Bate Building
Recognized Federal Heritage Building
Ottawa, Ontario
Front elevation
(© Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, PAC, PA 42267, 1907.)
Address :
109-111 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Treasury Board Policy on Management of Real Property
Designation Date:
1986-07-25
Dates:
-
1859 to 1859
(Construction)
-
1904 to 1904
(Significant)
Event, Person, Organization:
-
Stent and Laver, Architects, Ottawa
(Architect)
Custodian:
Public Works and Government Services Canada
FHBRO Report Reference:
85-23
DFRP Number:
08895 00
Description of Historic Place
The tall Bate Building is situated on the north side of Sparks Street in the core of Ottawa’s central business district. The lower façade features classical and Palladian motifs while high arched windows with elaborate spandrels distinguish the upper floors, capped by a strongly projecting cornice. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The Bate Building is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.
Historical Value:
The Bate Building is associated with the development of mid-19th and early 20thcentury Ottawa. Henry and Charles Bate commissioned the original building that combined retail premises and a residence. The building became the basis of a business empire headed by Henry Bate a philanthropic character involved in politics, the community, and local development. Knighted in 1910, Henry Bates became the first chairman of the Ottawa Improvement Commission.
Architectural Value:
Built in 1859, the Bate building has undergone many changes resulting in the loss of architectural integrity. Apparently the oldest standing structure on Sparks Street, its 1904 addition may be the earliest example in Ottawa of an office building that exceeds five storeys. The third storey of the lower façade was removed to accommodate the present addition. The Bate grocery store front was also later removed, further reducing the structure’s storefront profile.
Environmental Value:
The ongoing relationship of the Bate Building to its unchanged site in the commercial core reinforces Ottawa’s central business district.
Sources:
Dana Johnson, Bate Building, 109-111 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 85-023; Bate Building, 109-111 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 85-023.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Bate Building should be respected.
Its good quality materials and craftsmanship, for example: the vertical massing; the three part composition with tall, arched windows forming the centrepiece; the entrance on Sparks Street; the cut stone and brick facing; the elaborate spandrels and projecting cornices.
The manner in which the Bate Building, on its unchanged site in the commercial core, reinforces the central business district of Ottawa, as evidenced by: the building’s ongoing relationship to its streetscape and surrounding buildings; the building’s design and materials that maintain a visual and physical relationship to adjacent structures in the commercial core of downtown Ottawa.
Heritage Character Statement
Disclaimer -
The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.
The Bate Building was built in 1859 by Sparks and Cleverley, builders, to the designs of Stent and Laver, Ottawa architects. It was recognized because it is one of the best examples of the development of the community and because its setting reinforces the present character of the area.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
This building is one of 19 buildings located on the north side of Sparks Street between Elgin and Bank streets, an area which has been, since the 1880s at least, the core of Ottawa's central business district. Born in England, Henry and his brother Charles T. Bate arrived in Ottawa in 1854 and established what was soon to become the city's largest retail grocery business, Bate and Company. The Bate building, which combined retail premises and residence and originally extended through to Wellington Street, stood as evidence of how a single enterprise, carefully managed, could form the basis of a considerable fortune and business empire. By the late nineteenth century the Bate family (now headed by Henry) owned the original grocery business and an extensive import operation/ Like many successful entrepreneurs, the Bates left the day-today running of the business to junior family members while involving themselves in politics and community affairs. Henry Bate was appointed the first chairman of the Ottawa Improvement Commission upon its founding in 1898, and was knighted in 1910 for his civic and philanthropic activities.
ARCHITECTURE
This building appears to be the oldest structure still standing on Sparks Street. In 1904 the third storey was removed and an incompatible four-storey addition was added. The 1904 addition appears to be the earliest example in Ottawa of a highrise office building of more than five storeys. Its three-part composition with tall arched windows forming the centrepiece was a common device of the period, while its elaborate spandrels and strongly projecting cornice gave it a measure of individuality.
ENVIRONMENT
During the nineteenth century, this was a well-known retail store, but after its conversion to office use, and particularly after the removal of the Bate grocery store, its design was not sufficiently striking to receive much public attention.