Safety vs beauty

The Library and Archives of Canada, the Supreme Court, Parliament Hill, the Chateau Laurier, the locks down to the river, the National Gallery…Ottawa’s capital core boasts some truly lovely buildings and spaces.

And then there’s the U.S Embassy on Sussex Drive:

To be brutally honest, the word I always think of gazing at my own embassy is ‘sinister’. The style is very modern and (for my taste) dreadfully sterile. Worst of all, it’s hemmed in by a lot of really unsightly concrete barriers.

Having slagged the embassy’s appearance, let me add some praise. I’ve gone there for consular services, entering with dread. (Bureaucracy can be bad enough in relaxed circumstances.) But I came away impressed by the professionalism, courtesy — and yes, efficiency! — encountered within the bunker.

These are troubled times, and safety certainly does matter. But folks, where the barriers are concerned, we are talking u-g-l-y. It’s a black eye on an otherwise graceful space.

Apparently, US Ambassador David Jacobson has aesthetic reservations too. He describes his first reaction to the site in this Ottawa Citizen article.

“They took me on a tour around the city on my way to my office,” he said. “It was quite a day. The leaves were turning. We drove past the Rideau Canal and the Rideau Falls, which were magnificent. The National Gallery was imposing and Parliament Hill was majestic. We rounded the corner as we approached my new office. You can imagine — my pulse quickened. When I first laid eyes on the Embassy of the United States in Canada the first words out of my mouth were, ‘What’s the deal with those concrete barriers?’ ”

This past Saturday, Jacobson and federal Transport Minister John Baird announced the blocks in question will be replaced by attractive rigid posts.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, the work is projected to cost $3.125 million and may take over a year to complete. The U.S. Government will provide $500,000 toward the project. Canada’s federal government will contribute $2.5 million, and the City of Ottawa will add $125,000 to relocate water and sewer mains. A bike lane is also planned.