Satellite map of Beaver Barracks

Centre Position

Latitude
45.411564
Longitude
-75.688709

We're building affordable rental housing right here!

Marker Position

Latitude
45.411564
Longitude
-75.688709

The Beaver Barracks site is located on the northwest block of Catherine St. and Metcalfe St. in Centretown Ottawa. We share this city block with the Taggart Family Y on the west side, Windsor Arms apartments on the northeast corner and a small City of Ottawa paramedic post.

In Phase One we built a four-storey building on Argyle Ave. and an eight-storey building at the corner of Catherine St. and Metcalfe St. Upon completion of Phase 1 the City of Ottawa paramedic post was moved to its new home at 464 Metcalfe Street.

In Phase Two we are building two rows of stacked townhouses and a seven-story apartment building on Catherine St. where the old paramedic post was originally located. The centre of the site will be landscaped into a community garden.

Beaver Barracks inherits its name from a military residence that used to occupy the same piece of land in Centretown. The Royal Canadian Air Force Beaver Barracks were built in the 1940s with a residence at the corner of Catherine St. and Metcalfe St. and an adjoining mess hall on Argyle Ave. This site plan from 1956 shows how the buildings were situated on the block:

Archival_site_plan

The block remained this way until 1967 when the Ottawa Auditorium was demolished and replaced by the Taggart Family Y. The original Beaver Barracks was demolished in 1991, leaving a wide open space in the middle of the block.

Originally, Beaver Barracks served as a residence for the Royal Canadian Air Force Women’s Division and the Canadian Women’s Army Corp (CWAC). Both were disbanded at end of the Second World War and Beaver Barracks gained new residents – the Air Cadet League of Canada.

During the 1950s, Beavers Barracks also accommodated the Gatineau Fish and Game Club, the Royal Canadian Air Force Association and the Royal Canadian Air Force Benevolent Fund. In the 1980s it was also home to Airforce Productions Ltd. who published the magazine Airforce.

Beaver Barracks is a new affordable housing development in Centretown.

© 2008-2012 Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation. • info@ccochousing.org