408 Bank Street, Centretown Ottawa

J.Y. Caldwell's adverisment for a building on the NW corner of Blank and Florence appeared in the Ottawa Citizen in mid-March 1912. It wasn't a new building — Directory listings suggest it was built c. 1895. The ground floor had been home to one of Thomas Birkett's Hardware Stores. A successful businessman, Birkett would briefly serve as Ottawa's mayor (1891) before becoming the MP for Ottawa City (1900-1904.)

Curiously, the building stood next to a vacant lot of equal width (on its north side) which remained so for much their shared lifetimes, while the storefronts hosted various small businesses over the years.That lifetime ended suddenly in the early hours of March 23 2005 — Milano City Pizza was occupying the ground floor at the time — an explosion and fire destroyed the entire building. The now twin vacant lots would sit empty for the next 19 years, until the construction of a new block began in 2024.

The clipping and image reporting on the fire are both from the Ottawa Citizen, published March 24 2005.

Construction begins at 408 Bank (Street View 2024), the proposed design appears in an architect's rendering. Directly to the north, the James House condo tower nears completion. Who remembers the James Street Feed Company?