New chapter for 7 MacLean Street

By Sue Stefko

Slowly but surely, older homes and businesses in the Glebe Annex are being torn down to make way for new, often multi-unit dwellings. The latest building about to disappear is what many refer to as the Dallaire home at 7 MacLean Street, between Bell and Cambridge Streets South. The home was built in 1900 and, according to a 1901 fire insurance map, appears to be the first to be built on the small street.

At the time, there were few homes in the mostly industrial area, as it was adjacent to the Fraserfield lumber and rail yard southwest of the MacLean Street property. The yard stored vast quantities of lumber from lumber baron J.R. Booth’s mill near the Chaudière Falls; it stretched from Dow’s Lake, cutting across the western edge of what is now the Glebe Annex as far north as Dollyvarton Street, which seems to be approximately where Plymouth Street is now.

Purchasing the house in 1960, the Dallaires lived there for half of the building’s 120-year history. Madame Dallaire was the last member of the family to move out. She was known for her long walks, often in local parks, with her beloved Dalmatian, Max, by her side. She was quiet but friendly and welcoming to many – even to stray animals. She loved tending her garden and buying fresh food at the market. She was proud of her home and always kept it immaculate. And she witnessed huge change in the neighbourhood over her many decades living here.

Her family home will soon make way for a three-storey, seven-unit apartment building. Although the house, which is now tired and worn, will be gone, the new owners are committed to preserving some of that home’s history for future generations. They intend to use some of the artifacts remaining in the home to create artwork to display in hallways and other common spaces as a tribute to the building’s history. They also intend to salvage some of the wood to help create new spaces, such as a common area in the new building’s yard.

If necessary approvals are obtained in time, construction could start as early as this fall. While some neighbours have expressed reservations about putting up an apartment building on such a small and narrow street, the plan is in line with the city’s view of neighbourhoods like the Glebe Annex. Much of the Glebe Annex is zoned R4 – an inner-urban neighbourhood slated for increased intensification, including low-rise apartment buildings of up to four storeys.

The Glebe Annex is already no stranger to increased density. The neighbourhood, which is approximately 400 metres (north to south) by 300 metres (east to west), already has 13 low- to medium-rise apartment and condominium buildings with more than 2,000 residents, according to the latest census numbers. Number 7 MacLean is actually the smallest of the new builds slated for the community, with six storeys and 40 units soon to go up at the John Howard Society building at 289 Carling, a 16-storey seniors’ residence proposed for 275 Carling and multiple medium and high rises expected in the Canada Lands Company’s development at 291/299 Carling, some up to 20 storeys. The MacLean development is one of several that are helping create the rapidly evolving fabric of the Glebe Annex.

Sue Stefko is president of the Glebe Annex Community Association.