In a special section on the City of Vanier, articles in the December 1990 issue of Business & Finance suggest that Vanier was on the threshold of significant growth. One article points to new restaurants, cafés, art galleries, boutiques and shops. Another highlights the “more than 70 active associations and service clubs.” We learn of the recent Miss Vanier Pageant and Expo Vanier celebrations – each organized by the BIA. Renewed streetscaping had just been completed.
Drawing attention to “investment possibilities in the heart of Metropolitan Ottawa,” one advertisement seeks investors for a renewed “mixed-use commercial / residential complex” in today’s Place Des Pionniers apartment buildings at the corner of Montreal Road and Lajoie Street. At the front of the buildings, the project would have added a terrace at the sublevel and promenade on the upper level, where residential units could be converted to retail and office use. Evidently, the timing was not right. Could such a project today enhance Montreal Road’s role as a mixed-use, neighbourhood main street?
Image/Source: 1990. Business & Finance A Special Report on Ottawa. Volume 8, Number 25.