Visioning a Sandy Hill street museum

Prime Ministers’ Row

Megan Lafrenière

Let’s face it. Ottawa has a lot of history. Some of it is obvious; Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market, the Rideau Canal, not to mention the many museums and galleries.

At the same time, a large part of our history is hidden, or at least not easy to find. Perhaps there is no other neighbourhood with more hidden history than Sandy Hill. For over a century, this quiet downtown enclave has been home to politicians, prime ministers, diplomats, lumber barons, public servants, and many university students.

In 2015, under the banner of Prime Ministers’ Row (PMR), a group of Sandy Hill residents began to look at ways to bring some of this hidden history out into the open. Over the past six years, and with recent support from the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Tourism and TD Bank, PMR has worked to envision Canada’s first street museum. This new museum seeks to showcase the many historical figures, including Canadian prime ministers, who lived in Sandy Hill: to bring people to where they lived; to place them in the context of history; and to create a space to encourage dialogue on the impacts, both good and bad, that their actions and policies have had on all Canadians.

To include as many Canadians as possible to help shape the street museum, PMR and co-host Action Sandy Hill are reaching out to the community in several ways:

Community Conversation 1 –

In Person  October 17, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Working Title, 330 Laurier Avenue East – Covered patio or indoors in case of inclement weather
Limited capacity of 50 participants. Led by bilingual moderators.
All provincial COVID-19 protocols will be strictly enforced.
Visit www.pmr-apm.ca to register.

 

Community Conversation 2 –

Virtual (Zoom) October 27, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Limited capacity of 50 participants. Led by bilingual moderators.
Visit www.pmr-apm.ca to register and receive the link.

 

Online Survey   Launches November 15. Visit www.pmr-apm.ca to participate.

 

For further information on any of these engagement activities or on the street museum project, please contact: info@pmr-apm.ca

With thanks to our funders, Action Sandy Hill, Working Title and our longtime supporters.