Ottawa Parks

Ottawa is a city full of great parks. Here are a few good ones for kids:

St Luke’s Park: Operated by the Jack Purcell Community Centre, this is one of the cleanest and safest closed-in parks in the downtown area. Various play structures include swings, basketball nets, and a summer pool. The Bethell Field House was once a field hospital in the 1920s. (Elgin at Frank Streets, behind the Second Cup)

Dundonald Park: Home of the Centretown Movies (where a screen is set up in the park for summer showings of popular films), the small play structure and sandpit are enclosed to keep the small kids in and the bigger kids out. Dundonald is also known as “beer park” in some circles, but don’t let that deter you from bringing your kids here; it gets this nickname by virtue of being situated across the street from the Beer Store. Look for the plaques directly across from the store dedicated to Russian file clerk Igor Gouzenko, who lived in the apartment building across the street at 511 Somerset Street West. (Somerset West at Bay Streets)

Strathcona Park: This park is filled with huge open spaces and various play structures. The imposing fountain at the top of the hill was presented to the City of Ottawa in 1909 by Donald Smith, a.k.a. Baron Strathcona, statesman, railway builder, and businessman, who drove the last spike in the railway that crossed the country. (Laurier Avenue East at Range Road, Sandy Hill)

Strathcona Park: Don’t let the name repeated from above fool you; this is a completely separate park in the Glebe. There aren’t any playgrounds here, but some lovely trees to run around under. (Bank Street at Strathcona Avenue)

Andrew Haydon Park:
Located on the shores of the Ottawa River in the west end of the city, this park is named after a former mayor of the City of Nepean. It features a lovely view of Britannia Bay and includes a picnic area, artificial lake, concession stands, washrooms, and a yacht club. Swimming is not recommended. (Holly Acres Road and Carling Avenue)

Ottawa Cemetaries

The most famous eternal resting place in Ottawa is Beechwood Cemetery (280 Beechwood Ave., 741-9530). Established in 1873 as a Protestant counterpart to nearby Notre Dame cemetery, Beechwood is a National Historic Site, and only one of four cemeteries in the country to be designated as such. Have a look at the sections where veterans from the Northwest Rebellion (1885), World War II, and recent United Nations campaigns rest in peace. Also interred here are our eighth prime minister (and the handsome fellow on our $100 bill), Sir Robert Borden (1854-1937); the father of Canada’s Medicare system, Tommy Douglas (1904-1986); the inventor of standard time, Sir Sandford Fleming (1827-1915); Ottawa lumber baron J. R. Booth (1827-1925); the Saskatchewan poet John Newlove (1938-2003); and Confederation poet Archibald Lampman (1861-1899). Lampman even wrote a poem that suits this place:

Here the dead sleep, the quiet dead. No sound disturbs them ever, and no storm dismays.

Meanwhile, Pinecrest Cemetery (2500 Baseline Rd., 829-3600) is a veritable hockey hall of fame. Some notable skaters spending their eternal off-season here include: Boston Bruins’ left winger Arthur Gordon Bruce (1919-1997), former Bruins and Ottawa Senators players Harry Alexander Connor (1904-1947), Cyril Joseph “Cy” Denneny (1891-1970), one of the top-scoring left wings of his era (when he retired, he was the top goal getter in the history of the Ottawa Senators), and Senators players Erskine Rockcliffe Ronan (1889-1937), Gerald Edmund Shannon (1910-1983), Allan “Big Pete” Shields (1906-1975) (who won the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Maroons in 1934-5), and Alexander “Boots”
Smith (1902-1963).

The most prominent Catholic cemetery in the city is Notre Dame Cemetery (455 Montreal Rd.), the final resting place of hockey greats Alex Connell (1902-1958), Tommy Smith (1885?1966), and Aurel Joliat (1901-1986), as well as photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002), World War I hero (awarded the Victoria Cross) Filip Konowal (1886-1959), statesman Louis-Felix Pinault (1852-1906), and Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier (1841-1919), along with his wife Zoé.