The Ottawa Courthouse () is an

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

Ottawa 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 ...

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 Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. 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 Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may b ...

, family, criminal, and district branches of the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

. It is also home to the local

land registry Land registration is any of various systems by which matters concerning ownership, possession, or other rights in land are formally recorded (usually with a government agency or department) to provide evidence of title, facilitate transactions, ...

office. Some 1,000 people use the nine storey building each day.

History

The courthouse on Elgin Street building opened in 1986. The courthouse is located at the corner of Elgin Street and

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 ...

. Previously the site had been home to Cartier Square, and for many decades was covered by temporary buildings erected during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The courthouse is next door to the current

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 ...

, formerly the Ottawa Regional Headquarters building, which was built only a few years later. Previously the courts had been spread throughout the city. The first courthouse and jail, which was built on Daly Avenue in 1842 had burned beyond repair c. 1869. Carleton County Courthouse, Ottawa

The former Carleton County Courthouse designed by architect Robert Surtees, was built in the

Italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

on Daly Avenue in 1870. In 1988, this limestone building was transferred to the City of Ottawa;

Arts Court The Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) is a municipal gallery in Ottawa, Ontario that opened in 1988 at Arts Court. The gallery has a permanent collection of over one thousand works, houses the City of Ottawa-owned Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, an ...

now houses more than 25 arts and heritage organizations. The building's Italianate features include window surrounds, rusticated quoins and tall chimneystacks. The cornerstone includes gold, silver and copper coins and bank tokens of the period.

Structure

At the base of the building is a parking garage and the temporary holding cells for prisoners. The central levels are composed of the court rooms and a large

atrium Atrium may refer to: Anatomy * Atrium (heart), an anatomical structure of the heart * Atrium, the genital structure next to the genital aperture in the reproductive system of gastropods * Atrium of the ventricular system of the brain * Pulmona ...

. The top levels contain offices for judges. The largest room in the courthouse was transported from the old location. It is an identical replication, that used the same materials, doors, seats, etc.

References

*"Powerful and somewhat aloof, courthouse still a success." Rhys Phillips. ''The Ottawa Citizen.'' Ottawa, Ont.: Dec 27, 1986. pg. F.2 {{Portal, Ontario Buildings and structures in Ottawa Courthouses in Canada Government buildings completed in 1986