Confederation Park ''(French: Parc de la Confédération)'' is a public park and

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

, located in the

downtown core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with many integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buildi ...

of Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It is bordered on the south by

Laurier Avenue Laurier Avenue ''(French: Avenue Laurier)'' (Ottawa Road #48) is a central east west street running through Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as "Maria Street" (west of Waller) and "Theodore Street" (east of Waller), it was renamed in ...

and

Ottawa City Hall Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of ...

; on the east by the Rideau Canal and

National Defence Headquarters National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence (DN ...

; on the north by the

Mackenzie King Bridge The Mackenzie King Bridge is a bridge over the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Just a few blocks away from Parliament Hill, south of the Plaza Bridge, it runs in a generally east–west direction, with the east end at the Rideau Centre ...

, the

Rideau Centre The Rideau Centre (french: Centre Rideau) (corporately styled as CF Rideau Centre) is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It borders on Rideau Street, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, the Mackenzie Ki ...

and the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one of a number of ...

; and to the west by Elgin Street and the

Lord Elgin Hotel The Lord Elgin Hotel is a prominent hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With 355 guest rooms, it is located at 100 Elgin Street at Laurier Avenue, across from Confederation Park in Downtown Ottawa. The twelve-storey limestone structure was name ...

Situation

Confederation Park is one of the 'capital' parks in Ottawa maintained by the

National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; french: Commission de la capitale nationale, CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), i ...

(NCC). It is an urban park, with paved pathways, monuments and an open lawn on the eastern side for gatherings. It is basically flat in its topology. A large fountain is located in the centre of the park. Constructed of Peterhead granite, it honors Colonel John By. The fountain was relocated from

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where it had played from 1845 to 1948. A twin of the fountain, which had also stood in Trafalgar Square, is located in Wascana Park, Regina. The park also is the site of a totem pole donated to the City of Ottawa to commemorate

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

's 1971 centennial, the

National Aboriginal Veterans Monument The National Aboriginal Veterans Monument is a war monument in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that commemorates the contributions of all Aboriginal peoples in war and peacekeeping operations from World War I to the present. The monument was designed by ...

and a

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

memorial statue. Aboriginal War Veterans monument (close).JPG, Monument to aboriginal War veterans in the park Anciens combattants autochtones - 03.jpg, National Aboriginal Veterans Monument plaque Statue to South African War.jpg, Statue to dead soldiers of the

Monument to Canadian Fallen - 04.jpg, Monument to Canadian Fallen The park is also home to the Canadian

Animals in War Memorial The Animals in War Memorial is a war memorial, in Hyde Park, London, commemorating the countless animals that have served and died under British military command throughout history. It was designed by English sculptor David Backhouse and unveiled ...

. On November 3, 2012, the dedication to Animals in War memorial took place at Confederation Park in Ottawa. The memorial consists of three plaques and sculpture of a dog located next to the South African War Memorial. The memorial was overseen by Lloyd Swick, assisted by Shalindhi Perera and

Laureen Harper Laureen Ann Harper ( Teskey; born June 23, 1963) is a Canadian graphic designer. She is married to Canada's 22nd prime minister, Stephen Harper. Life and career The eldest of three, Laureen Ann Teskey was born in Turner Valley, a rural town so ...

as honorary patron. The bronze memorial is created by David Clendining. A large plaque, erected in 1964 by the Polish Home Army Ex-Servicemen's Association of Canada, is dedicated to the memory of Canadian airmen who flew with the Polish Home Army while flying support missions during World War II. In 1993 when the airmen were posthumously awarded a Polish decoration, a bronze replica of the Polish Home Army Cross and a small plaque with inscription were added. The park is surrounded on all sides by large buildings. On the east, on the other side of the Canal, is the Brutalist office tower of National Defense Headquarters. On the south, across Laurier Avenue is the complex of

and the

Ottawa Courthouse The Ottawa Courthouse () is an courthouse in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is the main provincial court for the Ottawa area, and as such handles most of the region's legal affairs. The building is home to the civil, small claims, family, criminal ...

. On the west, on Elgin, is the large

. To the north, the

complex can be seen. The pathways through the park serve as a common shortcut for pedestrians heading from Elgin Street and/or

Centretown Centretown is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward, in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is defined by the city as "the area bounded on the north by Gloucester Street and Lisgar Street, on the east by the Rideau Canal, on the south by the Quee ...

to destinations to the north and east (the National Arts Centre,

Rideau Street Rideau Street (french: Rue Rideau) is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier ...

Sussex Drive Sussex Drive (french: Promenade Sussex), also known as Ottawa Regional Road93, is an arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. It is one of the city's main ceremonial and institutional routes. Travelling roughly parallel to the Ot ...

, the Rideau Centre and/or the Byward Market), since it is a more direct route than walking uphill on Elgin and Wellington Streets.

History

The area was part of Ottawa's downtown for many years, the site of businesses related to the nearby Rideau Canal, such as Dey's Boat Works. The location was the site of The Arena from 1908 to 1927, where the original

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

team played. The land bordering the canal was cleared in 1927, including the demolition of the arena. The land was used to build "The Driveway" roadway along the canal, as a scenic improvement of the capital. Along Elgin Street, the location was occupied by the Roxborough Apartments, a luxury apartment complex that had once been home to many Ottawa elites, such as Prime Ministers

William Lyon Mackenzie King William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A L ...

and Louis St. Laurent. As part of the 1949

Greber Plan The General Report on the Plan for the National Capital (1946–1950), or Gréber Plan, was a major urban plan developed for Canada's National Capital Region in 1950 by Jacques Gréber, commissioned by the Federal District Commission of Ottawa, On ...

, the site was to be cleared for a "Confederation Park" along the Canal from Laurier Avenue to Wellington Street surrounded by public buildings. The apartments and a number of buildings were expropriated and demolished by the federal government to build a "National Museum of Science" in 1965. The area north of the Mackenzie King bridge had already been cleared as part of the building of

Confederation Square Confederation Square (french: Place de la Confédération) is an urban square in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is considered the second most important ceremonial centre in Canada's capital city, after Parliament Hill. Roughly triangular in ar ...

. That section was ultimately used for the construction of the

. In 1967, the Museum site was converted to parkland, to commemorate the

Canadian Centennial The Canadian Centennial was a yearlong celebration held in 1967 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Celebrations in Canada occurred throughout the year but culminated on Dominion Day, July 1, 1967. Commemorative coins ...

(the 100th anniversary of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Dominion ...

). From 1971 to 1993, the park was home to Ed Zelenak's massive sculpture, "Traffic". The controversial work was a large brown tube of fiberglass that was compared to a large worm or piece of dung; it led to much debate over modern art in Ottawa. It was later relocated to a more obscure location by the National Gallery. In 2016, the park became a hub for players of the mobile game

Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game, part of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android ...

. In 2017, the community advocacy group Bookmark the Core proposed that the southeastern portion of the park could be annexed as a home for the new central branch of the

Ottawa Public Library The Ottawa Public Library (OPL; french: Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa) is the library system of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The library was founded in 1906 with a donation from the Carnegie Foundation. Services * Information and reference ser ...

. This prompted Mayor Jim Watson to launch a counter "Save Confederation Park" campaign on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. However, Confederation Park was never considered as a site by the library committee considering the location of a new central branch and any changes to the park would first need to be approved by the NCC.

Events

In the summer, the

Ottawa International Jazz Festival The Ottawa Jazz Festival is an annual music festival located in Ottawa, Canada. Lineups 2019 2019 event was held from June 21 to July 1 in Marion Dewar Plaza due to the Confederation Park's renovation. 2020 It was cancelled due to COVID-19 pand ...

's main events are held here. In the winter,

Winterlude Winterlude is an annual winter festival held in Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec (collectively known as the National Capital Region). Winterlude is run by the Department of Canadian Heritage and was started in 1979. The event is one of O ...

uses the location for displays, events and its ice sculpture competition. Events of Canada Day are held at the site as well. Other festivals that spill over from the neighbouring Cartier Square plaza in front of

use the park.

Occupy Ottawa

The

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

's presence in Ottawa began on Saturday October 15, 2011 with around 500 people participating at Confederation Park. A march on Sussex Drive was held the second day, passing by the U.S. Embassy. Around 75 people camped in tents, with the group planning to occupy the downtown park indefinitely. Many participants, prepared for the long haul, described Occupy Ottawa as a movement of presence, rather than just a protest.

References

External links