out new movies there with my friends or parents. I've often said that if I ever win the lottery, or somehow come in to a ton of money that the very first thing I'd do is buy the building, and bring the Elmdale Theatre back. Every once in a while, there is a whisper or rumour about this occurring, and I get my hopes up. Maybe someday...
So let's step into the history of the Elmdale Theatre.
The land on which the Elmdale sits was originally part of the Hinton farm. The farm was first subdivided in to lots in 1874. Though only a few of these original lots would be sold (from the original subdivision), three of the first to sell were lots C, D, and E on the north side of Wellington, which is much of the street-front between Hinton and Parkdale. James Wilson purchased the trio of lots, and while D and E would be developed a little more quickly, lot C (on which the Elmdale would be built) would remain in the Wilson family for nearly 40 years, and surprisingly remain empty for the entire time.
In 1917, the lot was picked up by Harry P. Hudson, who was a Doctor in Aylmer for 45 years. Hudson also sat on the vacant property for nearly 30 years, before finally selling on January 2nd, 1946, to Reuben Zumar. The sale price on the large lot was $3,500.
Reuben Zumar and his brothers Abe, Charles, Harry and Moe had a long-time dream to build a theatre. The sons of Israel and Cecilia Zumar of Marlborough Street in Ottawa, movie theatres were important to the family. The two oldest brothers had worked for years as projectionists at two of Ottawa's top theatres - Abe with the Capitol Theatre on Bank Street, and Charles with the Rideau Theatre on Rideau. The brothers had pooled their money together with the goal of building a modern theatre. With the outbreak of WWII, the dream was put on hold, and Harry, Reuben and Moe joined the service in 1940. All applied for enlistment at the same time, and were called up within a short period of each other. Harry, the eldest, was a Pilot Officer attached to an R.A.F. air-sea rescue squadron, specializing in flying "searches" for Allied airmen who have been forced down in the seas. He had trained in Ottawa, Brandon, Regina, Lethbridge, Calgary and Charlottetown before being posted overseas in November 1941. Reuben was a sergeant wireless operator-air gunner with an R.A.F. Torpedo Bomber Squadron, trained in Toronto and Montreal, before arriving in England in October of 1941. Moses "Moe" Zumar, was a Warrant Officer, and also a pilot. He was posted to the Demon Squadron of the R.C.A.F., training at Toronto, Verdun, Brandon and Charlottetown before being posted in January of 1942. Sadly, Moe went missing in 1942 and was never found (after Moe was declared missing, his brother Harry "flew two harrowing trips over the Bay of Biscay searching without success" for his brother).
The two boys returned home as war heroes, and immediately set about their original plan to open a theatre. They settled on the lot on Wellington Street in the popular and still-growing suburb of Hintonburg. At the time, the area featured two other movie theatres: the Victoria at Wellington and Huron, which had been built in 1934 (read my history about it at http://kitchissippimuseum.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-victoria-theatre-wellington.html), and the aging Nola Theatre in Hintonburg, across from the St Francois D'Assise Church, built in 1914.
They purchased the lot on January 2nd, 1946, and the construction permit was issued by the City Building Department on Wednesday February 20th, 1946 (incidentally, just two days after the permit to construct the West Park bowling lanes across the street). The permit allowed for the construction of a two-storey theatre and one or two stores, at an estimated cost of $85,000. The outside dimensions were to be 75 feet, 4 inches x 95 feet x 42 feet, with an initial estimated seating capacity of approximately 1,000. The permit was issued to Zumar Brothers, at 120 Marlborough Avenue, as contractors, and named Kaplan and Sprachman, of Toronto, as architects.
The first sod was turned on April 6th, 1946, and original estimates called for the work to be completed by September 1946. Indeed, it would take a full year longer than that.
Sadly, the work would take seventeen months. The Zumars must have taken on a project that went beyond what they had been expecting. Many delays pushed the project, including a near-fire in February of 1947, where smoke filled the theatre while the builders attempted to dry plaster using a stove. Interestingly, a classified ad selling a Beach stove appeared in the newspaper a week later:
The theatre was finally complete by early September of 1947, seventeen months after construction had began. Harry Zumar was selected as manager of the theatre, having retired from the RCAF during the winter of 1946-47 as a flight lieutenant with six years service.
The newly completed theatre
The new theatre was trumpeted as a modern marvel. The theatre was stadium-style, with 882 seats all on one floor. Advertisements promoted the following features: "Ultra Modern Projection and Sound, Healthful cool air conditioning, spacious and comfortable seating, appealing decoration, attractive lighting, luxurious carpeting and furnishing, cry room and private party room, lounge, ladies' powder room, candy and refreshment bar."
The air conditioning was described as: "Draft free, the newest type of ceiling diffusers allows clean filtered air to circulate throughout the theatre, eliminating drafts, air-pockets, the air is filtered through the newest designed filters ridding the air of dust, pollen and germs. No danger of 'catching cold' at the Elmdale! Everything is fully automatic, thermostatically controlled - no guesswork. In the summer - cooled by the most modern type of ice-compressors - and in the winter, heated by the newest oil-fired heating plant with constant temperature and humidity equalization, both for cooling and heating"
The technical highlights being: "The Elmdale is equipped with the newest Simplex Four-Star sound and projection system. Outstanding in technical excellence, to bring greater realism in sound reproduction with a better balance of high and low tone range and the distribution of sound throughout the theatre is perfectly uniform irrespective of where you sit, bringing you always the positive illusion of "being present". More light on the screen, with clearer, sharper, black-and-white pictures, and infinitely better and truer projection of color pictures heightening the normal illusion of depth, with new richness and beauty in the film image, allowing no distortion from side seats."
The seats were detailed as: "The newest in stream-lined seating on a scientifically sloped floor to give the utmost in seating comfort. Improved seat backs which mold to the individual body and full floating cushions, upholstered in leatherette. Automatic seat lifts and more passing room between rows with full wide seats, a perfect view of the screen from any seat in the house."
Lighting in the theatre was promoted as: "Interior lighting in the theatre auditorium eliminates all glare, neon cove lighting in pleasing soft tone colours. No eyestrain, no glare to distract from the realism of the film."
The new Cry Room concept was ahead of it's time as well: "First in Ottawa. A private party room for your theatre parties. Tastefully decorated and air-conditioned, with comfortable easy chairs. Specially equipped with its own sound system, also hearing aids for the hard-of-hearing. During matinees this room is available to mothers who wish to bring their infants to the theatre."
The Lounge: "Relax in comfort in our spacious, tastefully decorated lounge, fully air-conditioned. Lovely and most comfortable chairs and chesterfields, pleasing indirect lighting. Note to Ladies' Auxiliaries of local clubs. An ideal spot for your regular weekly meetings, and teas.
The Candy Bar: "A pleasing convenient candy and refreshment bar fully stocked with the best-known brands of confections, ice cream and refreshing drinks with a courteous helpful attendant at your service."
Here is a list of the large number of Contractors involved in its construction:
- Hardy Electric (1302 Wellington Street): all electrical work and light fixtures
- Gerard & Gerard (18 Rideau Street): plastering work
- Harry Hayley (Hurdman's Road): cement products (cinder block and cement products)
- Parfield Oils Limited (McArthur Road): Fess Oil Burner (sold, installed, serviced and fueled)
- United Plumbing & Heating Service (477 St. Patrick St.): plumbing and heating
- Rideau Upholstering Company (424 Rideau St): upholstering
- Alfred Grodde (382 Richmond Road): painting and decorating
- Chas. Burnside (1007 Wellington Street): sand and gravel
- J. R. Douglas (262 Slater Street): Supplied fireproof doors, roof, duct work, shutters and grills
- J. D. Sanderson Company (575 McLeod Street): roofers
- Rainbow Neon Signs (206 Murray Street): Neon Marquee and neon lighting
- Albert Bethell (96 Richmond Road): Foundation
- George W. Ewan & Son: Insurance brokerage
- Lieff Lumber Company (66 Booth Street): millwork supplied by
- DeSpirit Mosaic & Marble (18 Pretoria Avenue): Tile (marble, terrazzo and slate)
- General Theatre Supply Co. Ltd. (Montreal): Simplex Sound and Projection Equipment
- Kaplan and Sprachman (Toronto): Architects
- F. A. McLean & Son (185 James Street): Water Well Drillers
- R & A Cohen (Bank at Laurier): Furniture and appliances
- Twin City Dunbrik Co. (80 McArthur Road): Concrete Brick, Concrete and Cinder Block
- Libby-Long-Aboud Engineering Ltd. (Montreal): Air-conditioning design and installation
- A. J. Freiman Limited: Draperies, curtains, venetian blinds supplied and installed
- John Kay Company Ltd (Toronto): carpets
- Harry Koffman (366 Bank Street): Signs
- Beechwood Machinery Ltd. (10 Beechwood Ave): machinery and tools
- Ottawa Iron Works Ltd. (96 Nelson Street): Ornamental iron, steel stairs, fire escape
Alain Miguelez eloquently describes the theatre's architecture in his book "A Theatre Near You": "The building presented a modern stucco, vitrolite, and galvanized steel exterior. Its minimalist design lines contrasted a sweeping corner curve where the entrance doors were located with a rhythmic sequence of square windows made of square glass blocks on the second floor, and square poster boards at street level. The interior was devoid of the complicated and detailed decorations of prewar cinemas, the entire decor scheme being designed to offer comfort."
Opening night ceremonies for the theatre were held on Monday September 8th, 1947, sponsored by the West Ottawa Business and Professional Men's Association, with all proceeds donated towards equipping and furnishing a room in the new wing of the Grace Hospital. $700 was raised, and donated to Col. C. M. Edwards, DSO, chairman of the advisory council of the Salvation Army. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was well-known local resident and socialite Jack Norris.
Guests on this special evening saw a special "sneak preview" one-night showing of the Arthur Rank-produced film "Carnival", from England, it's first showing in North America (Directed by Stanley Haynes, and starring Sally Gray and Michael Wilding). There was also a stage show put on by the Gatineau Club, and door prizes donated by the businesses of West Ottawa.
The headlines the next morning read "Hundreds Turned Away When Elmdale Theatre Opens Doors", noting that may people were turned away from a house "which was filled long before the program was scheduled to begin." An article added further: "It was a gala opening and the front of the building was ablaze with lights."
Opening night for the general public was the following night, Tuesday September 9th, 1947, and featured the movies "To Have and Have Not", based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan and Lauren Bacall, as well as "Mr. Lucky" with Cary Grant and Laraine Day.
Admission prices when the Elmdale first opened were, for matinees: children 15 cents, students 20 cents, and adults 30 cents; and for evening shows: children 15 cents, students 25 cents, and adults 35 cents.
The new theatre building also included one commercial storefront space, facing Wellington at the east end of the building (1194 Wellington Street). This storefront is still there, though nowadays it appears to be some kind of office space. The first occupant was Morley's Fashions, a clothing store. Morley's held also held an early event in the theatre, hosting a fashion show on November 24th and 25th, of 1947.
The early years after opening
The theatre had not been open long before suffering it's first break-in. In the early morning hours of Saturday September 13th, 1947, 20-year old Roland Dinelle of Ladouceur Street and 24-year old George Bedard of John Street in Eastview broke in to the theatre and stole $102 in cash. They were captured a few days later with $30 of the cash still on them, and they were held on vagrancy charges, until the break-in could be investigated fully. They were held without bail, until their day in court on October 7th. Bedard plead guilty, and was sentenced to the Ontario reformatory for four months definite plus four months indeterminate. Meanwhile the charge against Dinelle was dismissed. However, he was picked up again less than two months later for breaking in to a home on Smirle Avenue and stealing $75 in shirts and silverware.
Below are two great photos from the inside of the theatre from when it first opened. These photos were dug out of Archives in Toronto by Alain Miguelez, who wrote one of my favorite books, "A Theatre Near You", which chronicles all of Ottawa's old theatres. A must read for everyone, the photos and information are amazing. I've borrowed these two photos from his book below, and am very thankful he was able to unearth them.
Shockingly, less than a month after opening, after 17 hard months of work preparing the theatre, the Zumar Brothers announced that they no longer had any association with the Elmdale. They thanked their friends and associates, and the announcement provided no further information.
According to Miguelez in "A Theatre Near You", the Zumars were presented with an exceptional challenge of access to quality movies. The Odeon ran Hintonburg's Nola, and Twentieth Century had just taken over the Victoria. The territorial rights of distributing companies limited what the Elmdale had access to. This along with what I assume was a difficult, expensive and probably soul-crushing experience of a 17-month construction project, led them to the decision to sell. Their dream was ultimately a success, but it clearly had not worked out as they had hoped. (I attempted to track down a descendant of the Zumar family in researching this article, but was not successful. If anyone from the family reads this and would be willing to get in touch with me, I would love to hear from you).
The show would go on. Alex Betcherman, one of Ottawa's most prominent and well-known Jewish residents and businessmen, had been involved with the Elmdale group from the beginning, and took over ownership of the theatre from the Zumars as an investment. Robert Berezin, formerly with 20th Century Theatres would become the new theatre manager briefly, before Jack Gibson would take over until May of 1949.
As a result of the popularity of the theatre, and the natural increased traffic in the area, by January of 1948, parking on Hamilton Avenue became a heated issue for local residents. The city's Traffic Committee decided to allow parking on the east side of Hamilton Avenue south of Wellington, to assist the Elmdale's customers. A couple of angry local residents responded by slashing the tires of cars on Hamilton Avenue on January 12th, including one car who had a tire punctured with an ice pick.
St. Matthias Church constructed their new church during the spring of 1948, and while this was underway, they moved their services to the new Elmdale Theatre. The first service was held on Sunday April 11th, and incidentally set a record for largest attendance for a regular Sunday service. The management of the Elmdale even installed a new lighting system to allow worshippers to read with ease. St. Matthias remained in the Elmdale for eight months, moving back in to the renovated basement of the new church just before Christmas of 1948, the final church being finished in November of 1949.
The Theatre was again victim to a break-in, this one far more professional, when on July 20th, 1948, a gang of four serial safe-crackers, including one recent jailbreaker, who had performed several area break-ins over the previous week, broke in to the Elmdale. They broke in via a rear door of the theatre, then climbed a ladder to an air-conditioning duct, making their way to a grille outside the manager's office. They smashed open the door to the office, and took the heavy safe containing $500 to a vehicle waiting in the alley behind. Tire marks belonging to a Chevrolet panel truck was left behind. The truck was later chased by police through LeBreton Flats and over the Chaudiere bridge. The occupants opened fire on police during the chase, which reached speeds of 60 miles per hour on the Hull side. One of the occupants jumped out at the corner of St. Joseph Boulevard and McKenzie while the truck was going at top speed, came to his feet and kept on running. The police arrested the man soon after, but the truck got away. Heavy searching by police continued over the next month, with several sightings of the truck but the police narrowly would miss it each time. The truck was finally found hidden in a shed, having been painted at least three times by hand, and the gang members charged.
The Odeon acquisition
Owner Alex Betcherman did not hold on to the theatre for long. Odeon Theatres Ltd. purchased the theatre from him on November 22nd, 1948. Unfortunately the sale price is not certain, as the sale was officially made for the price of "$10 plus an exchange of lands", however Odeon did take out a mortgage from Betcherman for over $94,000, so imaginably the price of the theatre was well over $100k.
The agreement in place a little earlier in the fall, Odeon shut down their other local cinema, the Nola Theatre in Hintonburg rather suddenly on September 30th, 1948. (The Nola later became a bowling alley, then a store, before being torn down in 1972.) This left a direct competition with 20th Century's Victoria Theatre at Huron, which had been renamed Century Theatre. Elmdale would win this competition, as the Century was shut down in 1955.
The theatre was used for more than just showing movies; there were concerts, stage shows, and live in-person appearances by actors, including the Bowery Boys who made an appearance in 1953 (my Dad was a big fan, and thus I became a big fan watching their movies on Saturday mornings as a kid in the late 1980s; seemed like TVO had one on every Saturday at about 10 am).
In February of 1954, a new wide-vision screen was installed at the Elmdale. The first film to be shown on it was a Russian movie produced in Magicolor, called "Sadko". Notable is that prices by this point had gone up to 75 cents for adults, 25 cents for children (and 30 cents for matinees)
The Elmdale was known in the mid-1950s and into the 1960s for its weekly stage shows, talent nights and "amateur nights", put on by Bill Hartnett, and which featured the talents of, among others, Paul Anka and Dick Maloney. I found one comment on Facebook from Simone Pharand, who posted that while a student at Fisher Park, she sang at one Amateur Hour where Anka also performed; he sang "Down by the Riverside" while Simone sang "You belong to Me", but it was a five-year-old girl who won the contest that day, singing "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, Has Anybody Seen My Gal".
By 1955, the Elmdale had vanquished the other neighbourhood theatres, the Victoria and Nola, and even the Westboro Theatre closed in 1955, but the next challenge it needed to overcome was the arrival of home televisions. By the mid-1950s, over a million TVs had been sold in Canada, and by 1959, 90% of homes had one. Attendance at theatres plunged dramatically, and theatre-owners had to come up with unique initiatives to draw people in to moviehouses.
Most theatres, including the Elmdale, began to offer special theme nights, giveaways and contests. The Elmdale developed a regular contest called "Hollywood", in which fairly large cash prizes were given to winners. 16-year old Arleen Fitzgerald of Armstrong Street won the biggest jackpot of $270 in 1957, but a year later, in May of 1958, Odeon Theatres were fined and forced to shut down the contest, as it was judged to be a lottery. The game was apparently similar to bingo. Letters were projected on the screen, and theatre-goers would punch out cards bearing the names of movie stars. Twenty dollars would be added each week to the growing prize if there was no winner.
From 1955 until 1977, the Elmdale existed as the only west end theatre, until the Britannia Six opened.
Also interesting to note, now behind the theatre is a long parking lot, but until the early 1970s, there was a house here, separated by just a small alleyway, which was 45 Hamilton Avenue north. This was the-long time home of Ottawa Senators legend and hockey hall-of-famer Cy Denneny. Cy died in 1970, and it appears his home was demolished soon after.
Below are a few shots of the exterior of the Elmdale during the golden years of the 1950s and 60s (you can just see a bit of Denneny's house behind the theatre in the top photo).
The 1965 renovations
In October and November of 1965, the Elmdale Theatre went through renovations, and re-opened as an Art-Film Theatre. The new manager Frank Marinus announced that the theatre would undergo a major $65,000 renovation, and show only "art" films. The newspaper noted "This doesn't mean that the films will be "arty"; only that they are generally not believed to be for mass consumption. With the growth of film clubs in the city, however, it appears that there will be a substantial number of people interested in this new plan".
The renovations saw the Elmdale feature new curtains, new carpets, a new screen, new upholstered seats, a renovated lobby and mezzanine, an updated exterior and a new marquee. The new decor of the theatre was described as "mostly burnt orange, rusts and browns that create a warmly autumnal atmosphere. The wood panels are teak, the walls vinyl in the inner lobby, while the outer lobby is one in ceramic tile." Very 1960s-sounding indeed!
The mezzanine was the most significantly changed, being modified into an art gallery (called the Mezzanine Lounge) specializing in Canadian paintings, with an emphasis on local art. Ottawa artists were invited to exhibit their works without fee. The theme of the lounge was "tangerine, off-white and brown with soft amber ceiling lights to enhance the burlap-textured vinyl walls and floor-to-ceiling drapes. Wall-to-wall carpeting curves upwards to form baseboards, and vertical walnut strips add a decorative touch to the walls." The first artist featured in the lounge was landscape artist Mrs. Janet Thurm. Other local artists later exhibited included Rolland E. Proulx, Robert Ullman, Karp Seeman, James Penman Rae, Brigitta von Dulong, Michael Markham, Gordon Keith, Evelyn Browne Macartney, Barbara Browne Weir, and most notably perhaps, Christina Smith, who hosted an annual show every year into the 1980s.
The Elmdale also introduced a two-week international film festival in 1965, which would kick-off the "new" Elmdale. The first film shown was 'The Knack' from Britain.
A grand opening evening was held on November 3rd, 1965, with many distinguished guests, including representatives from at least 18 embassies and high commissions, as well as much press fanfare.
The theme did not last long. In May of 1966, it was announced that Elmdale was abandoning the "art theatre" concept, and attempting a "road show theatre" theme, whereby the theatre would show movies with a large number of major stars, or that had a high price tag, or another gimmick that would allow it to have higher prices, and advanced reserve seating. The Nelson Theatre in Ottawa had previously been operating this way, and had achieved moderate success with it.
Ticket prices now jumped to $2.00 for all evening, Sunday and holiday shows in the loge (with a $0.25 discount for a seat in the front, or "orchestra" seats), and $1.75 for tickets for matinees in the loge (again with a $0.25 discount for orchestra).
The Elmdale also came out with that cool-looking new logo in 1966 (as seen in the ad above).
While they may have abandoned their art theatre shows, the management did maintain their display of art and photo exhibitions in the theatre lounge, which continued well into the 1980s. And they did continue to host foreign film festivals that remained popular for many years. It seems even the "road show" concept was scrapped within a few years, and the theatre continued on showing regular, first-run films.
The Elmdale even teamed up with the Sugar 'N Spice Tavern (where the Desjardins Caisse Populaire now exists), where just over 5 bucks got you a "wonderful" dinner and a movie.
In February of 1967, the Elmdale hosted an Ingmar Bergman festival, and ticket prices had risen to as high as $2.50 for evening showings (always at 8:30) and for Sunday and holiday matinees (always at 2:00).
It appears by 1972, the Elmdale began showing some lesser quality films, and on weekends began showing "film classics". in an effort to hit an alternative market.
It took the Elmdale a little while to get it, as it originally opened at the end of May in 1977, but just before Christmas, Star Wars opened at the Elmdale.
The 1981 renovations
In September of 1981, with the kids back to school, the Elmdale shut down once again, for a total of six weeks, to renovate once again, and convert into a two-cinema house. The 848-seat cinema became two cinemas of approximately 400 seats each, with a wall down the centre. For the opening of the new theatres, the controversial film "Caligula", starring Malcolm McDowell and Peter O'Toole, premiered at the Elmdale, albeit heavily censored from the version that was shown across the border on the Quebec side. Called a "quasi-historical study of the mad Roman emperor produced by Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, has been generally dismissed as pornographic trash by the critics but has attracted crowds of moviegovers curious about the explicit depiction of imperial Rome's sexual depravity". (Ottawa Citizen, October 21, 1981) The 156-minute "New York version", which was shown in only a handful of cities in North America, was shown in Hull, But the Ontario film censoring board cut even more content from the already heavily-edited "British version", so a total of 12 minutes removed.
The double-screen helped Elmdale stay afloat but the 1980s were a difficult time in the movie business, and also to some extent even the neighbourhood. VCRs, expanded home viewing on TV, satellite dishes, new multiplexes with built-in entertainment and high-end sound systems were pushing older stand-alone theatres like Elmdale to the brink. Britannia opened and added a drive-in, and Westgate opened theatres as well. Additionally, the Elmdale dealt with their own problems. The soundproofing between the two theatres was poor, leading to a lot of complaints of sound bleed-through in both theatres. Also the neighbourhood was in transition, and for several years, issues that Hintonburg was facing such as prostitution and drugs affected the neighbourhood streetscape, particularly at night.
In November of 1989, commercials began appearing before movies, and the Elmdale was reported to be the first locally where these were shown. Ads presented before Woody Allen's film "Crimes and Misdemeanors", resulted in some bad press for Odeon, "the chorus of resentment swelled into boos, hisses, catcalls and words of advice for the perpetrators, Cineplex Odeon." One of the ads was for chewing gum, and the company even offered free samples at the door, but many refused to even accept the free gum.
On June 30th, 1988, the theatre was sold by Cineplex Odeon to a group of partners, including real estate developer Michael Dumbrell, lawyer James Hebert, and Harold Levin, president of Bass Clef Entertainments. The Elmdale was rented back to Cineplex Odeon on two-year leases, with one of the terms of the lease being that the owners were not allowed to rent it to another theatre chain. Essentially, Cineplex Odeon was still able to call the shots.
The Theatre's final days
In 1991, whispers began about the possibility of the Elmdale being shut down. Cineplex Odeon was opening the new multiplex World Exchange Plaze on July 5th, and were closing down the Phoenix Theatre on Bank Street. The out-dated Elmdale's days were numbered. A news report in late June reported for the first time that the Elmdale would close later in 1991, particularly as the lease was about to run out. The theatre was up for sale, though had no buyers. The Elmdale received a stay of execution, with Cineplex extending the lease again in 1992. It remained open until 1994, when the World Exchange Plaza cinemas expanded from three to seven screens. Cineplex made the decision to shut down Ottawa's final two free-standing cinemas in their chain.
The Elmdale's final night of movies was on August 25th, 1994, with showings of two forgettable movies, "It Could Happen to You" and "Blankman". The Elgin Theatre closed that November as well (the Somerset, Ottawa's final cinema of its kind, closed in 2000 and was demolished in 2004).
On September 19th, 1994, the Elmdale Theatre was sold to the Cornerstone House of Refuge Apostolic Church for $712,000. The church group renovated the theatre and has used the building as their place of worship ever since.
I haven't been inside since 1994, but I can still remember the fun hours spent there as a kid, and the huge murals of Charlie Chaplin painted on the wall, which I can only assume are long gone. I'm glad the building has remained, and I'm happy that it is so well used these days, but nothing would make me happier than to see it become a theatre again!
Not surprisingly, the theatre has been the subject of works by two prominent Ottawa artists recently, and I can think of no better way to end this article then by including them here, as an appropriate ode to the classic experience of the neighbourhood theatre that the Elmdale gave to so many of us!
So let's step into the history of the Elmdale Theatre.
The land on which the Elmdale sits was originally part of the Hinton farm. The farm was first subdivided in to lots in 1874. Though only a few of these original lots would be sold (from the original subdivision), three of the first to sell were lots C, D, and E on the north side of Wellington, which is much of the street-front between Hinton and Parkdale. James Wilson purchased the trio of lots, and while D and E would be developed a little more quickly, lot C (on which the Elmdale would be built) would remain in the Wilson family for nearly 40 years, and surprisingly remain empty for the entire time.
In 1917, the lot was picked up by Harry P. Hudson, who was a Doctor in Aylmer for 45 years. Hudson also sat on the vacant property for nearly 30 years, before finally selling on January 2nd, 1946, to Reuben Zumar. The sale price on the large lot was $3,500.
Reuben Zumar and his brothers Abe, Charles, Harry and Moe had a long-time dream to build a theatre. The sons of Israel and Cecilia Zumar of Marlborough Street in Ottawa, movie theatres were important to the family. The two oldest brothers had worked for years as projectionists at two of Ottawa's top theatres - Abe with the Capitol Theatre on Bank Street, and Charles with the Rideau Theatre on Rideau. The brothers had pooled their money together with the goal of building a modern theatre. With the outbreak of WWII, the dream was put on hold, and Harry, Reuben and Moe joined the service in 1940. All applied for enlistment at the same time, and were called up within a short period of each other. Harry, the eldest, was a Pilot Officer attached to an R.A.F. air-sea rescue squadron, specializing in flying "searches" for Allied airmen who have been forced down in the seas. He had trained in Ottawa, Brandon, Regina, Lethbridge, Calgary and Charlottetown before being posted overseas in November 1941. Reuben was a sergeant wireless operator-air gunner with an R.A.F. Torpedo Bomber Squadron, trained in Toronto and Montreal, before arriving in England in October of 1941. Moses "Moe" Zumar, was a Warrant Officer, and also a pilot. He was posted to the Demon Squadron of the R.C.A.F., training at Toronto, Verdun, Brandon and Charlottetown before being posted in January of 1942. Sadly, Moe went missing in 1942 and was never found (after Moe was declared missing, his brother Harry "flew two harrowing trips over the Bay of Biscay searching without success" for his brother).
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| Ottawa Citizen - July 18, 1942 |
The two boys returned home as war heroes, and immediately set about their original plan to open a theatre. They settled on the lot on Wellington Street in the popular and still-growing suburb of Hintonburg. At the time, the area featured two other movie theatres: the Victoria at Wellington and Huron, which had been built in 1934 (read my history about it at http://kitchissippimuseum.blogspot.ca/2015/01/the-victoria-theatre-wellington.html), and the aging Nola Theatre in Hintonburg, across from the St Francois D'Assise Church, built in 1914.
They purchased the lot on January 2nd, 1946, and the construction permit was issued by the City Building Department on Wednesday February 20th, 1946 (incidentally, just two days after the permit to construct the West Park bowling lanes across the street). The permit allowed for the construction of a two-storey theatre and one or two stores, at an estimated cost of $85,000. The outside dimensions were to be 75 feet, 4 inches x 95 feet x 42 feet, with an initial estimated seating capacity of approximately 1,000. The permit was issued to Zumar Brothers, at 120 Marlborough Avenue, as contractors, and named Kaplan and Sprachman, of Toronto, as architects.
The first sod was turned on April 6th, 1946, and original estimates called for the work to be completed by September 1946. Indeed, it would take a full year longer than that.
Sadly, the work would take seventeen months. The Zumars must have taken on a project that went beyond what they had been expecting. Many delays pushed the project, including a near-fire in February of 1947, where smoke filled the theatre while the builders attempted to dry plaster using a stove. Interestingly, a classified ad selling a Beach stove appeared in the newspaper a week later:
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| Ottawa Journal - February 3, 1947 |
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| Ottawa Journal - February 13, 1947 |
The theatre was finally complete by early September of 1947, seventeen months after construction had began. Harry Zumar was selected as manager of the theatre, having retired from the RCAF during the winter of 1946-47 as a flight lieutenant with six years service.
The newly completed theatre
The new theatre was trumpeted as a modern marvel. The theatre was stadium-style, with 882 seats all on one floor. Advertisements promoted the following features: "Ultra Modern Projection and Sound, Healthful cool air conditioning, spacious and comfortable seating, appealing decoration, attractive lighting, luxurious carpeting and furnishing, cry room and private party room, lounge, ladies' powder room, candy and refreshment bar."
The air conditioning was described as: "Draft free, the newest type of ceiling diffusers allows clean filtered air to circulate throughout the theatre, eliminating drafts, air-pockets, the air is filtered through the newest designed filters ridding the air of dust, pollen and germs. No danger of 'catching cold' at the Elmdale! Everything is fully automatic, thermostatically controlled - no guesswork. In the summer - cooled by the most modern type of ice-compressors - and in the winter, heated by the newest oil-fired heating plant with constant temperature and humidity equalization, both for cooling and heating"
The technical highlights being: "The Elmdale is equipped with the newest Simplex Four-Star sound and projection system. Outstanding in technical excellence, to bring greater realism in sound reproduction with a better balance of high and low tone range and the distribution of sound throughout the theatre is perfectly uniform irrespective of where you sit, bringing you always the positive illusion of "being present". More light on the screen, with clearer, sharper, black-and-white pictures, and infinitely better and truer projection of color pictures heightening the normal illusion of depth, with new richness and beauty in the film image, allowing no distortion from side seats."
The seats were detailed as: "The newest in stream-lined seating on a scientifically sloped floor to give the utmost in seating comfort. Improved seat backs which mold to the individual body and full floating cushions, upholstered in leatherette. Automatic seat lifts and more passing room between rows with full wide seats, a perfect view of the screen from any seat in the house."
Lighting in the theatre was promoted as: "Interior lighting in the theatre auditorium eliminates all glare, neon cove lighting in pleasing soft tone colours. No eyestrain, no glare to distract from the realism of the film."
The new Cry Room concept was ahead of it's time as well: "First in Ottawa. A private party room for your theatre parties. Tastefully decorated and air-conditioned, with comfortable easy chairs. Specially equipped with its own sound system, also hearing aids for the hard-of-hearing. During matinees this room is available to mothers who wish to bring their infants to the theatre."
The Lounge: "Relax in comfort in our spacious, tastefully decorated lounge, fully air-conditioned. Lovely and most comfortable chairs and chesterfields, pleasing indirect lighting. Note to Ladies' Auxiliaries of local clubs. An ideal spot for your regular weekly meetings, and teas.
The Candy Bar: "A pleasing convenient candy and refreshment bar fully stocked with the best-known brands of confections, ice cream and refreshing drinks with a courteous helpful attendant at your service."
Here is a list of the large number of Contractors involved in its construction:
- Hardy Electric (1302 Wellington Street): all electrical work and light fixtures
- Gerard & Gerard (18 Rideau Street): plastering work
- Harry Hayley (Hurdman's Road): cement products (cinder block and cement products)
- Parfield Oils Limited (McArthur Road): Fess Oil Burner (sold, installed, serviced and fueled)
- United Plumbing & Heating Service (477 St. Patrick St.): plumbing and heating
- Rideau Upholstering Company (424 Rideau St): upholstering
- Alfred Grodde (382 Richmond Road): painting and decorating
- Chas. Burnside (1007 Wellington Street): sand and gravel
- J. R. Douglas (262 Slater Street): Supplied fireproof doors, roof, duct work, shutters and grills
- J. D. Sanderson Company (575 McLeod Street): roofers
- Rainbow Neon Signs (206 Murray Street): Neon Marquee and neon lighting
- Albert Bethell (96 Richmond Road): Foundation
- George W. Ewan & Son: Insurance brokerage
- Lieff Lumber Company (66 Booth Street): millwork supplied by
- DeSpirit Mosaic & Marble (18 Pretoria Avenue): Tile (marble, terrazzo and slate)
- General Theatre Supply Co. Ltd. (Montreal): Simplex Sound and Projection Equipment
- Kaplan and Sprachman (Toronto): Architects
- F. A. McLean & Son (185 James Street): Water Well Drillers
- R & A Cohen (Bank at Laurier): Furniture and appliances
- Twin City Dunbrik Co. (80 McArthur Road): Concrete Brick, Concrete and Cinder Block
- Libby-Long-Aboud Engineering Ltd. (Montreal): Air-conditioning design and installation
- A. J. Freiman Limited: Draperies, curtains, venetian blinds supplied and installed
- John Kay Company Ltd (Toronto): carpets
- Harry Koffman (366 Bank Street): Signs
- Beechwood Machinery Ltd. (10 Beechwood Ave): machinery and tools
- Ottawa Iron Works Ltd. (96 Nelson Street): Ornamental iron, steel stairs, fire escape
Alain Miguelez eloquently describes the theatre's architecture in his book "A Theatre Near You": "The building presented a modern stucco, vitrolite, and galvanized steel exterior. Its minimalist design lines contrasted a sweeping corner curve where the entrance doors were located with a rhythmic sequence of square windows made of square glass blocks on the second floor, and square poster boards at street level. The interior was devoid of the complicated and detailed decorations of prewar cinemas, the entire decor scheme being designed to offer comfort."
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| Ottawa Citizen - September 6, 1947 |
Opening night ceremonies for the theatre were held on Monday September 8th, 1947, sponsored by the West Ottawa Business and Professional Men's Association, with all proceeds donated towards equipping and furnishing a room in the new wing of the Grace Hospital. $700 was raised, and donated to Col. C. M. Edwards, DSO, chairman of the advisory council of the Salvation Army. Master of Ceremonies for the evening was well-known local resident and socialite Jack Norris.
Guests on this special evening saw a special "sneak preview" one-night showing of the Arthur Rank-produced film "Carnival", from England, it's first showing in North America (Directed by Stanley Haynes, and starring Sally Gray and Michael Wilding). There was also a stage show put on by the Gatineau Club, and door prizes donated by the businesses of West Ottawa.
The headlines the next morning read "Hundreds Turned Away When Elmdale Theatre Opens Doors", noting that may people were turned away from a house "which was filled long before the program was scheduled to begin." An article added further: "It was a gala opening and the front of the building was ablaze with lights."
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| Ottawa Journal - September 9, 1947 |
Opening night for the general public was the following night, Tuesday September 9th, 1947, and featured the movies "To Have and Have Not", based on Ernest Hemingway's novel, starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan and Lauren Bacall, as well as "Mr. Lucky" with Cary Grant and Laraine Day.
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| Ottawa Journal - September 9, 1947; the first ad for the Elmdale Theatre |
Admission prices when the Elmdale first opened were, for matinees: children 15 cents, students 20 cents, and adults 30 cents; and for evening shows: children 15 cents, students 25 cents, and adults 35 cents.
The new theatre building also included one commercial storefront space, facing Wellington at the east end of the building (1194 Wellington Street). This storefront is still there, though nowadays it appears to be some kind of office space. The first occupant was Morley's Fashions, a clothing store. Morley's held also held an early event in the theatre, hosting a fashion show on November 24th and 25th, of 1947.
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| Ottawa Journal - November 20, 1947 |
The early years after opening
The theatre had not been open long before suffering it's first break-in. In the early morning hours of Saturday September 13th, 1947, 20-year old Roland Dinelle of Ladouceur Street and 24-year old George Bedard of John Street in Eastview broke in to the theatre and stole $102 in cash. They were captured a few days later with $30 of the cash still on them, and they were held on vagrancy charges, until the break-in could be investigated fully. They were held without bail, until their day in court on October 7th. Bedard plead guilty, and was sentenced to the Ontario reformatory for four months definite plus four months indeterminate. Meanwhile the charge against Dinelle was dismissed. However, he was picked up again less than two months later for breaking in to a home on Smirle Avenue and stealing $75 in shirts and silverware.
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| September 1947 photo of the Elmdale Theatre (taken within a few weeks of opening) Source: flickr page by Ross Dunn, though it was sourced I believe from the Alain Miguelez book "A Theatre Near You", originally Archives of Ontario) |
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| Ottawa Journal - September 27, 1947: advertising the movies shown in the earliest photo of the theatre above. |
Below are two great photos from the inside of the theatre from when it first opened. These photos were dug out of Archives in Toronto by Alain Miguelez, who wrote one of my favorite books, "A Theatre Near You", which chronicles all of Ottawa's old theatres. A must read for everyone, the photos and information are amazing. I've borrowed these two photos from his book below, and am very thankful he was able to unearth them.
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| Theatre auditorium 1947 (source: "A Theatre Near You" by Alain Miguelez, page 261; originally Archives of Ontario) |
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| Auditorium facing back towards the rear, 1947 (source: "A Theatre Near You" by Alain Miguelez, page 261; originally Archives of Ontario) |
Shockingly, less than a month after opening, after 17 hard months of work preparing the theatre, the Zumar Brothers announced that they no longer had any association with the Elmdale. They thanked their friends and associates, and the announcement provided no further information.
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| Notice which appeared in both the Citizen and Journal on October 3, 1947, announcing that the Zumars no longer were associated with the Elmdale. |
According to Miguelez in "A Theatre Near You", the Zumars were presented with an exceptional challenge of access to quality movies. The Odeon ran Hintonburg's Nola, and Twentieth Century had just taken over the Victoria. The territorial rights of distributing companies limited what the Elmdale had access to. This along with what I assume was a difficult, expensive and probably soul-crushing experience of a 17-month construction project, led them to the decision to sell. Their dream was ultimately a success, but it clearly had not worked out as they had hoped. (I attempted to track down a descendant of the Zumar family in researching this article, but was not successful. If anyone from the family reads this and would be willing to get in touch with me, I would love to hear from you).
The show would go on. Alex Betcherman, one of Ottawa's most prominent and well-known Jewish residents and businessmen, had been involved with the Elmdale group from the beginning, and took over ownership of the theatre from the Zumars as an investment. Robert Berezin, formerly with 20th Century Theatres would become the new theatre manager briefly, before Jack Gibson would take over until May of 1949.
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| Ottawa Journal - November 21, 1947 |
As a result of the popularity of the theatre, and the natural increased traffic in the area, by January of 1948, parking on Hamilton Avenue became a heated issue for local residents. The city's Traffic Committee decided to allow parking on the east side of Hamilton Avenue south of Wellington, to assist the Elmdale's customers. A couple of angry local residents responded by slashing the tires of cars on Hamilton Avenue on January 12th, including one car who had a tire punctured with an ice pick.
St. Matthias Church constructed their new church during the spring of 1948, and while this was underway, they moved their services to the new Elmdale Theatre. The first service was held on Sunday April 11th, and incidentally set a record for largest attendance for a regular Sunday service. The management of the Elmdale even installed a new lighting system to allow worshippers to read with ease. St. Matthias remained in the Elmdale for eight months, moving back in to the renovated basement of the new church just before Christmas of 1948, the final church being finished in November of 1949.
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| Ottawa Journal - April 12, 1948 |
The Theatre was again victim to a break-in, this one far more professional, when on July 20th, 1948, a gang of four serial safe-crackers, including one recent jailbreaker, who had performed several area break-ins over the previous week, broke in to the Elmdale. They broke in via a rear door of the theatre, then climbed a ladder to an air-conditioning duct, making their way to a grille outside the manager's office. They smashed open the door to the office, and took the heavy safe containing $500 to a vehicle waiting in the alley behind. Tire marks belonging to a Chevrolet panel truck was left behind. The truck was later chased by police through LeBreton Flats and over the Chaudiere bridge. The occupants opened fire on police during the chase, which reached speeds of 60 miles per hour on the Hull side. One of the occupants jumped out at the corner of St. Joseph Boulevard and McKenzie while the truck was going at top speed, came to his feet and kept on running. The police arrested the man soon after, but the truck got away. Heavy searching by police continued over the next month, with several sightings of the truck but the police narrowly would miss it each time. The truck was finally found hidden in a shed, having been painted at least three times by hand, and the gang members charged.
The Odeon acquisition
Owner Alex Betcherman did not hold on to the theatre for long. Odeon Theatres Ltd. purchased the theatre from him on November 22nd, 1948. Unfortunately the sale price is not certain, as the sale was officially made for the price of "$10 plus an exchange of lands", however Odeon did take out a mortgage from Betcherman for over $94,000, so imaginably the price of the theatre was well over $100k.
The agreement in place a little earlier in the fall, Odeon shut down their other local cinema, the Nola Theatre in Hintonburg rather suddenly on September 30th, 1948. (The Nola later became a bowling alley, then a store, before being torn down in 1972.) This left a direct competition with 20th Century's Victoria Theatre at Huron, which had been renamed Century Theatre. Elmdale would win this competition, as the Century was shut down in 1955.
The theatre was used for more than just showing movies; there were concerts, stage shows, and live in-person appearances by actors, including the Bowery Boys who made an appearance in 1953 (my Dad was a big fan, and thus I became a big fan watching their movies on Saturday mornings as a kid in the late 1980s; seemed like TVO had one on every Saturday at about 10 am).
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| December 20, 1949 |
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| March 17, 1950 |
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| November 22, 1950 |
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| January 5, 1953 |
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| August 1, 1953 |
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| November 5, 1953 |
In February of 1954, a new wide-vision screen was installed at the Elmdale. The first film to be shown on it was a Russian movie produced in Magicolor, called "Sadko". Notable is that prices by this point had gone up to 75 cents for adults, 25 cents for children (and 30 cents for matinees)
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| February 8, 1954 |
The Elmdale was known in the mid-1950s and into the 1960s for its weekly stage shows, talent nights and "amateur nights", put on by Bill Hartnett, and which featured the talents of, among others, Paul Anka and Dick Maloney. I found one comment on Facebook from Simone Pharand, who posted that while a student at Fisher Park, she sang at one Amateur Hour where Anka also performed; he sang "Down by the Riverside" while Simone sang "You belong to Me", but it was a five-year-old girl who won the contest that day, singing "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue, Has Anybody Seen My Gal".
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| March 5, 1955 |
By 1955, the Elmdale had vanquished the other neighbourhood theatres, the Victoria and Nola, and even the Westboro Theatre closed in 1955, but the next challenge it needed to overcome was the arrival of home televisions. By the mid-1950s, over a million TVs had been sold in Canada, and by 1959, 90% of homes had one. Attendance at theatres plunged dramatically, and theatre-owners had to come up with unique initiatives to draw people in to moviehouses.
Most theatres, including the Elmdale, began to offer special theme nights, giveaways and contests. The Elmdale developed a regular contest called "Hollywood", in which fairly large cash prizes were given to winners. 16-year old Arleen Fitzgerald of Armstrong Street won the biggest jackpot of $270 in 1957, but a year later, in May of 1958, Odeon Theatres were fined and forced to shut down the contest, as it was judged to be a lottery. The game was apparently similar to bingo. Letters were projected on the screen, and theatre-goers would punch out cards bearing the names of movie stars. Twenty dollars would be added each week to the growing prize if there was no winner.
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| March 5, 1955 |
From 1955 until 1977, the Elmdale existed as the only west end theatre, until the Britannia Six opened.
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| Various logos used in the 1950s and 1960s |
Also interesting to note, now behind the theatre is a long parking lot, but until the early 1970s, there was a house here, separated by just a small alleyway, which was 45 Hamilton Avenue north. This was the-long time home of Ottawa Senators legend and hockey hall-of-famer Cy Denneny. Cy died in 1970, and it appears his home was demolished soon after.
Below are a few shots of the exterior of the Elmdale during the golden years of the 1950s and 60s (you can just see a bit of Denneny's house behind the theatre in the top photo).
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| Elmdale Theatre on June 6, 1956 Currently showing "To Hell and Back" with Audie Murphy, and "The Tall Men" with Clark Gable and Jane Russell. (Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-38871) |
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| Elmdale Theatre on December 23, 1959 A one-day showing of "Because of You" and "Thunder on the Hill" (Source: City of Ottawa Archives, AN-A-5353-3) |
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| Elmdale Theatre, June 22, 1962 (Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-24804) |
The 1965 renovations
In October and November of 1965, the Elmdale Theatre went through renovations, and re-opened as an Art-Film Theatre. The new manager Frank Marinus announced that the theatre would undergo a major $65,000 renovation, and show only "art" films. The newspaper noted "This doesn't mean that the films will be "arty"; only that they are generally not believed to be for mass consumption. With the growth of film clubs in the city, however, it appears that there will be a substantial number of people interested in this new plan".
The renovations saw the Elmdale feature new curtains, new carpets, a new screen, new upholstered seats, a renovated lobby and mezzanine, an updated exterior and a new marquee. The new decor of the theatre was described as "mostly burnt orange, rusts and browns that create a warmly autumnal atmosphere. The wood panels are teak, the walls vinyl in the inner lobby, while the outer lobby is one in ceramic tile." Very 1960s-sounding indeed!
The mezzanine was the most significantly changed, being modified into an art gallery (called the Mezzanine Lounge) specializing in Canadian paintings, with an emphasis on local art. Ottawa artists were invited to exhibit their works without fee. The theme of the lounge was "tangerine, off-white and brown with soft amber ceiling lights to enhance the burlap-textured vinyl walls and floor-to-ceiling drapes. Wall-to-wall carpeting curves upwards to form baseboards, and vertical walnut strips add a decorative touch to the walls." The first artist featured in the lounge was landscape artist Mrs. Janet Thurm. Other local artists later exhibited included Rolland E. Proulx, Robert Ullman, Karp Seeman, James Penman Rae, Brigitta von Dulong, Michael Markham, Gordon Keith, Evelyn Browne Macartney, Barbara Browne Weir, and most notably perhaps, Christina Smith, who hosted an annual show every year into the 1980s.
The Elmdale also introduced a two-week international film festival in 1965, which would kick-off the "new" Elmdale. The first film shown was 'The Knack' from Britain.
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| Full page ad in the Ottawa Journal - November 3, 1965 |
A grand opening evening was held on November 3rd, 1965, with many distinguished guests, including representatives from at least 18 embassies and high commissions, as well as much press fanfare.
The theme did not last long. In May of 1966, it was announced that Elmdale was abandoning the "art theatre" concept, and attempting a "road show theatre" theme, whereby the theatre would show movies with a large number of major stars, or that had a high price tag, or another gimmick that would allow it to have higher prices, and advanced reserve seating. The Nelson Theatre in Ottawa had previously been operating this way, and had achieved moderate success with it.
Ticket prices now jumped to $2.00 for all evening, Sunday and holiday shows in the loge (with a $0.25 discount for a seat in the front, or "orchestra" seats), and $1.75 for tickets for matinees in the loge (again with a $0.25 discount for orchestra).
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| June 11, 1966 |
The Elmdale also came out with that cool-looking new logo in 1966 (as seen in the ad above).
While they may have abandoned their art theatre shows, the management did maintain their display of art and photo exhibitions in the theatre lounge, which continued well into the 1980s. And they did continue to host foreign film festivals that remained popular for many years. It seems even the "road show" concept was scrapped within a few years, and the theatre continued on showing regular, first-run films.
The Elmdale even teamed up with the Sugar 'N Spice Tavern (where the Desjardins Caisse Populaire now exists), where just over 5 bucks got you a "wonderful" dinner and a movie.
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| October 13, 1966 |
In February of 1967, the Elmdale hosted an Ingmar Bergman festival, and ticket prices had risen to as high as $2.50 for evening showings (always at 8:30) and for Sunday and holiday matinees (always at 2:00).
It appears by 1972, the Elmdale began showing some lesser quality films, and on weekends began showing "film classics". in an effort to hit an alternative market.
It took the Elmdale a little while to get it, as it originally opened at the end of May in 1977, but just before Christmas, Star Wars opened at the Elmdale.
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| December 22, 1977 |
The 1981 renovations
In September of 1981, with the kids back to school, the Elmdale shut down once again, for a total of six weeks, to renovate once again, and convert into a two-cinema house. The 848-seat cinema became two cinemas of approximately 400 seats each, with a wall down the centre. For the opening of the new theatres, the controversial film "Caligula", starring Malcolm McDowell and Peter O'Toole, premiered at the Elmdale, albeit heavily censored from the version that was shown across the border on the Quebec side. Called a "quasi-historical study of the mad Roman emperor produced by Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, has been generally dismissed as pornographic trash by the critics but has attracted crowds of moviegovers curious about the explicit depiction of imperial Rome's sexual depravity". (Ottawa Citizen, October 21, 1981) The 156-minute "New York version", which was shown in only a handful of cities in North America, was shown in Hull, But the Ontario film censoring board cut even more content from the already heavily-edited "British version", so a total of 12 minutes removed.
The double-screen helped Elmdale stay afloat but the 1980s were a difficult time in the movie business, and also to some extent even the neighbourhood. VCRs, expanded home viewing on TV, satellite dishes, new multiplexes with built-in entertainment and high-end sound systems were pushing older stand-alone theatres like Elmdale to the brink. Britannia opened and added a drive-in, and Westgate opened theatres as well. Additionally, the Elmdale dealt with their own problems. The soundproofing between the two theatres was poor, leading to a lot of complaints of sound bleed-through in both theatres. Also the neighbourhood was in transition, and for several years, issues that Hintonburg was facing such as prostitution and drugs affected the neighbourhood streetscape, particularly at night.
In November of 1989, commercials began appearing before movies, and the Elmdale was reported to be the first locally where these were shown. Ads presented before Woody Allen's film "Crimes and Misdemeanors", resulted in some bad press for Odeon, "the chorus of resentment swelled into boos, hisses, catcalls and words of advice for the perpetrators, Cineplex Odeon." One of the ads was for chewing gum, and the company even offered free samples at the door, but many refused to even accept the free gum.
On June 30th, 1988, the theatre was sold by Cineplex Odeon to a group of partners, including real estate developer Michael Dumbrell, lawyer James Hebert, and Harold Levin, president of Bass Clef Entertainments. The Elmdale was rented back to Cineplex Odeon on two-year leases, with one of the terms of the lease being that the owners were not allowed to rent it to another theatre chain. Essentially, Cineplex Odeon was still able to call the shots.
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| Elmdale Theatre in its final years - June 1991 (Source: City of Ottawa Archives, CA-24334) |
The Theatre's final days
In 1991, whispers began about the possibility of the Elmdale being shut down. Cineplex Odeon was opening the new multiplex World Exchange Plaze on July 5th, and were closing down the Phoenix Theatre on Bank Street. The out-dated Elmdale's days were numbered. A news report in late June reported for the first time that the Elmdale would close later in 1991, particularly as the lease was about to run out. The theatre was up for sale, though had no buyers. The Elmdale received a stay of execution, with Cineplex extending the lease again in 1992. It remained open until 1994, when the World Exchange Plaza cinemas expanded from three to seven screens. Cineplex made the decision to shut down Ottawa's final two free-standing cinemas in their chain.
The Elmdale's final night of movies was on August 25th, 1994, with showings of two forgettable movies, "It Could Happen to You" and "Blankman". The Elgin Theatre closed that November as well (the Somerset, Ottawa's final cinema of its kind, closed in 2000 and was demolished in 2004).
On September 19th, 1994, the Elmdale Theatre was sold to the Cornerstone House of Refuge Apostolic Church for $712,000. The church group renovated the theatre and has used the building as their place of worship ever since.
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| August 2006 view of the Church, with the old Elmdale marquee still in place. (Source: Jeff Knoll, www.cinematour.com) |
I haven't been inside since 1994, but I can still remember the fun hours spent there as a kid, and the huge murals of Charlie Chaplin painted on the wall, which I can only assume are long gone. I'm glad the building has remained, and I'm happy that it is so well used these days, but nothing would make me happier than to see it become a theatre again!
Not surprisingly, the theatre has been the subject of works by two prominent Ottawa artists recently, and I can think of no better way to end this article then by including them here, as an appropriate ode to the classic experience of the neighbourhood theatre that the Elmdale gave to so many of us!
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| Elmdale Theatre by Andrew King, part of his Tamarack series (http://www.andrewkingstudio.com/www.andrewkingstudio.com/Tamarack_Paintings.html) |
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| "The Elmdale" by talented artist Dave Rheaume (www.daverheaume.com/) |
Sunday, February 21, 2016
One week until the kick-off meeting! +Profile in the newspaper! Thanks Kitchissippi Times!
The kick-off meeting for the History & Heritage group (can't wait to actually pick a name!) is just a week away now, next Sunday the 28th of February from 1-3 at Thyme and Again. Thanks to all of you who have emailed me, I appreciate the great interest. The article in the Kitchissippi Times this week has been a huge PR help as well, and hey everyone now knows a few history-nerd tidbits about me too! If you haven't seen it yet, check it out at: http://kitchissippi.com/2016/02/18/kitchissippi-history-group/
At the bottom of the article (online version only) is a list of five cool local history-themed websites I recommend everyone check out. I encourage you for sure to visit them, I'd bet a couple of them would be new to many of you!
I'll have another update or two later this week about the get-together. And I'll be catching up on emails in the next few days as well, so if you wrote to me in the last few days and haven't heard back, my apologies, but I promise a reply in the next day or two. I'm spending a bit of time preparing stuff for the meeting, so there should be a lot of content, lots to talk about, and (hopefully) quite a few people to meet and chat with. Really looking forward to it!
Working on a new addition for this site as well this week, which is to add a section of reference materials, for the aid of people doing research or just curious to poke around in history. So I hope to launch that in the next week or so as well, I think this could be a great resource. Cheers!
At the bottom of the article (online version only) is a list of five cool local history-themed websites I recommend everyone check out. I encourage you for sure to visit them, I'd bet a couple of them would be new to many of you!
I'll have another update or two later this week about the get-together. And I'll be catching up on emails in the next few days as well, so if you wrote to me in the last few days and haven't heard back, my apologies, but I promise a reply in the next day or two. I'm spending a bit of time preparing stuff for the meeting, so there should be a lot of content, lots to talk about, and (hopefully) quite a few people to meet and chat with. Really looking forward to it!
Working on a new addition for this site as well this week, which is to add a section of reference materials, for the aid of people doing research or just curious to poke around in history. So I hope to launch that in the next week or so as well, I think this could be a great resource. Cheers!
Thursday, February 18, 2016
The 100th Anniversary of Prohibition! (with a Kitchissippi focus, of course)
The newest issue of the Kitchissippi Times came out today, and includes an article I wrote on the 100th anniversary of prohibition. Learn about how prohibition came about, how long it lasted for, the sneaky ways residents managed to continue to obtain alcohol during the "dry" period, and when/how it came to an end.
You can see the article at http://kitchissippi.com/2016/02/18/temperance-and-taverns-prohibition-and-the-history-of-hooch-in-kitchissippi/
(Note the online version of the article contains extra content and photos that the printed newspaper version did not)
Enjoy!
You can see the article at http://kitchissippi.com/2016/02/18/temperance-and-taverns-prohibition-and-the-history-of-hooch-in-kitchissippi/
(Note the online version of the article contains extra content and photos that the printed newspaper version did not)
Enjoy!
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Street Profiles: The History of Pinhey Street
Current Street Name: Pinhey Street
Former Street Names: Russell Street (mid-1880s to 1889).
First established: Mid-1880s on an unregistered plan; first official plan was Carleton County Plan 105 in 1889.
Name meaning: The street is named for Charles Hamnett Pinhey (1828-1893), youngest child of Hamnett Kirkes Pinhey (and Mary Anne Tasker), the founders of Pinhey's Point, now a heritage site on the Ottawa River. Charles was a lawyer and was appointed Clerk of the Dalhousie District in 1848, and continued as Clerk to the County of Carleton until mid-1858. Around 1854-55, he joined John B. Lewis to form the Ottawa legal firm of 'Lewis and Pinhey'. When Lewis died in 1874, Pinhey became the senior partner, and the firm later became known as Pinhey, Christie and Hill. Pinhey was also the Secretary-Treasurer of the Bytown and Nepean Road Company (which owned the Richmond Road, then a toll road). In 1863, he married Catherine Lewis, the sister of his law partner, and together they had five children. Charles Pinhey never resided in the area, instead residing in "Merton Cottage" on Victoria Terrace, a street north of Albert that connected Wellington Street to Richmond Road in old LeBreton Flats. He died on Christmas Day of 1893.
How named: In 1888, Pinhey acquired a 10-acre block of land that had been owned by friend and business colleague Alexander Russell when Russell passed away (Pinhey had been the mortgage-holder on the land). A year later, Pinhey decided to take advantage of the newly-growing Hintonburg suburb by subdividing part of the property for sale. He created two streets, and named them after his family (Pinhey) and his family's hometown in England (Merton).
Early Days:
In 1831, the 200 acres of lot 36 in concession 1 of Nepean Township were sold in two halves: Robert Reid purchase the south 100 acres, while John Anderson, one of Bytown's first merchants, purchased the northern 100 acres. Anderson established a farm in the area (which would have run from Merton west to Parkdale, and from Scott south to about the Queensway) until he died around 1851. Soon after his death, his widow Janet Anderson broke the land into smaller parcels for sale to land investors from Bytown.
On November 26th, 1851, she sold a 10-acre block to Alex J. Russell for 65 pounds. The deed of sale interestingly was witnessed and signed by Charles Hamnett Pinhey. Russell was a former Deputy Provincial Surveyor (1829), and in 1830 joined the Commissariat Department, serving two years on the Rideau Canal while it was being constructed. After then after working in Quebec for several years, he eventually was transferred to the Crown Timber Office in Ottawa to settle difficulties with lumbermen and to grant licenses to cut timber on the Ottawa River and its tributaries. To these duties were added those of collecting timber revenues and the inspection of other Crown Timber agencies. He was the author of “The Red River Country, Hudson's Bay, and Northwest Territories considered in relation to Canada”, published in 1869, and of “On Champlain's Astrolabe”, published in 1879. He also contributed sketches to Alfred Hawkins' Picture of Quebec (Quebec, 1834) as well as to the Canadian Illustrated News in 1870 and 1871.
It appears around 1878-79 Russell had a small house built on the property (the first construction on the 10-acre block) which he rented to tenants throughout the next decade (the first was a 23-year old labourer John Martin Fuller who 40 years later would later would become the superintendent of the Island Park division of the Federal District Commission during the construction of Island Park Drive in the 1920s). The Russell family also lived on Victoria Terrace and it does not appear they ever resided in Hintonburg (Bruce Elliott in his book “The City Beyond”, noted that around 1870 Russell “built a substantial home on the north side of Richmond Road, and moved into the community”, but this cannot be substantiated through assessment roll and city directory records).
At some point during the 1880s, Russell must have laid out a subdivision of his property. As evidenced in the 1887 map below, he named the street running through his property “Russell Street” (which would later become Pinhey Street), and laid out a total of 53 lots on both sides of the street, all the way north to the train tracks (now Scott). No lots were ever sold from this subdivision.
This plan is also the first time that the odd south-east jog occurs at the very south end of Pinhey. As you'll see from the plan, Armstrong did not yet exist, and there was seemingly no reason why Pinhey could not have continued in a straight line to Richmond Road, just as Merton did (and all other streets running south into Richmond Road). My only and best guess is that because of the positioning of the existing house that Russell had built (which I believe was on lot 5 fronting Richmond), combined with the angle that Richmond Road formed crossing Pinhey, that creating the jog was the best way Pinhey could maximize frontage onto Richmond, and be able to create 6 individual lots on Richmond (which held exceptional value at the time, Richmond being the main thoroughfare going west out of Ottawa, of course).
From the records I have, it is difficult to say with full certainty that the 1878-79 house built by Russell was definitely on lot 5 on Wellington. In the 1890 Nepean Township assessment rollbook, it is the only lot fronting on Richmond with a house completed on it (there are a total of 8 houses listed as already built in the new subdivision by assessor's visit in mid-March of 1890), and also has the highest assessed value than the other 7 houses. But the possibility exists that the Russell-built house was on one of the other lots, and set back from Richmond Road, but this seems quite unlikely. If the tenant from 1889 (Fraser) had still been present in 1890, then the location would be more confirmed, but it appears she moved out in early 1890, pre-assessment. In the Russell house on lot 5 were Irish immigrants, 60-year old shoe-maker named Abraham Lattimore, and his wife Margaret.
After Pinhey registered the subdivision, lot sales began immediately, and construction of small houses began just as quickly. By early 1890, there were 8 houses completed in the section: one on Richmond Road, four on the west side of Merton, two on the west side of Pinhey, and one on the east side of Pinhey.
Of the first three houses built on Pinhey Street in 1889-1890, only two remain. They are now #62 Pinhey, standing on the south-west corner of Ladouceur, and #103 Pinhey, standing just south of Armstrong on the east side of the street.
62 Pinhey was built by John McCrimmon, who was employed as a teamster. McCrimmon built this wood-frame home on lot 11 for his 7-person family. The house (including the land it stands on) was valued at $175 on the 1890 Nepean Township assessment roll. 103 Pinhey was built by Thomas A. Stott, one of Hintonburg's leading merchants of the era (he owned many properties in the village, and his flagship shop was up on Wellington in what is now Larry's Pawn Shop/Bryan's Refrigeration). 103 Pinhey was rented to tenants upon completion (the first residents were 40-year old labourer Peter Jenson and his 4-person family) in the home valued at $200.
In December of 1893, Hintonburg became an independent village, separate from Nepean Township. That same month was when Pinhey passed away. His Hintonburg land holdings remained under the title of Charles’ estate, and it appears his wife and/or children for many years continued the active business affairs on the land, including lot sales and the overall development of the property.
In the summer of 1895, four of the lots on the plan were expropriated to the Village of Hintonburg, and a new plan (Plan 155) was registered to allow for the extension of Armstrong Street to the west (prior to this, Armstrong stopped at Merton Street, however it was decided to extend it westwards through the Plan 105 property, and beyond, following the path of Cave Creek. The purpose of this was to establish a formal ditch and eventual sewer system along Armstrong Street to combat Cave Creek. Evidence of the control of Cave Creek can be seen in the 1901 fire plan below, which shows it running on the south side of Armstrong past Pinhey, before it turns north to run behind the backyards of Pinhey and Merton homes. Cave Creek would be remedied years later (to be detailed in a future blog post coming on this subject very soon!).
On June 6th, 1903, Pinhey's estate sold the vacant four acres of property north of Ladouceur (plus a couple of odd unsold lots on Pinhey) to David Manchester for $1,900. Manchester was a long-time large-scale land owner in Hintonburg, who had even created a neighbourhood within the village, just to the east of Merton, called "Manchesterville" in the 1890s. Manchester then registered a new plan in June of 1904, essentially extending Pinhey and Merton Streets north to Scott Street. This was Plan 226. Manchester soon after pushed Hintonburg council for the required infrastructure for the north end of the street:
The first two homes built on the new section of Pinhey Street were on the west side of the street, on lot 14. In the spring-summer of 1905, Joseph Albert and Baptiste Albert each built a small home on lot 14 (Joseph on the north half, Baptiste on the south). Both worked as general labourers. Joseph’s home still stands as 46 Pinhey, and Baptiste’s stands as #48.
What was kind of interesting about this new opening of Pinhey was that the original Pinhey houses started numbering at #1 and #2 going south, from Ladouceur. Thus when the new houses began popping up north of Ladouceur, there was difficulty in numbering them. The city directories labelled them as "3rd north of 2 Pinhey", "8th north of 2 Pinhey", etc. So around 1908-09, the entire street was renumbered.
It did not take long for houses to fill the street out, and by around 1912, the street was essentially fully built up of wood-frame homes for blue collar workers.
Shots from oblique aerial photos from 1927 appear below, showing Pinhey Street as it was in the early part of the century, at both the north and south ends:
History of Businesses on Pinhey:
The story of commercial enterprise on Pinhey starts and ends with Hubert Heating. Started in 1922 by August E. Hubert, a former steel worker at the Beach Foundry, it took over 101 Pinhey from Frederick C. Menagh who operated a shop called "Foundries Limited", which dealt in brass and bronze castings, power and lights. The rear warehouse portion was first built around 1910-11 by Lauzon Bros (Adolphe and Omer Lauzon) who were blacksmiths. The Lauzons went out of business in 1914, and the building sat vacant before Menagh acquired and expanded between 1917-19. By 1924, Menagh had sold the building to Hubert, whose family continues to operate their storefront and shop at the corner of Pinhey and Armstrong, where they have been for over 90 years now.
Other than Hubert's, Pinhey has also been home to a variety of other businesses. Certainly at the corner of Wellington, the intersection has be a hub of commerce dating back to the 1800s. Where Giant Tiger exists now was originally acquired by butter and egg dealer William G. Wilson in 1891, and on this spot he built a moderate-sized house.
Wilson later dealt in real estate and insurance, becoming one of Hintonburg's most well-known citizens, and remained on this location until 1912, when the last portion of the house was demolished (sometime around 1910, the front part of the house was lost, either through fire or demolition, leaving only the back room which Wilson used as an office for his real estate business).
The lot remained vacant until 1930, when Isidore L. Arron built a grand department store (which is now better known as Giant Tiger). Arron had opened a store at 1020 Wellington in 1923, It's grand opening was held in October of 1930, and was described in great detail in the newspaper: "This, the first and only departmental store in that part of Ottawa, is an imposing building of three storeys in height, attractively constructed of buff brick, with the entire ground floor frontage composed of a series of spacious show windows, interestingly dressed with smart Fall styles. Inside the Arron store, gleaming walnut fittings form an effective contrast with the snowy white of walls, ceilings and pillars, and unique lighting fixtures of opaline glass and crystal achieve a pleasant lighting effect. A branching staircase at the back of the main floor leads to the broad mezzanine gallery and upwards to the pleasantly appointed second floor, while another broad flight of stairs brings one into the commodious basement."
It continues: "The first floor of the new Arron store has been laid out to permit the shopper to pass from department to department at east, along wide aisles which separate the newest of counters, of gleaming walnut like the fittings throughout the shop. Flanking the front entrance, the hosiery and glove sections are conveniently at hand, and from them one passes to the millinery department where the smartest of the season's creations are attractively displayed. The corset and lingerie sections, the fancy goods, the infants' wear, the luggage and the dry goods departments are each in turn accommodated in a manner which makes it delightfully easy to shop conveniently. Along one side of the store, the men's furnishings and clothing are displayed, with convenient fitting-rooms and gleaming mirrors at hand. Here presides Mr. Oscar Couvillon, one of the oldest merchants in the city, who was for thirty-nine years with Bryson-Graham Limited, and later in business for himself for some twelve years. The shoe department, also on the first floor, is in charge of Mr. Leroy L. Arron, the son of the president of the firm, and Miss Yvonne Mercier, who has been with Arron's for five years, supervises the dry goods section. A convenient side entrance opens on to Pinhey Street and broad stairways lead from the main floor to the basement below the mezzanine and second floors above."
The basement contained a "surprisingly well-stocked electrical department, displaying everything from bulbs to electric stoves. Here too one may select wallpaper, oilcloth, paints, crockery, aluminum, kitchenware, soaps and countless other household furnishings and necessities...it is a veritable treasure trove for those in search of home needs."
Sadly, business must have gone exceptionally poorly for Arron that winter, perhaps combined with the economic depression which had hit North America, but it was just five months later, in March of 1931 that Arron was holding a forced bankruptcy sale. Later that year, the main floor of the store was taken over by the United 5 Cents to $1 Store.
The upstairs was renovated and became a billiard hall, athletic club, upholstery business, and for many years a bowling alley. Giant Tiger purchased the building in 1972.
On the opposite corner of Wellington and Pinhey (the north-east corner, now Morris Formalwear), this was also William G. Wilson's property. He moved his insurance business here in 1913, around which time he expanded the smaller building that existed at the corner (previously there was a gap between 1083 and 1079 Wellington). Wilson moved his business into the new 1081, which has operated as something different almost every few years since: jewellery shop, shoemakers, lingerie shop, barber shop, sports card shop (where I had my first job in the early 1990's, at Big Time Sports Cards), and so on. The 1081 portion was absorbed into 1083 in the late 1990s. The 1083 portion has also had a variety of uses over the years: it was Leonard Delphis' fruit stand (1918-1920), Abraham Kahan's shoe store (1921-1927), West End Beauty Parlor (1928-1930), Muir's Shoe Store (1932-1940s), Reward Shoe Store (1940s-1950s), etc.
On Pinhey itself, there have been a few businesses operating over the years. 51 Pinhey was the site of a long-running general and grocery store. Built around 1909 by David St. Amour, a Sandy Hill merchant, it began life as a store operated by Joseph Sauve. but was probably run the longest by Eugene Soubliere (prior to 1932 to mid-1940s) before being converted to a regular house in the mid-40s. This house later became infamous in the area for being a flophouse, drug den, etc. and was demolished in June of 2010 after years of work by the community association.
103 Pinhey was for many years a home office which was the home base for John Copeland's general contractor busines.
Raoul Lepage and his family operated a furniture building & repair and cabinet-making shop out of his home at 49 Pinhey for many years, covering most of the 1940s and 1950s.
Also of note, 6 Pinhey Street was home to the 'Red Lantern Restaurant and Confectionery' for most of the 1950s and 1960s.
109 Pinhey was built a large 1-storey brick building constructed in 1921 as a "Cake Factory" by three bakers, but their endeavour was short-lived, they were out of business by 1923. The Johnston Press moved in afterwards until the mid-30s, when the place became residential apparently. The building lasted until the early 1980s.
Finally, most of us will remember Vince's Barber Shop at the north-west corner of Armstrong. This was 98 Pinhey, and was originally a cobbler's shop, which dated back to the 1907-1909 period of construction. Oliver Regimbal being the shoemaker who first occupied the building. It was later operated as a grocery shop/confectionery by the Regimbals and later the Charbonneaus, before becoming Gustavo's barber shop in the 1960s.
More photos!
First off, here is a house that existed until 1969, which was immediately behind what is now the Giant Tiger. Like, literally right behind it, to the point that front porch appears to be within an inch or two of the back corner.
This house was at the far north end, at 3 Pinhey Street, but was lost soon after the World University Service building was constructed in the mid-60s.
Newspaper articles of interest:
As always, here are a few random newspaper articles about some interesting/comical events that occurred on Pinhey Street over the years. This is just a tiny sampling of course.
The article below is from November 2, 1931
Former Street Names: Russell Street (mid-1880s to 1889).
First established: Mid-1880s on an unregistered plan; first official plan was Carleton County Plan 105 in 1889.
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| Charles Hamnett Pinhey |
How named: In 1888, Pinhey acquired a 10-acre block of land that had been owned by friend and business colleague Alexander Russell when Russell passed away (Pinhey had been the mortgage-holder on the land). A year later, Pinhey decided to take advantage of the newly-growing Hintonburg suburb by subdividing part of the property for sale. He created two streets, and named them after his family (Pinhey) and his family's hometown in England (Merton).
Early Days:
In 1831, the 200 acres of lot 36 in concession 1 of Nepean Township were sold in two halves: Robert Reid purchase the south 100 acres, while John Anderson, one of Bytown's first merchants, purchased the northern 100 acres. Anderson established a farm in the area (which would have run from Merton west to Parkdale, and from Scott south to about the Queensway) until he died around 1851. Soon after his death, his widow Janet Anderson broke the land into smaller parcels for sale to land investors from Bytown.
On November 26th, 1851, she sold a 10-acre block to Alex J. Russell for 65 pounds. The deed of sale interestingly was witnessed and signed by Charles Hamnett Pinhey. Russell was a former Deputy Provincial Surveyor (1829), and in 1830 joined the Commissariat Department, serving two years on the Rideau Canal while it was being constructed. After then after working in Quebec for several years, he eventually was transferred to the Crown Timber Office in Ottawa to settle difficulties with lumbermen and to grant licenses to cut timber on the Ottawa River and its tributaries. To these duties were added those of collecting timber revenues and the inspection of other Crown Timber agencies. He was the author of “The Red River Country, Hudson's Bay, and Northwest Territories considered in relation to Canada”, published in 1869, and of “On Champlain's Astrolabe”, published in 1879. He also contributed sketches to Alfred Hawkins' Picture of Quebec (Quebec, 1834) as well as to the Canadian Illustrated News in 1870 and 1871.
It appears around 1878-79 Russell had a small house built on the property (the first construction on the 10-acre block) which he rented to tenants throughout the next decade (the first was a 23-year old labourer John Martin Fuller who 40 years later would later would become the superintendent of the Island Park division of the Federal District Commission during the construction of Island Park Drive in the 1920s). The Russell family also lived on Victoria Terrace and it does not appear they ever resided in Hintonburg (Bruce Elliott in his book “The City Beyond”, noted that around 1870 Russell “built a substantial home on the north side of Richmond Road, and moved into the community”, but this cannot be substantiated through assessment roll and city directory records).
At some point during the 1880s, Russell must have laid out a subdivision of his property. As evidenced in the 1887 map below, he named the street running through his property “Russell Street” (which would later become Pinhey Street), and laid out a total of 53 lots on both sides of the street, all the way north to the train tracks (now Scott). No lots were ever sold from this subdivision.
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| 1887 map of Ottawa by the A. Mortimer Co., showing Hintonburg, including "Russell Street" and a lot layout not seen on any registered plans with Carleton County. This is also the only published instance of the use of the name "Russell Street" |
Russell died on November 12th, 1887. The following June, his widow transferred ownership of the 10-acre lot to Charles H. Pinhey, as Pinhey was owed $2,800 plus interest from an old mortgage from 1876 that Russell had taken from him.
Pinhey continued to allow the tenant to remain in the existing house (at the time, it was a widow, Mrs. Catherine Fraser who was resident), but he had plans for the land. On May 2nd, 1889, Pinhey registered Plan 105 with the Carleton County Registry Office, subdividing the southern half of the property. The plan contained 36 numbered building lots of various sizes, but predominantly approx. 50 feet wide and 88 feet deep, and of course, created the two new streets, Pinhey and Merton.
Pinhey continued to allow the tenant to remain in the existing house (at the time, it was a widow, Mrs. Catherine Fraser who was resident), but he had plans for the land. On May 2nd, 1889, Pinhey registered Plan 105 with the Carleton County Registry Office, subdividing the southern half of the property. The plan contained 36 numbered building lots of various sizes, but predominantly approx. 50 feet wide and 88 feet deep, and of course, created the two new streets, Pinhey and Merton.
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| Scan from original Plan 105 drawing, showing Pinhey's new subdivision. Also notable in this plan is the detailed drawing of Cave Creek, the famous creek which caused havoc for Hintonburg throughout the 19th and early 20th century. Only the south half of the 10 acre property was part of Plan 105. The north half would not be subdivided until 15 years later. |
This plan is also the first time that the odd south-east jog occurs at the very south end of Pinhey. As you'll see from the plan, Armstrong did not yet exist, and there was seemingly no reason why Pinhey could not have continued in a straight line to Richmond Road, just as Merton did (and all other streets running south into Richmond Road). My only and best guess is that because of the positioning of the existing house that Russell had built (which I believe was on lot 5 fronting Richmond), combined with the angle that Richmond Road formed crossing Pinhey, that creating the jog was the best way Pinhey could maximize frontage onto Richmond, and be able to create 6 individual lots on Richmond (which held exceptional value at the time, Richmond being the main thoroughfare going west out of Ottawa, of course).
From the records I have, it is difficult to say with full certainty that the 1878-79 house built by Russell was definitely on lot 5 on Wellington. In the 1890 Nepean Township assessment rollbook, it is the only lot fronting on Richmond with a house completed on it (there are a total of 8 houses listed as already built in the new subdivision by assessor's visit in mid-March of 1890), and also has the highest assessed value than the other 7 houses. But the possibility exists that the Russell-built house was on one of the other lots, and set back from Richmond Road, but this seems quite unlikely. If the tenant from 1889 (Fraser) had still been present in 1890, then the location would be more confirmed, but it appears she moved out in early 1890, pre-assessment. In the Russell house on lot 5 were Irish immigrants, 60-year old shoe-maker named Abraham Lattimore, and his wife Margaret.
After Pinhey registered the subdivision, lot sales began immediately, and construction of small houses began just as quickly. By early 1890, there were 8 houses completed in the section: one on Richmond Road, four on the west side of Merton, two on the west side of Pinhey, and one on the east side of Pinhey.
Of the first three houses built on Pinhey Street in 1889-1890, only two remain. They are now #62 Pinhey, standing on the south-west corner of Ladouceur, and #103 Pinhey, standing just south of Armstrong on the east side of the street.
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| 62 Pinhey Street - one of the street's two oldest houses (both now date 127 years of age). Photo from August 2015 (source: Google Streetview) |
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| 103 Pinhey Street (co-oldest home on the street) in August 2015. |
62 Pinhey was built by John McCrimmon, who was employed as a teamster. McCrimmon built this wood-frame home on lot 11 for his 7-person family. The house (including the land it stands on) was valued at $175 on the 1890 Nepean Township assessment roll. 103 Pinhey was built by Thomas A. Stott, one of Hintonburg's leading merchants of the era (he owned many properties in the village, and his flagship shop was up on Wellington in what is now Larry's Pawn Shop/Bryan's Refrigeration). 103 Pinhey was rented to tenants upon completion (the first residents were 40-year old labourer Peter Jenson and his 4-person family) in the home valued at $200.
The third house built on Pinhey in 1889-90 was constructed by James Coughlan, a ‘stoker’ by
profession, on the lot next-door to 62 Pinhey, lot 10 (this house was 66 Pinhey Street for many
years, but has since been replaced by a huge three-storey house). James and his
5-person family moved in to the home, which was valued at just $150 in the 1890
Nepean assessment.
It is also interesting to note through the comparison of official records from Land Registry and the Nepean assessment rollbooks that Pinhey operated his real estate affairs in a casual manner, as some other plan-holders of the era similarly did. He allowed individuals to purchase lots, and even build homes on them, but the registration and even the payment for the lot was not required until many years later. Thus, over the earliest years, it is the assessment rollbooks which tell the story of the true growth of the street, and not land registry documents.
In 1891, a fourth house was completed, at what is now #70 Pinhey, by eventual long-time Pinhey Street resident Patrick Christopher. A year later, there were four other houses built: Andrew Deevy built a larger house on lot 5 (#90 Pinhey, since demolished); Moses Joannise built a small house on the north half of lot 4 for his 9-member family (long gone); Joseph Potvin built a small house on the south half of lot 4 for his 7-member family (also long gone); and the first home on the east side of the street was a small home built by Joseph N. Trudeau for himself, on lot 4 (which is also long gone).
It is also interesting to note through the comparison of official records from Land Registry and the Nepean assessment rollbooks that Pinhey operated his real estate affairs in a casual manner, as some other plan-holders of the era similarly did. He allowed individuals to purchase lots, and even build homes on them, but the registration and even the payment for the lot was not required until many years later. Thus, over the earliest years, it is the assessment rollbooks which tell the story of the true growth of the street, and not land registry documents.
In 1891, a fourth house was completed, at what is now #70 Pinhey, by eventual long-time Pinhey Street resident Patrick Christopher. A year later, there were four other houses built: Andrew Deevy built a larger house on lot 5 (#90 Pinhey, since demolished); Moses Joannise built a small house on the north half of lot 4 for his 9-member family (long gone); Joseph Potvin built a small house on the south half of lot 4 for his 7-member family (also long gone); and the first home on the east side of the street was a small home built by Joseph N. Trudeau for himself, on lot 4 (which is also long gone).
In December of 1893, Hintonburg became an independent village, separate from Nepean Township. That same month was when Pinhey passed away. His Hintonburg land holdings remained under the title of Charles’ estate, and it appears his wife and/or children for many years continued the active business affairs on the land, including lot sales and the overall development of the property.
In the summer of 1895, four of the lots on the plan were expropriated to the Village of Hintonburg, and a new plan (Plan 155) was registered to allow for the extension of Armstrong Street to the west (prior to this, Armstrong stopped at Merton Street, however it was decided to extend it westwards through the Plan 105 property, and beyond, following the path of Cave Creek. The purpose of this was to establish a formal ditch and eventual sewer system along Armstrong Street to combat Cave Creek. Evidence of the control of Cave Creek can be seen in the 1901 fire plan below, which shows it running on the south side of Armstrong past Pinhey, before it turns north to run behind the backyards of Pinhey and Merton homes. Cave Creek would be remedied years later (to be detailed in a future blog post coming on this subject very soon!).
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| 1901 Fire Insurance Plan view of Pinhey Street. Wellington is at left, Armstrong cuts through in the center, and Ladouceur is called "Middle" at right. Still no development north of Ladouceur. |
On June 6th, 1903, Pinhey's estate sold the vacant four acres of property north of Ladouceur (plus a couple of odd unsold lots on Pinhey) to David Manchester for $1,900. Manchester was a long-time large-scale land owner in Hintonburg, who had even created a neighbourhood within the village, just to the east of Merton, called "Manchesterville" in the 1890s. Manchester then registered a new plan in June of 1904, essentially extending Pinhey and Merton Streets north to Scott Street. This was Plan 226. Manchester soon after pushed Hintonburg council for the required infrastructure for the north end of the street:
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| Ottawa Journal - September 27, 1905 |
The first two homes built on the new section of Pinhey Street were on the west side of the street, on lot 14. In the spring-summer of 1905, Joseph Albert and Baptiste Albert each built a small home on lot 14 (Joseph on the north half, Baptiste on the south). Both worked as general labourers. Joseph’s home still stands as 46 Pinhey, and Baptiste’s stands as #48.
What was kind of interesting about this new opening of Pinhey was that the original Pinhey houses started numbering at #1 and #2 going south, from Ladouceur. Thus when the new houses began popping up north of Ladouceur, there was difficulty in numbering them. The city directories labelled them as "3rd north of 2 Pinhey", "8th north of 2 Pinhey", etc. So around 1908-09, the entire street was renumbered.
It did not take long for houses to fill the street out, and by around 1912, the street was essentially fully built up of wood-frame homes for blue collar workers.
Shots from oblique aerial photos from 1927 appear below, showing Pinhey Street as it was in the early part of the century, at both the north and south ends:
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| June 1927 view of the south end of Pinhey. There's a nice large tree where Giant Tiger now stands! |
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| June 1927 view of the north end of Pinhey Street |
History of Businesses on Pinhey:
The story of commercial enterprise on Pinhey starts and ends with Hubert Heating. Started in 1922 by August E. Hubert, a former steel worker at the Beach Foundry, it took over 101 Pinhey from Frederick C. Menagh who operated a shop called "Foundries Limited", which dealt in brass and bronze castings, power and lights. The rear warehouse portion was first built around 1910-11 by Lauzon Bros (Adolphe and Omer Lauzon) who were blacksmiths. The Lauzons went out of business in 1914, and the building sat vacant before Menagh acquired and expanded between 1917-19. By 1924, Menagh had sold the building to Hubert, whose family continues to operate their storefront and shop at the corner of Pinhey and Armstrong, where they have been for over 90 years now.
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| Ottawa Journal - October 31, 1925. The earliest ad for Hubert's I could find. |
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| February 27, 1959 ad for Hubert's |
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| Hubert Stove Works with their fleet alongside Armstrong - 1959 |
Other than Hubert's, Pinhey has also been home to a variety of other businesses. Certainly at the corner of Wellington, the intersection has be a hub of commerce dating back to the 1800s. Where Giant Tiger exists now was originally acquired by butter and egg dealer William G. Wilson in 1891, and on this spot he built a moderate-sized house.
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| Ottawa Journal - February 11, 1892 |
Wilson later dealt in real estate and insurance, becoming one of Hintonburg's most well-known citizens, and remained on this location until 1912, when the last portion of the house was demolished (sometime around 1910, the front part of the house was lost, either through fire or demolition, leaving only the back room which Wilson used as an office for his real estate business).
The lot remained vacant until 1930, when Isidore L. Arron built a grand department store (which is now better known as Giant Tiger). Arron had opened a store at 1020 Wellington in 1923, It's grand opening was held in October of 1930, and was described in great detail in the newspaper: "This, the first and only departmental store in that part of Ottawa, is an imposing building of three storeys in height, attractively constructed of buff brick, with the entire ground floor frontage composed of a series of spacious show windows, interestingly dressed with smart Fall styles. Inside the Arron store, gleaming walnut fittings form an effective contrast with the snowy white of walls, ceilings and pillars, and unique lighting fixtures of opaline glass and crystal achieve a pleasant lighting effect. A branching staircase at the back of the main floor leads to the broad mezzanine gallery and upwards to the pleasantly appointed second floor, while another broad flight of stairs brings one into the commodious basement."
It continues: "The first floor of the new Arron store has been laid out to permit the shopper to pass from department to department at east, along wide aisles which separate the newest of counters, of gleaming walnut like the fittings throughout the shop. Flanking the front entrance, the hosiery and glove sections are conveniently at hand, and from them one passes to the millinery department where the smartest of the season's creations are attractively displayed. The corset and lingerie sections, the fancy goods, the infants' wear, the luggage and the dry goods departments are each in turn accommodated in a manner which makes it delightfully easy to shop conveniently. Along one side of the store, the men's furnishings and clothing are displayed, with convenient fitting-rooms and gleaming mirrors at hand. Here presides Mr. Oscar Couvillon, one of the oldest merchants in the city, who was for thirty-nine years with Bryson-Graham Limited, and later in business for himself for some twelve years. The shoe department, also on the first floor, is in charge of Mr. Leroy L. Arron, the son of the president of the firm, and Miss Yvonne Mercier, who has been with Arron's for five years, supervises the dry goods section. A convenient side entrance opens on to Pinhey Street and broad stairways lead from the main floor to the basement below the mezzanine and second floors above."
The basement contained a "surprisingly well-stocked electrical department, displaying everything from bulbs to electric stoves. Here too one may select wallpaper, oilcloth, paints, crockery, aluminum, kitchenware, soaps and countless other household furnishings and necessities...it is a veritable treasure trove for those in search of home needs."
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| October 1930 view of the grand opening of I.L. Arron's department store (now Giant Tiger) |
Sadly, business must have gone exceptionally poorly for Arron that winter, perhaps combined with the economic depression which had hit North America, but it was just five months later, in March of 1931 that Arron was holding a forced bankruptcy sale. Later that year, the main floor of the store was taken over by the United 5 Cents to $1 Store.
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| Ottawa Journal - June 4, 1931 |
The upstairs was renovated and became a billiard hall, athletic club, upholstery business, and for many years a bowling alley. Giant Tiger purchased the building in 1972.
On the opposite corner of Wellington and Pinhey (the north-east corner, now Morris Formalwear), this was also William G. Wilson's property. He moved his insurance business here in 1913, around which time he expanded the smaller building that existed at the corner (previously there was a gap between 1083 and 1079 Wellington). Wilson moved his business into the new 1081, which has operated as something different almost every few years since: jewellery shop, shoemakers, lingerie shop, barber shop, sports card shop (where I had my first job in the early 1990's, at Big Time Sports Cards), and so on. The 1081 portion was absorbed into 1083 in the late 1990s. The 1083 portion has also had a variety of uses over the years: it was Leonard Delphis' fruit stand (1918-1920), Abraham Kahan's shoe store (1921-1927), West End Beauty Parlor (1928-1930), Muir's Shoe Store (1932-1940s), Reward Shoe Store (1940s-1950s), etc.
On Pinhey itself, there have been a few businesses operating over the years. 51 Pinhey was the site of a long-running general and grocery store. Built around 1909 by David St. Amour, a Sandy Hill merchant, it began life as a store operated by Joseph Sauve. but was probably run the longest by Eugene Soubliere (prior to 1932 to mid-1940s) before being converted to a regular house in the mid-40s. This house later became infamous in the area for being a flophouse, drug den, etc. and was demolished in June of 2010 after years of work by the community association.
103 Pinhey was for many years a home office which was the home base for John Copeland's general contractor busines.
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| Ottawa Journal - April 20, 1940 |
Raoul Lepage and his family operated a furniture building & repair and cabinet-making shop out of his home at 49 Pinhey for many years, covering most of the 1940s and 1950s.
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| Ottawa Journal - December 24, 1956 |
Also of note, 6 Pinhey Street was home to the 'Red Lantern Restaurant and Confectionery' for most of the 1950s and 1960s.
109 Pinhey was built a large 1-storey brick building constructed in 1921 as a "Cake Factory" by three bakers, but their endeavour was short-lived, they were out of business by 1923. The Johnston Press moved in afterwards until the mid-30s, when the place became residential apparently. The building lasted until the early 1980s.
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| Ottawa Journal - May 7, 1921 |
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| Ottawa Journal - March 12, 1931 |
Finally, most of us will remember Vince's Barber Shop at the north-west corner of Armstrong. This was 98 Pinhey, and was originally a cobbler's shop, which dated back to the 1907-1909 period of construction. Oliver Regimbal being the shoemaker who first occupied the building. It was later operated as a grocery shop/confectionery by the Regimbals and later the Charbonneaus, before becoming Gustavo's barber shop in the 1960s.
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| Vince's Barber Shop, a long-time staple at Armstrong and Pinhey. |
More photos!
First off, here is a house that existed until 1969, which was immediately behind what is now the Giant Tiger. Like, literally right behind it, to the point that front porch appears to be within an inch or two of the back corner.
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You can notice the back edge of the Giant Tiger building at left. (Source: Ottawa Archives CA-25177) |
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| 3 Pinhey Street in September of 1964. (Source: Ottawa Archives, CA-25176) |
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| Streetwork on Pinhey next to Giant Tiger, March 30, 1974 |
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| The north end of Pinhey, from April of 1966. Scott Street at right and Ladouceur at left. |
Newspaper articles of interest:
As always, here are a few random newspaper articles about some interesting/comical events that occurred on Pinhey Street over the years. This is just a tiny sampling of course.
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| Ottawa Journal - July 31, 1899 |
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| Journal - September 7, 1898 |
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| Ottawa Journal - October 9, 1918, showing the arrival of sidewalks for the north half of Pinhey Street. |
The article below is from November 2, 1931
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| August 28, 1939 |
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