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After the brief cancellation of the exhibition from 1940 to 1946, the fair of '47 was a huge success. With advance tickets being sold at three for a dollar, and the first draw for a free car, everyone who had missed the Ex during the war was extremely glad to see it's return. |
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Construction of a new livestock pavilion was finished in 1950, costing the CCEA $450,000; the new livestock wing in the Coliseum Building was also opened on the first day of the 1950 Exhibition. As well as this development, which marks the end of the use of tents to shelter livestock, the fair held a special grandstand show for all of the patients with terminal diseases in local hospitals, and an International Day was introduced. In 1952, the first annual party for agricultural exhibitors and their families was held; the party became an annual event and was soon expanded to include all exhibitors. The car giveaway, introduced in 1947, had been discontinued after one year but was resumed the year that Charlotte Whitton was elected as the first female mayor of Ottawa -- 1954. After the small profit of 1956, the exhibition went on to host the 100-piece United States Air Force Band in 1957, the same year that Mayor George Nelms officially opened the 40,000 square foot H.H.McElroy Building. That year, the Ex attracted the highest attendance ever for any eight day exhibition or fair on the continent, with a record of 533,763 people. The fair had not yet outgrown Lansdowne Park, but had already exceeded its portion of alotted space. General Manager Clarke said that "some fairs have problems trying to sell space . . . happily, on the option basis, we never have enough!" In 1960, a rain cover as well as a new set of bleachers was built for the grandstand. For the first time in exhibition history, a French Talent show was featured at the grandstand in 1962. After the football season, the bandshell, women's building, and assembly hall were all demolished, but, by June 1967, the new Civic Centre was ready for the football season and the fair. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the stadium on July 1 to appreciate the new building and the improvements that had been made to Lansdowne Park. The exhibition of 1968, like every other year it ran, was the biggest annual event held in Ottawa, and was claimed responsible for filling every hotel within a 15 mile radius. The Hull Chamber of Commerce asked that year for more bilingual signs and more French programmers at the exhibits; the CCEA claimed that they had supplied this level of bilingualism for two years in the past, but not many people had visited the booths supplied with these features. The CCEA acknowledged the need for a bilingual context and was willing to supply it, so long as fair-goers supported it by attending these French events. This was not as yet taking place; however, the fair wold try again in later years and their efforts would be more fruitful. |
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