MacGregor: Why we must preserve the façade of Legion House on Kent Street
Retaining the limestone front of the building would commemorate important events in Canada’s military history.
Author of the article:Tom MacGregor
Published Jan 22, 2024 • 3 minute read
Ottawa Council is now considering a proposal for a high-rise building at the corner of Kent and Gilmour Streets. The site is currently occupied by the former Legion House, once the national headquarters of The Royal Canadian Legion. The proposal is for a 27-storey building that will still preserve the Kent Street façade of the old headquarters. It received the approval of the Built Heritage Committee last week.
Full disclosure: I worked as a writer and editor for Legion Magazine for more than 30 years. I worked in that building from 1989 until 2006 when the magazine and headquarters moved to Kanata.
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The Kent Street project is not without opposition. The Centretown Community Association has complained that the design is too tall for its neighbourhood and fails to show the creativity that would make it what city planners call “an iconic building.”
The original Legion building was no architectural gem. The six-storey building with an exterior of Indiana limestone was built in two stages in the mid-1950s in the harsh modernist style common at the time. A visitor would enter the building from Kent, then immediately climb about 20 steps to the second level to take an elevator where he or she was going. Those of us who worked there would just go in the side doors, walk down about five steps to the first level, then take an elevator to our desks and offices.
The proposed design now would also include the land where two older houses sit on Maclaren Street.
While there are real concerns about the proposal, I am glad to see the Kent Street façade preserved. It would commemorate all the good work The Royal Canadian Legion has done for veterans, particularly following the Second World War. In this building, paralegals, known as service officers, worked with individual veterans to get them the pensions and benefits they were eligible for. At the same time, the elected leadership negotiated with the federal government to constantly improve veterans’ services.
Veterans returning from the war often faced unemployment, poverty and serious medical needs. For those who had a stabilized disability, there were pensions but the veterans still had to fight to have them raised high enough to provide an adequate standard of living.
The Legion was formed in 1926 as a coming together of various veterans’ organizations formed during or just following the First World War. The largest group was the Great War Veterans Association while other smaller groups also had special concerns, such as the Tuberculous Veterans Association or the Imperial Veterans who represented those in Canada who had served in British armed forces and were entitled to benefits provided by the British government. Other groups represented various regiments or branches of the armed forces. The groups came together to act with one voice about the concerns the returning veterans faced.
During the Second World War, the Legion wanted to make sure that the returning veterans were looked after properly this time. The Legion and other groups worked with the government to develop a series of benefits which collectively became known as the Veterans Charter. These included priority access to jobs in the federal public service, grants and loans for higher education, loans to start farms or investments in the fishing industry, access to wartime housing and pensions and rehabilitation programs.
As the veterans aged, their problems changed, although many were still related to the tasks they performed in uniform. The Legion worked with Veterans Affairs Canada to develop new programs to help them, such as the Veterans Independence Program, which helps a veteran stay in his or her home longer. When Canada became active in Afghanistan, a new set of rehabilitation programs was developed which in turn became known as the New Veterans Charter.
It was from this office, as well, that the concept of a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was conceived and eventually achieved in 2000 with the Legion working with several federal departments and special interest groups.
Retaining that limestone façade would indeed commemorate important events in Canada’s history.
https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/ma...on-kent-street
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