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
1Some 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