By Nancy Miller Chenier
In 1977, J. Emile Lauzon, a jeweller for 54 years on Dalhousie Street, died at the age of 75 years. His obituary in the Ottawa Citizen indicated that, in addition to his longtime jewellery business, he had been a contractor and builder. With City heritage staff currently engaged in updating the plans for our two Lowertown Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs) , this is a good time to learn who he was and what he contributed to our heritage-designated Lowertown streets.
J. Emile Lauzon was the only son of Nelson Lauzon and Ernestine Leduc. His father, Nelson, had grown up on Bolton Street after the family settled there in 1880s. Over the years, Emile’s father worked at various times as a harness maker, saddler and grocer. Sometime in the 1920s, Emile married Laurence Villeneuve and by 1923, they were living at 38 Bolton Street and he was already listed in the city directory as a jeweller.
The J. Emile Lauzon jewellery business began as a small shop on Rideau Street selling and repairing watches, and over the years expanded, offering not only jewellery but also crystal, flatware, and trophies. In 1942, the Ottawa Citizen reported on Lauzon’s first display at the Exhibition as “Lauzon Deserves a Trophy.” It declared “Mr. J. Emile Lauzon, the well known Rideau Street, jeweller might well hand himself one of his beautiful trophies for the fine display he has arranged in the Manufacturing Building.” A 1985 Ottawa Citizen tribute saluted the Lauzon business, proclaiming it to be a longstanding member of the community and a partner in Ottawa’s future.
Several distinctive 1940s buildings are linked to the J. Emile Lauzon family. The period during and immediately after the Second World War recorded major shortages of housing in Ottawa. The war effort led to an expanded public service, a larger industrial sector for war goods, and an increased military presence. The result was a significant growth in Ottawa’s population and a crisis for individuals and families requiring housing. Single individuals were often boarders or lodgers with established residents, but mobile families and couples with more financial resources preferred their own apartments.
Emile tapped into this need and through the 1940s applied for building permits for several multi-unit building. The result was a number of small-scale rowhouses and apartment buildings with a simple but distinct design using functional forms and building materials reflective of the period. They generally included decorative brickwork, angular composition and details suggesting a tendency toward art deco.
The name J.E. Lauzon appears multiple time in Ottawa Citizen reports about property sales and construction permits. In 1940, Emile was part of a reported building spurt when he got a permit for a four-door rowhouse on Guigues Street valued at $7000. The following year, he replicated the design in 287-293 St Patrick. In December 1943, he received a permit for a cinder and brick veneer duplex, presumably the current two-unit building at 270 St Patrick Street.
Emile was very familiar with the Bolton Street area, and in December 1944 an Ottawa Citizen report about building permits listed J.E. Lauzon for an apartment building at Bolton and Sussex for $18,000. In the 1970s, this eight-unit building was acquired by the National Capital Commission and demolished to create space for the Japanese Embassy. Around the same time, Emile built the attractive small triplex at 32-36 Bolton and lived in unit 36 with his family until it was acquired by the National Capital Commission.
In the years following the end of the Second World War, he was part of a building trade upward surge when he got a permit in 1946 to build 100 King Edward Avenue. At the time, this multi-unit apartment building had an estimated value of $25,000.
J. Emile Lauzon was a third-generation Lowertowner who was successful in sustaining a business and in developing our community. Emile and Laurence continued to live on Bolton Street until they moved to a newly constructed house at 132 Stanley Avenue in 1967. Lowertown was the area where they raised three sons: Marcel (1929-2016), Claude (1931-2018) and Gilles (1930-1947).
This small selection of Lauzon’s distinctive 1940s multi-unit structures show architectural qualities relevant to the period and stand as familiar sights on our Lowertown streets. Over the decades, they have housed diplomats, journalists, lawyers, artists and others reflecting diverse backgrounds. They signal the evolution of our heritage districts and contribute to our community through their design, historical associations and streetscape locations. They deserve to stand into the future as essential elements of our Lowertown story and our HCDs.