60 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
PARK AND BOULEVARD IMPROVEMENT IN OTTAWA 
The great improvement in the phys- 
ical appearance of the city of Ottawa, 
Canada, in the past few years has 
been due to intelligent and energetic 
co-operation of the city authorities 
and the Ottawa Improvement Com- 
mission. Mayor J. A. Ellis of Otta- 
wa told an interesting story of the 
parks of that city at a recent conven- 
tion of Canadian municipal officials 
from which we gather the following 
facts, together with information from 
the report of the Improvement Com- 
mission. 
The natural situation of Ottawa is 
most favorable to a plan for improve- 
ment and beautification. Three-quar- 
ters of it is surrounded by water. What 
has added more to the embellishment 
of the city than anything else has been 
the acquisition of a large number of 
parks, ranging in size from a city 
block to one of 185 acres. There are 
16 of these in and adjacent to the city. 
These parks have been cleared, and 
other improvements have been 
brought about by the Ottawa Im- 
provement Commission, which is un- 
der the control of the Dominion Gov- 
ernment. 
In 1899 the Federal Government 
passed an Act that provided for the 
payment of an annual grant of $60,000 
to a commission of four members, un- 
der the name of the “Ottawa Improve- 
ment Commission,” for the acquisi- 
tion of property in the city of Ottawa, 
or the vicinity thereof, for the pur- 
pose of public parks, streets, drives, 
and so on, and all improvements, and 
repairs required in connection there- 
with. 
The general plan which the com- 
mission proposed for the beautifying 
of the city of Ottawa was the con- 
struction of a 'driveway, or series of 
driveways, connecting Rockcliffe Park, 
at the eastern end of the city, with the 
Central Experimental Farm, at the 
western end, the route selected being 
by way of King street, Laurier bridge, 
and the Government reserve along the 
Rideau Canal, the road, wherever the 
width of land permitted, to be bor- 
dered by boulevards and parkways. 
This plan met with approval, and 
the first step taken to carry it into ef- 
fect was the widening of Princess 
Louise Vista and the improvement of 
King Edward avenue — from Rideau 
street north to the Rideau River. 
These works were begun early in 1900 
and carried on by day labor to com- 
pletion. 
The construction of a bridge across 
the Rideau River, from the north end 
of King Edward avenue to Mackay 
street, was the next work to be under- 
taken. The bridge, named after his 
Excellency, Lord Minto, was satisfac- 
torily completed in April, 1902. 
Early in 1900 the commission de- 
cided to co-operate with the Corpora- 
tion of Ottawa in repairing and im- 
proving many of the main thorough- 
fares. The roadways of these streets 
were macadamized and put in a good 
state of repair, the Commission pay- 
ing half the cost. In addition to these, 
the road leading to the Experimental 
Farm over St. Louis Dam, which was 
almost impassable, was repaired and 
made fit for traffic. 
The principal work undertaken by 
the Commission was the construction 
of the Rideau Canal Driveway. The 
Government having granted a lease of 
the Reserve, a strip of land about 200 
to 250 feet in width on the east and 
north side of the canal, extending from 
Laurier Bridge to Dow’s Lake, the 
work of construction was begun in 
July, 1900, and on June 30, 1905, vir- 
tually completed. A prominent fea- 
ture of this driveway is the subway 
under the Canada Atlantic Railway 
tracks, which was built at the joint 
expense of the Canada Atlantic Rail- 
way Company and the Commission. 
ON AN OTTAWA BOULEVARD, . SHOWING HOW A STAGNANT SHEET OF WATER WAS UTILIZED. 
