Union Station
From 1912 until the mid-1960s, thousands of trains pulled into Ottawa’s Union Station each year.
Union Station, constructed on the site of the old Central Railway Depot, built in 1896 by the Canada Atlantic Railway, was built to serve as Ottawa's central railway station. Construction of the new station began in July 1909. The June 1912 opening of the Union Station and the Chateau Laurier was not met with much fanfare, since Grand Trunk Railway general manager Charles Melville Hays had just perished in the Titanic disaster two months previously.
The building is an excellent example of the Beaux-Arts tradition, a design favoured for this building type. Arriving passengers disembarked from their train and walked into what architects called the “procession” — an impressive passageway that had Corinthian columns, vaulted coffered ceilings and marble-patterned ceiling arches. Travellers passed into the concourse and a skylight set in a 15-metre ceiling threw a lattice of light and shadow across an area teeming with people.
Many famous celebrities got their first glimpse of Ottawa stepping out of the station including Winston Churchill and Elvis Presley.
In 1966, the National Capital Commission (NCC) decided to remove the tracks along the east side of the Canal as part of an urban renewal plan. While the NCC had originally planned to tear down the structure, it was spared, becoming the centre of Canada’s centenary celebrations in 1967. After sitting empty for many years, it was turned into the Government Conference Centre.
In July 2013, it was announced by Public Works Canada that the building would be used to temporarily accommodate the Senate chamber.
Notes
Heritage Ottawa, UNION STATION | GOVERNMENT CONFERENCE CENTRE.
Capital History, Union Station.
Canada’s Historic Place, Government Conference Centre.
Photo
Senate of Canada, Senators to share a piece of history with Elvis.
