Embassy of the United States - Ottawa, Ontario
Posted by: denben
N 45° 25.678 W 075° 41.739
18T E 445581 N 5030729
The Embassy of the United States of America in Ottawa is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in Canada. The current complex opened in 1999 at 490 Sussex Dr, Ottawa, Ontario.
Waymark Code: WMZDV5
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 10/26/2018
Views: 8
Before 1999, the mission occupied a 1930s era building directly across from Parliament Hill at 100 Wellington Street. The new embassy is located on what used to be a small hill and parking lot on the western edge of the Byward Market. To the west of the embassy is Major's Hill Park and the Federal district. The National Gallery of Canada is just to the northwest of the embassy while the Peacekeeping Monument is to the north. To the east of the embassy is the Byward Market and York Street is steps to the south.
The building's design in 1999, by noted architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, sought to reflect the close relationship of friendly neighbors. The embassy’s interior, showcasing the art of 59 artists from the United States, is organized as two bars of office space, joined by an atrium in the center. The embassy was dedicated by President Bill Clinton on October 8, 1999, the first time in American history a president had personally dedicated a new embassy. The building was included amongst other architecturally interesting and historically significant buildings in Doors Open Ottawa, held June 2 and 3, 2012.
Local architects and citizens complained that the structure overshadowed the historic market and suggested that it looked like a battleship, or worried about the danger posed to local businesses by potential terrorist attacks against the embassy. These complaints were aggravated after the September 11 attacks, when a number of roads around the embassy were blocked, congesting traffic and hurting businesses. The immediately adjacent lane on Sussex Drive was permanently closed.
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