Most underrated or underappreciated landmark in each city

[megadude]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

On that basis, I'd consider the Bruce Trail to be underrated and underappreciated, all along its ~900 km length.

Many of the waterfalls along the escarpment have seen more and more visitors from outside the region, to the point of having big parking and congestion issues at some of the major ones: Webster's and Tews, Albion, some others that are fairly accessible by car. The city has had to set up a parking and shuttle service to mitigate that at Webster's Falls, and install fencing at several waterfalls to try and keep the dumb-asses from climbing down into the gorges and getting stuck or injured (or worse). I don't know if they're also discovering places like the RBG or waterfront parks in Hamilton... anecdotally, some speculate that the lockdowns of the past year have led to more people exploring beyond their hometowns.

Ya I could totally see that about the Bruce.

I went to those falls years ago. And as I fish at Christie Reservoir off of Hwy. 5, I see the signs for designated parking and shuttle buses for some of those falls now.

[megadude]

True about West Block. I think most visitors just take a pic of Centre Block.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by megadude

True about West Block. I think most visitors just take a pic of Centre Block.

With the Centre Block under renovation and the West Block acting as the seat of government for the next 10 years, I hope it can move out of the shadow of the Peace Tower, so to speak.

[davidivivid]

Originally Posted by Masoliantekw

The city of Québec has many well-known landmarks, at least for french canadians, that are certainly not considered underrated :
Vieux-Québec, the old city walls and gates, the Citadelle, Price building, the parliament (Assemblée nationale) and Tourny fountain, château Frontenac, Price building, plains of Abraham, Montmorency falls, terrasse Dufferin, the Concord, maybe even the Marie-Guyart building (tallest skyscraper)...
Maybe some non-quebecois fellows here could help me point out which other landmark would be considered as underrated.

Maybe it is because I know the city too much, but I could not think of a great example, such as the Toronto Prince's Gate.

I certainly believe Maison Gomin could be considered underrated if not completely unknown.

Built in 1931 as the city's women's house of detention, it is now a funerarium.









https://histoireurbaine.wordpress.co...s-femmes-1936/

[Masoliantekw]

Originally Posted by davidivivid

I certainly believe Maison Gomin could be considered underrated if not completely unknown.

I think you found it. Though I have spent a large part of my life in the area, I've only been around Maison Gomin twice. I remember being impressed the first time I saw it

[esquire]

Maison Gomin is interesting... it almost looks like something you'd expect to see in the Loire Valley! I've never heard of the place.

[megadude]

That might be the most fortified-looking building in Canada despite not being a fort.

[J.OT13]

The Transportation Building in Ottawa has quite an interesting history. Built in 1916 by Lumber Baron J.R. Booth, named so for its location near the then Union Station, the structure served a a "temporary" City Hall between 1931 and 1958.


http://urbsite.blogspot.com/2014/02/...e-in-nine.html

The Federal Government bought the tower in 1970 and proposed numerous re-developments for the area bounded by the Colonel By Drive, Rideau Street, Nicholas Street and the Mackenzie-King Bridge. Many of the proposals would see the demolition of the Transportation Building.


http://urbsite.blogspot.com/2014/03/...preferred.html

Ultimately, the Transportation Building was included in the Eaton Rideau Centre project in the early 80s. The first two floors were integrated into the new mall.

More recently, a subway entrance to Rideau Station has been built into its ground floor.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transp...ilding_(Ottawa)

[itom 987]

I hate it when architects design something that doesn't fit at all with the existing building.

[isaidso]

What's with the beige section in the tower portion? Was the original detailing stripped and replaced with those beige panels? At least that building looks like it can be restored one day..... unless they wreck more of it.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by itom 987

I hate it when architects design something that doesn't fit at all with the existing building.

I agree, but in this instance it probably would have worked better had they made the weird little canopy a totally different colour like red, green or some such. The way it is, it's like wearing clothes that are slightly varying shades of the same colour.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

The Canada Olympic Park looks like an amazing facility. Good to see an Olympic facility that continues to be enjoyed in this way. I find that Canada generally has a good record of continued usage and/or re-purposing of Olympic facilities.

Yeah, for some reason it's not well known but Calgary is the only former Olympic host city with all of its Olympic facilities still in tact and in use for their original athletic purpose. COP is the biggest and best of the facilities inside the city, but the Olympic Oval at U of C, Nordic Centre in Canmore, and Nakiska Resort are also pretty dope.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by itom 987

I hate it when architects design something that doesn't fit at all with the existing building.

The canopy was added as part of the Confederation Line construction to "announce" the subway entrance, somewhat in line with the slopped roof lines of the above ground stations. Considering the red "O" pylons and the illuminated sign over the entrance, I'm not sure it was necessary.


https://www.railfans.ca/otrain/line-1-stations/rideau

Originally Posted by esquire

I agree, but in this instance it probably would have worked better had they made the weird little canopy a totally different colour like red, green or some such. The way it is, it's like wearing clothes that are slightly varying shades of the same colour.

The original rendering showed a lit translucent canopy, which looked better. I'm unfortunately unable to find those original renderings from 2012. Removing the canopy or just having simple glass awnings like the other entrance on William at Rideau would have been better.


https://www.railfans.ca/otrain/snaps...n-june-28-2019

Originally Posted by isaidso

What's with the beige section in the tower portion? Was the original detailing stripped and replaced with those beige panels? At least that building looks like it can be restored one day..... unless they wreck more of it.

That's part of the original tower from what we can see on historic photographs. Here's one from 1938. It's a little hard to tell because the building is black and white, but we can make out the ornate panels on the side and the middle, with the plain, slightly lighter panels in the middle.

You can view a slightly larger version of the image on the website.


http://urbsite.blogspot.com/2014/02/...e-in-nine.html

[davidivivid]

A landmark... perhaps not but I've always liked that building quite a lot. It is the Palasis-Prince Pavilion of Laval University which houses the administration sciences faculty (P.S. Laval University is in Quebec City). It was built in 1950 and I've always liked its mix of ... Eclesiasticism and Art Déco. The maconery is also quite beautiful. The stone, same as for the Parlement buidings, comes from St-Marc-des-Carrières.



https://www.facebook.com/ulaval.ca/p...53937772581969














Here is St-Matthew surrounded with ... supply and demand!



https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavillon_Palasis-Prince

[J.OT13]

The Central Experimental Farm, a Federal agricultural research facility. Four square kilometers just outside downtown Ottawa, it was on thee edge of the built-up urban area when established in 1886.

Today, there's a mix of farm land, greenspace and the Agricultural Museum.

There have been many debates around the possibility of redevelopment, housing or a new Civic Hospital (across the street on Carling, which was finally given green space around Dow's Lake end of the farm).


https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_...g.aspx?id=1818


https://friendsofthefarm.ca/plan-your-visit/



Horticlture Building no 55.



Agriculture Museum's main building.



The 1902 Dominion Observatory.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Experimental_Farm

[J.OT13]

The Aberdeen Pavilion a Lansdowne Park. Built in 1898 for the Central Canada Exhibition, it was a temporary home to the Ottawa Senators in 1904 when the Original Sens won one of eleven Stanley Cups.

In 1991, it had fallen in disrepair and Council voted to demolish the building. A new Council in 1992 reversed the decision and the building was restored by 1994. This was in part the doing of our current Mayor, Jim Watson, when he was Councillor for Capital Ward (the Glebe, Lansdowne's neighbourhood).


https://twitter.com/OttawaDrones/sta...32018117566466

[J.OT13]

The Civic Centre, now TD Place Arena, at Lansdowne Park. Completed in 1967 to replace the aging Auditorium in Centretown, it's unique design integrates the north side stands of Ottawa's CFL stadium.

The Ottawa 67's played their home opener on December 29, 1967 (playing their first games at Hull's Robert Guertin). Had it opened in January, the Civic Centre would not have been eligible for Federal Centennial Funding.

The arena was not fully complete, so seats had to be taken from the nearby Coliseum Building. 500 fans had to be turned away because they weren't able to find enough seats.

In April 1968, it hosted the Liberal Convention where Pierre Elliott Trudeau was voted Party Leader, and by extension, Prime Minister of Canada.

In 1992, the modern Ottawa Senators called the arena home, up until the then Palladium opened in January 1996.

The future of the arena is uncertain. The City of Ottawa and OSEG (Lansdowne partners, owners of the 67's and Red Blacks) are discussing the possibility of demolishing the arena to make way for new north side stands for the CFL stadium, housing and we assume a new, possibly smaller, arena.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TD_Place_Arena

[esquire]

^ I always found the combination of Ottawa Civic Centre + Lansdowne Park Stadium to be interesting architecturally. And the facility was pretty ambitious for what was at the time a mid-sized city... the Civic Centre was roughly on par size-wise with NHL arenas of the era, and even though it was built for the CFL, Lansdowne Park wouldn't have looked totally out of place in the NFL of the 1960s when some teams were still playing in 30,000 seat facilities.

I would imagine that the arena must be a reasonably lucrative business considering that its main competition is so inconveniently located?

[Acajack]

The inside of the Civic Centre is weirdly interesting. In the 3rd photo you can quite clearly see the supports of the north side grandstand of the football stadium.

http://www.ohlarenaguide.com/67s.htm

I've been inside the arena when there was a rock concert in the stadium, and the shaking was a bit disconcerting.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I always found the combination of Ottawa Civic Centre + Lansdowne Park Stadium to be interesting architecturally. And the facility was pretty ambitious for what was at the time a mid-sized city... the Civic Centre was roughly on par size-wise with NHL arenas of the era, and even though it was built for the CFL, Lansdowne Park wouldn't have looked totally out of place in the NFL of the 1960s when some teams were still playing in 30,000 seat facilities.

I would imagine that the arena must be a reasonably lucrative business considering that its main competition is so inconveniently located?

For sure, the Civic Centre competes pretty well with CT, largely thanks to its location I'm sure. Some artists might perform two shows at the Civic Centre instead of one at CT.

Another fun fact I forgot to mention, some of the larger steel girders were transported to the site up the Ottawa River and down the Rideau Canal.