Heritage Ottawa is pleased to be able to share this important letter to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, National Capital Commission from Inderbir Singh Riar, Associate Professor, Azrieli School of Architecture, regarding the preservation of the Alexandra Bridge and the replacement designs recently proposed by the NCC.

"I firmly believe that the bridge should undergo a proper heritage assessment that includes long-term lifecycle costs as well as recognition of its unique patrimonial value." states the letter.

"Architects and engineers increasingly sound the alarm over destroying buildings and structures. The amount of embedded energy released through dismantling and replacement only fuels the climate emergency. No rash decision should be made without thorough studies on the value – historical and patrimonial as well as structural and material – of keeping and repairing the bridge." 

"Design history is vital to notions on patrimonial value. The Alexandra as a steel cantilever structure not only recalls its sister bridge in Quebec City but leads right back to Fowler and Baker's legendary Firth of Forth finished in 1889 outside Edinburgh, Scotland. 1889 is not an arbitrary date. It is the same year as Eiffel's Tour de 300 Metres for the Exposition Universelle in Paris. It also is the very moment that the steel frame triumphs in the rise of the Chicago skyscraper."

"Any path toward replacing the bridge ultimately must begin by scrapping the uninspired proposals by Arup Canada and Knight Architects and initiating a proper international architecture competition that will bring true design excellence to bear on what after all is a world capital city. It is hard to image great river cities – London and Paris immediately come to mind – settling for half- best. Why should Ottawa?"

CLICK HERE to read the letter in its entirety.