Committee approves rehabilitation work on the Aberdeen Pavilion

Published on
July 9, 2024
Council, committees and City Hall

The Built Heritage Committee today approved an application to alter the Aberdeen Pavilion, a National Historic Site, to address the long-term conservation of the building since the last major rehabilitation in the early 1990s.

The proposed work includes replacing the upper, lower and entrance roofs, and repairing metal work on the upper dome, corner turrets, cupolas, exterior walls, and decorative elements. Structural strengthening is required on the truss system and bracing. Workers would replace roof planking and purlins, rehabilitate windows, install new replica wood doors, rehabilitate the concrete floor slab, and undertake lead-paint abatement. A new heat trace system and removable panels for portable air conditioning units would be installed to make the building more comfortable for visitors. Rehabilitation work would start next January and take two construction seasons. Heritage staff are working with Infrastructure Services to coordinate this work and the Lansdowne 2.0 project.

The Aberdeen Pavilion is located on a part of Lansdowne that is subject to a Heritage Conservation Easement Agreement between the City and the Ontario Heritage Trust. Before work can proceed, the City will need to submit an alteration request through the Trust, which is supportive of the project.

The Committee also approved designating the Lemieux Island Water Purification Plant as the property meets eight of the nine criteria for designation. The plant is an excellent example of an industrial complex influenced by architectural styles popular in the early 20th century.

Built between 1915 and 1917, the property has design and historic value as the first water treatment plant in Ottawa, providing clean drinking water to residents. It is associated with Gore, Nasmith and Storrie – a consulting engineering firm responsible for designing and building several major Canadian water treatment plants in the 1920s and 1930s. The buildings are historic industrial infrastructure and sit prominently along the Ottawa River.

Items from today’s meeting will rise to Council on Wednesday, July 10, except the report with an application to demolish and construct a building at 381 Kent Street which will rise to Council in September.

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