The East Memorial Building and West Memorial Building are a pair of government buildings in

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.

History

Construction started in 1949 to house the rapidly growing Department of Veterans Affairs. The buildings were thus originally named the Veterans Memorial Buildings. They were designed by

George Roper Gouinlock George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

(son of architect

George Wallace Gouinlock George Wallace Gouinlock (August 1, 1861 – February 13, 1932) was a prominent Canadian architect. Gouinlock practiced mostly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, including several designated buildings at Exhibition Place. His son George Roper Gouinloc ...

) and

H.L. Allward HL may refer to: In arts and entertainment * ''Half-Life'' (series), a video game series by Valve ** ''Half-Life'' (video game), the first game in that series * ''Horseland'', an online community and virtual game * ''Harry Styles'' and ''Louis T ...

and appears to be a stripped down

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style. 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) in collaboration with Public Works and Government Services Canada erected a historical plaque: A memorial is dedicated to the memory of 1701 Men of the Canadian Bank of Commerce who served in the Great War. The buildings are located on the south side of Wellington Street, across the street from the

Supreme Court of Canada Building The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to be ...

. Lyon Street passes between the two buildings, but they are linked by the Memorial Arch. Between the two lanes of Lyon Street are gardens and a large stone relief carved by Ivan Meštrović to honour those who fought in the Second World War. In the early 1980s, as part of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau's plans to decentralize the federal government, Veterans Affairs' headquarters moved out of the East Memorial Building and into the Daniel J. MacDonald Building in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Other departments have since moved in. Today the Department of Justice is headquartered in the East Building. Currently, West Memorial Building is vacant and in poor condition with plans for major renovations in the near future
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Some offices for the National Archives were also located in these buildings.

Renovations

The West Memorial Building will be renovated from 2019-2023 to restore it to a usable condition. From 2023-2028 it will house the Supreme Court of Canada, Federal Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court.

External links

Veterans Affairs page on the buildings

References

{{coord, 45.419517, -75.705736, region:CA_type:landmark, display=title Federal government buildings in Ottawa Art Deco architecture in Canada