Named after Nicholas Sparks, Sparks Street is a unique Centretown street full of Canadian history. The National Capital Commission approved an experimental pedestrian mall in the 1950s to try and bring commercial life to this parliamentary precinct. While the idea was embraced in the 1950s and 60s, the explosion of shopping malls halted Sparks’s success in the 70s. Today, while the street is still bursting with architectural history, the area is packed with more construction than pedestrians. (Header photo by Lauren Hicks, Centretown News)
Andrew Waldron, author of Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, leads a walking tour organized by the Carleton Art History Undergraduate Society on Nov. 7. Waldron speaks about the history and future of Sparks Street while Rhiannon Vogl (left), an associate curator at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa, discusses theories of walking through the city. (Lauren Hicks, Centretown News)
Young Canadian architect John M. Lyle built the Bank of Nova Scotia (left) only two years after Darling and Pearson built the Bank of Commerce (right), but the architecture is drastically different. Completed in 1924, the Bank of Nova Scotia represents a new Canadian language of architecture, mixing classic symbols, such as the log cabin, with a modern look. (Lauren Hicks, Centretown News)
At the right angle, the C.D. Howe building reflects the Bank of Canada, after which is was modelled. The "poor cousin" of the Bank of Canada, as Waldron calls it, does not capture the language of Parliament the way Canadian architect Arthur Erikson does in his design. (Jordana Colomby, Centretown News)
Sparks Street is quite different today than it was in the 1880s. With loads of construction and blocked-off buildings, the pedestrian street is hardly ideal for walking. Waldron suggests the government give up on trying to transform Sparks Street and focus on more natural pedestrian areas like Byward Market. (Lauren Hicks, Centretown News)