Tuesday, June 30, 2026

The Flamingo Motel

 At the time of inquiry (yesterday), Google AI seemed fairly certain that there isn't, nor was there ever a Flamingo Motel in Ottawa — yet somehow I remember its neon sign very clearly. Exactly where it stood is a different matter — east end probably, Montreal Road perhaps?

A search of promotional postcards yields one rewarding hit, with an address no less — Montreal Road indeed!

The seller's site gives no date for the card. Newspaper mentions of the Flamingo are scant. The motel did not generally advertise, though its name appeared in a series of buy-in "Tourist Guide" ads that ran in the Ottawa Journal in the summer of 1958. Post-war construction would be a safe bet.

The address places the Flamingo on the south side of Montreal Road, facing Notre Dame Cemetery, immediately west of the Belisle Automobiles showroom at the corner of Montreal Road and St Laurent Boulevard. The motel rarely made the news, though I find a curious story that appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on October 1 1976.


The story evokes Cold War paranoia, recalls the great CB craze of the '70s (viz Breaker! Breaker!, Convoy, Smokey and the Bandit), and reminds us of a time when the Unites States was our closest military ally, not an imminent threat.

In the summer of 1985, Belisle Automobiles bought the Flamingo and demolished it, making room for a larger showroom. The Belisle Cadillac Chevrolet dealership closed in January 2013. The property was later acquired and redeveloped into the current flagship Audi Ottawa location by the Mark Motors Group, which officially opened a standalone dealership in 2016. Mark Motors also operates a Porsche showroom on the the original Belisle site.

Regarding Belisle's tenure on the site —

Aerial photos suggest that the motel site was farmed prior to WWII.




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