The main building on the fair grounds has been called many things over the years: the Cattle Castle, the Manufacturers' Building, an eyesore. Today it is officially called the Aberdeen Pavilion, as it was in the early years of the fair, and it is no longer considered an eyesore since the 1994 refurbishing. The Aberdeen Pavilion opened in 1898, using two relatively new building materials, steel and pressed metal sheeting. Previously, the frame of buildings like this were constructed out of wood and cast iron.
The magnificent building deteriorated over the years, and by the 1980s, it was practically falling down. In 1982, the building was designated a Heritage Structure under the Ontario Heritage Act, and, in 1983, it was designated a National Historic Site by the federal government. Not until 1994, however, was the Aberdeen Pavilion restored to its former glory and its historic red and cream colour scheme.
Hit the back button on your browser to return to the essay you were reading.
Quoted verbatim from The Ottawa Evening Journal, Sept. 25, 1888:
In 1888, the inaugural ceremonies for the first Central Canada Exhibition took place at 2:00 p.m. on a platform opposite the grandstand. Capt. Cose and a guard of honour of seventy-five men furnished by the Foot Guards, with band, were in attendance. Among those present were Sir John MacDonald, Sir Hector Langevin, Sir James Grant, the Honorable E. Foster, the directors of the fair, the city members and many prominent citizens.
Mr. Charles Magee, President of the Exhibition Association, delivered the following inaugural address:
To His Excellency the Right Honorable Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, G. C. B., Baron Stanley of Preston, in the county of Lancaster, in the Peerage of Great Britain, Governor General of Canada and Vice Admiral of the same.
May it please Your Excellency:
The Central Canada Exhibition Association has very great gratification in welcoming Your Excellency and Lady Stanley to the exhibition, which Your Excellency has kindly consented to open.
It is with pleasure we associate your name with the first annual exhibition, which it is our hope to make permanent.
The agricultural, manufacturing and mineral resources of Central Canada are in such a condition of development as encourages us to hope that, though larger exhibitions may be held at other centres of population, none will surpass in character and intent that which we propose to hold annually at the Capital of the Dominion.
Your Excellency will perceive that, while special attention has been given to the exposition of the agricultural and manufacturing products of the country, we have not overlooked the interests of art, and an effort has been made to exhibit to the public what science has done to discover and develop the mineral resources of the Ottawa district. The varied experience of Your Excellency in the public service of the greatest commercial empire in the world is a guarantee to us of your genuine interest in the development of the natural resources and the increase of the number of industrial arts of this country.
And as Your Excellency and Lady Stanley will necessarily be most welcome dwellers among us for some years, we are not without hope that Your Excellency will take a special interest in all that concerns the welfare of this portion of our country.
We desire to express to Your Excellency the loyal devotion we have for the Queen, whose representative you are, and the wish we entertain that your Excellencies may believe us always willing to render your duties easier to discharge, and your term of office in this country one of pleasant rememberance.
|
Secretary. |
President. |
The Coliseum, also known as Howick Hall, had a large amount of bad luck in a very small amount of time. Built in 1903 as the Fat Stock and Poultry Show Building, the roof collapsed in its first winter, that of 1904, due to the breaking of an iron truss from the weight of the snow on its roof. The roof was repaired, but the following year it again collapsed for the same reason.
The roof was repaired again in 1906, at which time the building was also enlarged and the main auditorium and show ring built. It was re-named Howick Hall, after Howick Castle, the English residence of Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada from 1904 to 1911.
Howick Hall had been without mishap for several years when, on Jan. 21, 1914, during the Winter Fair, the boiler in the basement exploded. This accident killed three men and injured 20, and killed 20 horses and 600 heads of poultry. The explosion blew a huge hole through the roof, and men and animals flew every which way -- some horses burst through the roof and landed outside of the building, and others got caught in the rafters. The tragedy cost thousands of dollars in property damage.
Hit the back button on your browser to return to the essay you were reading.
The Ottawa Winter Fair began in 1902 as an annual event at Lansdowne Park. Primarily an agricultural show, with events like horseback riding and cattle roping, the Winter Fair has gone through several different names, including the Ottawa Horse Show and the National Capital Agrifest. The fair is a subsidiary of the Central Canada Exhibition. Theoretically, it is still in existence, but it ceased operations in 1997 due to lack of public support.
Hit the back button on your browser to return to the essay you were reading.
The Ottawa Citizen, begun in 1845 as a weekly newspaper, has for decades been Ottawa's main daily. The Ottawa Journal competed with the Citizen from 1885 until the Journal folded in 1980. The Ottawa Sun, part of the Sun chain of newspapers, became Ottawa's other daily newspaper in the late 1980s. For more information on the Journal and the past competition between it and Citizen, check out "The Phoney Newspaper War," by Dave Brown in Fair Play & Daylight: The Ottawa Citizen Essays.
Hit the back button on your browser to return to the essay you were reading.
On November 11, 1921, the Ottawa Journal printed an article summarizing the meeting of the Board of Control which had taken place the evening before, in which the moving of the fair to a neew site. The relevant section of the article is as follows:
Commissioner of Works Macullum had a report before the board in which he said that if the exhibition continued to expand in the next few years as in the past, it would certainly be necessary to move to another site. There were only two or three permanent buildings at Lansdowne Park that could not be moved, and these could be left there for community halls. The grandstand and athletic stadium could be left at Lansdowne, while the rest of the area towards the driveway could be sold for residential purposes. Mr. Macallum said the best location for the exhibition grounds, if moved, was in the west end of the city, north of the C.P.R. tracks, and west of Parkdale Avenue, this site having the additional advantage of railway facilities. Controller Cameron agreed that quarters were growing cramped at Lansdowne Park, and he thought a large area of land in Ottawa South might be utilized. Controller Ellis felt that matters in regard to shifting the exhibition were far too indefinite for serious consideration at the meeting. Find out if the Exhibition Association was in favor of it, he suggested.Hit the back button on your browser to return to the essay you were reading.