Alayne McGregor
The small red-brick building currently housing the Orange Art Gallery is now on the road to getting heritage status.
City heritage staff will be recommending designation of 290 City Centre Avenue under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The report is scheduled for the October 23 Built Heritage Committee meeting and the November 8 City Council meeting.
The gallery is still collecting signatures on a paper petition supporting the heritage designation, said co-owner Jim Hollander, and will present it to council on November 8. The designation will make it more difficult and require more notice for the building to be demolished, although it cannot completely prevent that. Heritage Ottawa had also been lobbying for this designation.
The building is located near the Somerset Street Bridge, LRT Line 2, and the City Centre complex, and sits on the edge of a large parking lot. About 90 years old, it was originally the headquarters of the W.C. Edwards lumber company, according to heritage researcher David Jeanes. Jeanes says the building was likely designed by architect John Maclaren, who also designed the Mayfair Theatre and the Rideau branch of the Ottawa Public Library. Both have brickwork decoration and a Dutch gable similar to 290 City Centre.
The Orange Art Gallery itself is in limbo. Earlier this year, Hollander was told by District Realty that there would be no renewal when his lease expired at the end of 2023. But as of October 6 he had not received notice to vacate, which he had expected by the beginning of the month. “We haven’t heard anything from the landlord.”
The gallery, which exhibits and sells works by many local visual artists, also runs art classes and private functions like weddings and birthday parties, and Hollander says that bookings have and continue to be strong for 2023 – “November and December are filling up quite good.”
However, District Realty told him not to book any events beyond December. He estimated the gallery had turned down more than 100 events for 2024 and 2025.
“A lot of people are looking to have events here, but as far as the New Year, nothing. I just keep turning people away.”
See related story (August 2023): Orange Art Gallery facing eviction; heritage building to be left empty