By Akuol Luala and Amber Clarke
About 100 people arrived to Macdonald Gardens Park on Wednesday August 13 to attend the 100th anniversary celebrations organized by the Heritage Committee of the Lowertown Community Association. Did you know that the Macdonald Gardens Park was once the site of four cemeteries, or that it used to have a wading pool at the corner of Cobourg and Heney Street?
When the Ottawa Improvement Commission contracted Frederick G. Todd to create a park on the old cemetery site, he designed a distinctive urban park, featuring a shelter on the highest point for a great view of Parliament Hill and a large pond to reflect the noonday sun in the lowest part of the park, at the corner of Heney and Cobourg. Construction of the park began in 1912 and was officially completed in 1914, making this year the centennial celebration.
Not many know that Wurtemburg Street once housed the Chinese embassy. In a nod to that past, a Chinese orchestra greeted the attendees in the gazebo. Some guests donned Macdonald tartans and period clothes in honour of the first Prime Minister; the year 2014 also marks what would have been Sir John A Macdonald’s 200th birthday.
After some mingling, games for all ages and verbal history were shared. The games were created to reflect the history of Macdonald Gardens Park and the surrounding area. Children enjoyed answering the three-legged race questions, and a balloon exchange game was an opportunity to learn historical facts. The adults perused the photographs displayed for an historic timeline game and contended in a “Fact or Fiction?” game of tricky historical accounts.
At a midway point in the festivities, Patrick Connors tuned his bagpipes and led the crowd over to the new Jules Morin fieldhouse for cake and beverages. Mayor Jim Watson sent a plaque to commemorate the event. The plaque was presented by councillor Mathieu Fleury to Nancy Miller Chenier of the Heritage Committee.