Ottawa Normal School, Teacher training institution at Elgin Street, Ottawa, Canada.
Ottawa Normal School is a Gothic Revival building at Elgin and Lisgar streets, erected in 1874 as a teacher training college. Several extensions were added to its rear over the years. It now forms part of Ottawa City Hall and is known as the Heritage Building.
The building rose during the 1870s in response to Ontario's growing need for trained educators. After more than a century of operation as a training institution, it transitioned in 1974 to serve as part of municipal government offices.
The building's name changed with its role: Ottawa Normal School until 1953, then Ottawa Teacher's College, and Heritage Building after the 1986 municipal conversion. Its graduates include Florence Dunlop (1896–1963), a pioneer of education for children with special needs, and poet and educator Emily Julian McManus (1865–1918).
The Heritage Building stands at the corner of Elgin and Lisgar streets, linked to the larger city hall block erected to its north in 1986. The mayor's office occupies the old school, overlooking Elgin Street. The building is a working municipal office, so visitors see the Gothic Revival exterior from the sidewalk rather than the interior.
The mayor of Ottawa has an office in this 1874 former teacher's college, overlooking Elgin Street. The building was renamed the Heritage Building in 1986 when it was linked to the new regional headquarters erected just to its north.
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