Heritage Ottawa Dedicated to preserving our built heritage

On April 19, 1962, residents of LeBreton Flats received a letter notifying them that the National Capital Commission (NCC) had expropriated their property. Impetus for the project came from the Greber Plan. By the end of 1965, the area known as ‘The Flats’ had been completely razed as one of Ottawa’s largest urban renewal projects.

Like many urban renewal initiatives of the time, the 1962 expropriation and subsequent demolition changed the cultural and physical landscape of the Flats. In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its expropriation, Heritage Ottawa is coordinating a series of initiatives to help share the stories of this remarkable neighbourhood and cultural landscape.

UPCOMING EVENTS

LeBreton Flats: The Flats Will Rise Again!
Heritage Ottawa hosts a public event to commemorate the past and look to the future of LeBreton Flats
Thursday, April 19, 7pm

On April 19th, 1962, the residents of LeBreton Flats learned that their community was to be levelled in the name of urban renewal. Within a few short years, blocks and blocks of homes, businesses and churches disappeared and the residents of a close-knit community scattered. Something shiny and new was to replace it.

On the 50th anniversary of the LeBreton expropriations, Heritage Ottawa invites you to an evening of reminiscing – and looking to the future – of LeBreton Flats. 

Presentations by Ottawa author Phil Jenkins, Professor Roger Picton of Trent University, and Lori Thornton of the National Capital Commission will look at the history of this fascinating community and learn what the past has to tell us about how we manage our urban environment. 

There will also be discussion of plans to revive this core area of our city and make the LeBreton Flats area a signature development for Ottawa in the 21st century.

Everyone is welcome for an evening of discussion with good food and brew in a recently restored heritage pub.

7pm, Thursday April 19th, 2012 | At the Mill St. Brew Pub, upstairs | 555 Wellington Street, Ottawa

LeBreton Flats: What Might Have Been

Join Heritage Ottawa on Walking Tour of LeBreton Flats
August 12, 2012 2:00 pm.  Meet:  Albert and Preston Streets, north side parking lot

LeBreton Flats was the site of much of Ottawa's earliest residential and industrial settlement. The federal government's 1962 initiative to expropriate the lands of LeBreton Flats led to the displacement of some 2,800 members of that community. Join guide Julia Sterpan on a tour that examines life on the Flats after expropriation, exploring the sites of various plans for its redevelopment including the proposed Department of National Defence headquarters, projects for affordable housing in the late 1970s, and the current development plan of Claridge Homes that won the bid in 2004 to revitalize the area.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR IF YOU WISH TO CONTRIBUTE, PLEASE CONTACT US AT: HERITAGEONTHEFLATS@GMAIL.COM