My Day at the Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair

Hi, my name is Cece and I recently participated in the Ottawa Regional Heritage Fair and won the Ottawa Museum Network Award. My topic was the Aberdeen Pavilion, which is a building in the middle of Lansdowne Park in Ottawa.

Leading up to the fair, I did a lot of research which included going to the City of Ottawa Archives. Going to the Ottawa Archives was a wonderful experience. Once there, I asked the librarian how to access the materials I needed. I did not end up ordering items from the vault, but I did find many photos, booklets, and newspaper clippings. I scanned them onto a USB drive then transferred them onto a Google Doc and printed them out. I also put a lot of time into my tri-fold presentation board and table display.

The fair was held at the Canadian Museum of History. During the fair, my day was split up into three rotations. In the first section, I had lunch. Then I was judged. At the end during a heritage workshop in the museum, I explored various Canadian artifacts. After my three rotations were done it was time for the award ceremony. I was not expecting to win an award so imagine my surprise when my name was called. It was so much fun, and I saw many of my friends and got the chance to see their projects. A couple of my favorite projects were about the Diefenbunker (which I recently toured) and Japanese internment camps.

A Bit About the Aberdeen Pavilion

Let me tell you a bit about the Aberdeen Pavilion. The Aberdeen Pavilion is a building in the heart of Ottawa. It is a heritage building and a community landmark. It also hosts the local farmers market on weekends. The Pavilion is a yellow color with light green trim. Its roof is silver. Its width is 40 meters, its height is 22 meters, and its length is 94 meters. It is the only large-scale exhibition building from the 1800s.

The Aberdeen Pavilion was designed by the architect Moses C. Edey. Edey was born in 1845 in Wyman, Quebec. He died in 1919. The Pavilion was named after the Governor General Lord Aberdeen. It was built for the Central Canada Exhibition Association (CCEA) in 1898, who used it as a place to host agricultural fairs. In 1939 it was taken over by the Department of National Defense. It was also used as a skating rink where the original Ottawa Senators won the Stanley Cup. It was designated a Heritage Building in February 1984. But by late 1986 it was in such disrepair that it was condemned and then closed to the public in October 1987. It was going to be demolished but the officials decided to renovate the building with a budget of 5.3 million dollars. This was approved in July 1992. They finished the renovation on June 24, 1994. Now the building stands proudly in Lansdowne Park on display for everyone.