24 SUSSEX AND THE WRECKER'S BALL
Beechwood National Memorial Centre
Sacred Space Room, 280 Beechwood Avenue, Ottawa
Prime Minister Mark Carney's announcement of a design-build competition to “modernize” 24 Sussex Drive has happily rescued the house from a long political limbo that led to its decay. But make no mistake: the existing residence is still in danger.
No guidelines for the project were provided, not even a basic budget, so as to not limit the competition. Will everything but the façade be stripped away, to be replaced by a new structure? Will there be a repeat of the 1950 “restoration,” where the original building was left unrecognizable? And will the limited triangular lot at 24 Sussex be crowded with modern outbuildings?
The official residence has accrued 75 years of rich Canadian history, under the nine prime ministers who lived there. Much of the country’s business was conducted in the dining room, the living room, the sun room and library, where royalty, presidents and world leaders visited. The building that was refurbished and expanded in 1950 was no architectural beacon, but it was stately and reflected ideas of governance in mid-century Canada.
Dean Beeby is co-author (with Ian Bailey) of the recently published 24 Sussex Drive: The Past and Future of Canada's Official Residence (Sutherland House). A veteran investigative journalist in Ottawa, Dean is author of six previous non-fiction books, and is a specialist in freedom-of-information laws. He has worked in Toronto, Halifax and Ottawa for The Canadian Press and for the CBC's Parliamentary bureau.
This lecture will examine what happened inside the walls of 24 Sussex over a tumultuous modern era in Canada. And it will argue that preserving the existing building with only limited additions is properly respectful of a rich history on this special landscape. Grand architectural designs may be appropriate to greenfield sites elsewhere, but the built legacy of 24 Sussex should be largely left alone.
