Confederation Heights is an area in south

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

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, made up of mostly government buildings. It is bounded on the east by Data Centre Road, on the north and west by the

Rideau River The Rideau River (, ) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writing by Samuel de Champl ...

and on the south by Brookfield Road. Confederation Heights includes the Clarke Memorial Centre ( RA Centre), the

Taxation Data Centre A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax compl ...

(

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), 1500 Bronson Avenue (formerly

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

and Communications Security Establishment's Edward Drake Building), the Sir Leonard Tilley Building (formerly

Communications Security Establishment The Communications Security Establishment (CSE; , ''CST''), formerly (from 2008-2014) called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national cryptologic agency. It is responsible for foreign signal ...

), Canada Post Place (

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

headquarters), the Sir Charles Tupper Building ( Public Works Canada), Hog's Back Park, Vincent Massey Park and Mooney's Bay station.

History

Prior to the expropriation of the Merkley Brick Yard in 1954, the area had been a combination of woods, farmland, quarry and brickyard. The arrival of Federal government departments in the late 1950s - early 1960s had a significant impact on the area. In 1959, the Fire Chief of Gloucester Township (the area was incorporated into Ottawa the following year) raised concerns that road traffic caused by the 1400 new workers commuting to Confederation Heights would interfere with the firefighters' ability to respond to fires from their station in Billings Bridge. It was estimated that daily traffic on Riverside Drive west of Bank Street would increase by 3500 cars. In 1961, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker inaugurated the Sir Alexander Campbell Building, the new headquarters building of the Department of the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. The building, designed by architects Shore and Moffat was one of three which anchored the site. A plaza, with fountains and benches, spread between the self-standing cafeteria building and the Sir Alexander Campbell Building. To commemorate Canada's Centennial, a sundial was installed on the plaza. The plaque attached to its base read "Erected by Headquarters Staff of the Post Office Department to Commemorate the Centennial of Confederation July 26, 1967". The fountains and sundial have since disappeared. The Sir Alexander Campbell Building has since been torn down. It was replaced by a new

headquarters building located in Confederation Heights at the corner of Riverside Drive and Heron Road. The Sir Charles Tupper Building, which serves as the headquarters of the Department of Public Works and Government Services, opened in 1960 (Lithwick, Lambert and Sim Architects) It was the second prominent building located in Confederation Heights. The third was the Sir Leonard Tilley Building, which served as the headquarters of the

until a new headquarters building was built in the eastern end of Ottawa on Ogilvie Road. Plans to move various other departments to Confederation Heights changed over time. For example, it had been suggested that the

Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

move to Confederation Heights, but this never occurred. The development of offices also drove the development of neighbourhoods and infrastructure (e.g.: Brookfield HS, opened 1962; General Vanier PS, opened 1963) in nearby Billings Bridge, Riverside Park, and

Carleton Heights Carleton Heights (French: ''Hauteurs Carleton'') is a neighbourhood in River Ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. According to the Carleton Heights and Area Community Association, the neighbourhood is bounded on the north by the Central Experimenta ...

References

{{authority control Neighbourhoods in Ottawa