Discover the Updated Heritage Presentation: A Rich Story of Island Park Drive

The updated Heritage Presentation is now available under the “IPD History” section of the website, or you can view it directly here

Island Park Drive has long been one of Ottawa’s most scenic and historically significant corridors. It’s a living archive of Ottawa’s design vision and community history.

The Island Park Community Association is proud to share the latest update to the Island Park Drive Heritage Presentation, a detailed and evolving record of our neighbourhood’s architectural and cultural story.

The presentation is the result of years of dedicated research by Island Park resident Jennifer Gillespie, who continues to update and expand it with new discoveries. Through her work, residents can explore the most comprehensive visual and historical record of Island Park Drive to date, from its earliest planning days to the carefully preserved streetscape we know today.

The “City Beautiful” Vision

Created as part of the Ottawa Improvement Commission’s “City Beautiful” vision, Island Park Drive was designed to be a leisurely and enjoyable drive lined with parkland, stone standards, and globe lights. The presentation traces this legacy back to 1899, when landscape architect Frederick G. Todd first envisioned a connected network of parkways linking Ottawa’s key landmarks.

A Route of Royal Visits

Island Park Drive was part of the official ceremonial routes for the 1939 Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the 1951 Royal Visit of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and the 1947 visit of President Harry Truman, reflecting its symbolic role as one of the Capital’s grand avenues.

Architectural Highlights in the Latest Update

The newest section of the presentation (slides 120–135) adds rich architectural context, highlighting homes that transformed Island Park Drive into one of Ottawa’s most striking residential showcases. Many houses were intentionally built as display homes, allowing people driving by to admire their design — as one 1944 Ottawa Citizen advertisement put it, “homes that commuters could drive by and look at.” Earlier architects benefited from this daily, high-volume exposure, as no other NCC street offered the same double-sided architectural showcase.

The updated slides highlight the Drive’s distinctive Arts and Crafts, Tudor Revival, and Georgian Revival styles, with names like Werner Noffke and Younghusband among the architects who helped define its timeless character. Flanked by mature trees, green spaces, and views of Hampton Park, Island Park Drive continues to embody the “City Beautiful” ideals that shaped its creation more than a century ago.

Explore the Presentation!

We invite residents and history enthusiasts to visit the Heritage page on the Island Park Community Association website to explore this remarkable work. Jennifer Gillespie’s ongoing research ensures that the story of Island Park Drive, its homes, its people, and its enduring sense of place,  will continue to grow for generations to come.