Dover Building
Recognized Federal Heritage Building
Ottawa, Ontario
Exterior photo
(© (CIHB/IBHC, Parks Canada/Parcs Canada, 1985.))
Address :
185-187 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Treasury Board Policy on Management of Real Property
Designation Date:
1986-07-25
Dates:
-
1896 to 1896
(Construction)
-
1982 to 1982
(Significant)
Event, Person, Organization:
Custodian:
Public Works and Government Services Canada
FHBRO Report Reference:
85-29
DFRP Number:
08831 00
Description of Historic Place
Located in the core of Ottawa’s central business district, the Dover Building is a handsome, three-storey commercial building with a distinctive Romanesque Revival façade. Constructed in sandstone it is three bays wide and features large round-headed windows, a strong cornice and, and a decorative pediment. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The Dover Building is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.
Historical Value:
The Dover Building is a very good example of a building associated with the commercial development of Ottawa in the late 19th century. The structure also reflects the commercial development of Sparks Street and the longevity of the three-storey commercial block design. A.J. Stephens, an Ottawa shoe and boot merchant, rented the upper storeys of the building to professionals and opened his own shop, specializing in both European and American products, on the ground floor. To the rear of his store, he also operated a shoe manufactory. Stephens ended his operations in the 1920s and rented the ground floor to Plaunt Hardware. In 1944, the building was purchased by an Ottawa sporting good merchant, Joseph Dover, who operated a retail hardware and sporting goods business until 1981.
Architectural Value:
The Dover Building is valued for its very good aesthetics. It is a late Victorian commercial building with a distinctive façade that features both Romanesque and classically inspired elements. Buildings of this period tended to have larger expanses of glass, more mechanically produced elements and a greater variety in facade detailing. In these regards, the Dover Building is a typical example of commercial building of its period. Very good craftsmanship is seen in the brickwork and carved sandstone panels. The quality of the design and of the rehabilitation work completed in 1982 was recognized by the City of Ottawa, which awarded the building a certificate of merit in 1983.
Environmental Value:
The Dover Building reinforces the historic/commercial character of its streetscape setting in Ottawa’s central business district setting and is a familiar landmark to local residents, people working in the vicinity and pedestrians.
Sources:
Dana Johnson, Nineteen Federally Owned Properties, Sparks Street, Ottawa Ontario, Heritage Buildings Review Office Reports 85-008 and 85-014 to 85-031; The Dover Building, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement 85-029.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of The Dover Building should be respected.
Its very good aesthetic design, its good functional design and very good quality craftsmanship, for example: the three-storey massing of the symmetrical façade; the distinctive division of the facade into horizontal and vertical elements, and three distinct bays divided by brick pilasters; the exterior materials composed of brick, sandstone and pressed tin elements; the large round headed windows; the sandstone keys, carved sandstone panels and a sandstone belt course above the upper window; the pressed metal oriel with classically inspired decoration and projecting cornice of pressed metal; the interior spatial arrangement of the principal interior spaces.
The manner in which the Dover Building reinforces the historic/commercial character of its streetscape setting in Ottawa and is a familiar landmark as evidenced by: its scale, design and materials that maintain a visual and physical relationship with the adjacent buildings and complements the streetscape; its familiarity to visitors, passing pedestrians, and local residents.
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 Dover Building (formerly the A.J. Stephens Building) was built in 1896. The contractor is unknown and the architect was probably King Arnoldi, of Ottawa. It was Recognized because of its very good design and craftsmanship as well as its setting which reinforces the character of the area. It forms a unit with its neighbours, the Slater (177-179 Sparks) and the Brouse (181-183 Sparks) buildings.
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS
This building is one of 19 buildings located on the north side of Sparks Street between Elgin and Bank streets, as area which has been, since the 1880s at least, the core of Ottawa's central business district. The Ottawa shoe and boot merchant A.J. Stephens opened a shop in the city in 1868. He had been located in rental premises at 102 Sparks Street until he bought a part-lot from the Slaters in 1896. Once his new building was completed, he rented the upper storeys to a variety of professionals and opened his own shop, specializing in both European and American products, on the ground floor. To the rear of his store, he also operated a shoe manufactory. Stephens ended his operations in the 1920s and rented the ground floor to Plaunt Hardware. In 1944 the building was purchased by an Ottawa sporting good merchant, Joseph Dover, who operated a retail hardware and sporting goods business until 1981. The Dover Building reflects the commercial development of Sparks Street westward to Bank in the late nineteenth century, as well as the persistence of the three-storey commercial block during this period.
ARCHITECTURE
This is a late Victorian commercial building with a distinctive division of the facade into horizontal and vertical elements. The ground storey was entirely recast by PWC in 1982-83, but the upper storeys are apparently intact. The facade is divided by brick pilasters into three parts. The side bays consist of round-headed windows with sandstone keys separated by carved sandstone panels with a sandstone beltcourse above the upper window. The centre features a pressed metal oriel with classically inspired decoration and a romanesque arched window above. The entire assemblage is completed by corbelling leading to an elaborate projecting cornice of pressed metal. Buildings of this period tended to have larger expanses of glass, more extensive use of mechanically produced elements and greater variety in facade detailing, and in these regards, the A.J. Stephen Building is a typical example of commercial building of its period.
ENVIRONMENT
This is a relatively low structure on a block on which much taller and more recent buildings predominate. The quality of its design and of DPW's rehabilitation gives the building an attractive appearance which the city of Ottawa recognized by awarding the building a certificate of merit in 1983.