By Kate MacLean
Jean Pigott knows that patience is a virtue.
She’s needed it in her five-year fight to restore the American embassy at 100 Wellington St. Her goal is to have it transformed from an office building into a museum of Canadian heritage after the new embassy on Sussex is opened for use.
“It doesn’t have to happen tomorrow or in three months or a year,” says Pigott, former chair of the National Capital Commission. “Just as long as we’re working toward a long-term goal of restoring the building.”
The building was first erected as the American embassy in 1932 and has been designated by the federal government as a classified heritage structure.
This means the federal government has a responsibility to maintain the integrity of the building’s heritage features, such as its old-fashioned sash windows and iron balcony
railings.
“I know it’s on the back burner and I want to keep the heat on,” says Pigott, who has been working with Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson over the last few months to develop a plan to approach Public Works on the issue.
“I don’t want to see it remain an office,” says Pigott. “My dream is to restore the building and make it a shrine. The Bill of Rights and the (repatriated) Constitution would be on display so Canadians can come in and see what makes us Canadian.”
Public Works is responsible for deciding what to do with the building, and remains close-mouthed about any potential plans.
Because it is recognized as a heritage structure, many feel it is not being used to its full potential as just an office building. And many people agree with Pigott that the government should use the building in a way that honours the building’s heritage status.
“I think she’s right on,” says Peter Harris of the Sparks Street Mall. Harris is working to revitalize the mall as part of a larger plan to restore Ottawa’s downtown core.
“The ambience now is business, nine-to-five, Monday to Friday,” says Harris. “(Converting the building) would make the area more people-friendly.”
“One doesn’t want a building with that type of history to simply sit there and have no use,” says Veronica Vaillancourt of the Heritage Canada Foundation.
The building could be prime office space or a great location for a tourist attraction such as the one Pigott proposes.
“Wellington Street is becoming too much of a drive-by-and-look street,” says Harris. “It would be nice to be able to go into one of the buildings.”
But deciding what to do with the building is entirely up to Public Works.
“It is the responsibility of the custodial department, in this case, Public Works,” says Robert Moreau of the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, whose organization assesses and lobbies for protection of heritage sites. “If they don’t respect the heritage features of the building, that’s where I come in.”
“The building is a gem,” says Pigott. “It deserves a good destiny.”