ARTH3810 2019F Class Projects (Publication) Main Menu The Tent Room at Rideau Hall Kyle Kreutner, Page 1 of 6 The Webley Shacks: Unconventional Furniture Use in the Context of Ceaseless Surveillance Jose Bawagan Imperial Theater By Munawar Mobin Keagan F - CSTM Sound History Introduction The Mayfair Theatre Simran S. An Investigation of Hospital Interiors Effect on Patients 144 Loretta Avenue North, Aidan MacNaull Aidan MacNaull 144 Loretta Avenue North West Block - Canada's New House of Commons by Devon Rudyk Rideau Street Chapel: The Effects of Relocation on the Experience of an Interior by Ty Follis The Church of St. Andrew's Ottawa David Bastien-Allard Making the Past Present: Union Station Restoration – A Political Facelift? by Vivian Astroff Delegation of the Ismali Imamat The National Arts Centre: Reflecting on its Past and Present Saint Paul University - A Shift in Values Reem Siage Film in Ottawa: The Mayfair theatre by Giovanna Maria Sang CGM -An Investigation of Hospital Interiors Effect on Patients The Chateau Laurier By Jessica El-Ghazal Reusable Space: The Senate of Canada Building by Syenne Holder National Gallery of Canada - Seeing the Colonnade Through a Semiological Lens by Ricky Tong Ricky THE OTTAWA STATION Ehidiamen Iyamabo, HomePage

Conclusion

35816 Making the Past Present: Union Station Restoration – A Political Facelift? by Vivian Astroff
In spite of the prevalence of the maple leaf symbol, which reaches back in Canadian history to the Indigenous people of the early 1700s, the narrative in the restored Union Station is one of exclusivity and privilege. The history of the original building, on the other hand, is one of achievement and of Ottawa's literal "rising from the mud." In 1989, the station was designated a Federal Heritage Building “because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.” Parks Canada acknowledged that it is “one of the best examples associated with the great railway-building era in pre-war Canada, an activity central to the development of Canada’s early national unity and prosperity” (Parks Canada). Consequently, I maintain that there is an obvious divergence between Canadian identity and heritage – the rich history of Union Station as part of Ottawa's everyday life, and this "place" as it has been taken over and politicized by the Senate.

Smith describes heritage as a “cultural process," a continuing dialogue with the past. By its nature, this dialogue includes many community and individual narratives and meanings beyond the “authorized heritage discourse.”  We see an example of "individual meanings" in the YouTube clip that opens this essay. Architect Barry Padolsky, who contributed to the building's "heritage conservation plan," narrates his experience as a young man passing through Union Station on arriving in Ottawa, and tells how it has remained a cherished memory. Union Station, as a place, is linked in a meaningful way to his individual identity, as much as to our collective national heritage. 

In the framework of critical heritage theory, "the fabric of a heritage object can change so long as the socio-cultural meanings are conserved" (Wells). At the same time, the negotiation of meanings of heritage "is a struggle over power…because heritage is itself a political resource” (Smith). So while the much-maligned Senate bathes in the station's glow, the public can at least reacquaint itself with a magnificent piece of Ottawa's history.

This page has paths:

  1. Making the Past Present: Union Station Restoration – A Political Facelift? Maegen Sargent
  2. Bibliography Maegen Sargent

Contents of this path:

  1. Making the Past Present: Union Station Restoration – A Political Facelift?
  2. A New Home for the Senate
  3. Union Station’s Importance in Ottawa History
  4. The Restored Interior
  5. The Senate Chamber
  6. Bibliography

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