Let the Carleton Tavern die a dignified death | Opinion |
Share this Story : Ottawa Citizen Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr
Let the Carleton Tavern die a dignified death | Opinion
Brigitte Pellerin: There's no need to rebuild the tavern with high-quality anything when the area gets redeveloped.
You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.
At the risk of overwhelming you with get-off-my-lawn energy, I refuse to let the Carleton Tavern get “reimagined” without protest.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Unlimited digital access to the Ottawa Citizen.
Analysis on all things Ottawa by Bruce Deachman, Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, and others, award-winning newsletters and virtual events.
Opportunity to engage with our commenting community.
Ottawa Citizen ePaper.
Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office.
Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account.
Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.
Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.
Support local journalism.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account.
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.
Enjoy additional articles per month.
Get email updates from your favourite authors.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Access articles from across Canada with one account
Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments
Enjoy additional articles per month
Get email updates from your favourite authors
Sign In or Create an Account
The area on Parkdale Avenue between Oxford and Armstrong Streets is being turned into a 38-storey mixed-use building and as part of the exercise the developer, Taggart, needs to destroy the old tavern for reasons having to do with age, general decrepitude, and also Father Time having done his job rather well on this particular corner of Hintonburg.
A consultant report said they will rebuild the tavern “using high-quality stone and masonry to restore its familiar presence on Parkdale Avenue.”
Uh, no thank you. If I wanted high-quality stone or masonry or furniture or grub, I wouldn’t go to the Carleton. When I go to the Carleton — and yes, I do sometimes go to the Carleton — it is precisely for the tavern ambience. Which ain’t high-quality anything.
I am old enough to remember when taverns didn’t accept women. I don’t know if that was as prevalent a custom here as it was in Quebec City where I grew up. In the taverns of my misspent youth, there was a salt shaker on each table because the beer was so bland you had to add flavour to it. And you never ordered just one beer. They always came in two. Food was … whatever rancid peanuts the owner felt his customers deserved.
People went to the tavern to socialize with like-minded folks and to drink cheap salted swill. Today we’ve evolved far enough to have food that’s solidly mediocre and very tolerable beer. In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I have not ventured very far into the Carleton food menu because I eat a clean, high-protein diet, but I certainly enjoy the CT Pilsner they sell at exceedingly reasonable prices. Like $11.99 for a personal pitcher, which is perfect for a casual evening with friends followed by a bike ride or walk home like the responsible tavern-goer I am.
What I especially enjoy about establishments like the Carleton is that nobody there gives a hoot about the fact that I’m wearing my favourite writing hoodie, the one that has a few holes in the sleeves because I wear it so often and refuse to throw it out.
Please, public servants, resist the return to the office | Opinion
No more tax dollars to save derelict and deteriorating buildings | Letters to the editor
Advertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});
If I went to a fine establishment with high-quality masonry, my attire would earn me a few side eyes. At the Carleton, I look better than the furniture. This is priceless.
“The new Tavern will re-establish the prominent corner facade, while the northern portion, originally a simple stucco volume with limited openings, will be reimagined as a contemporary extension,” the developer’s report continues. “This allows for improved activation, increased transparency, and opportunities for public art consistent with the artistic expression historically found on the block.”
First of all, what the heck does any of this mean? What in tarnation is improved activation? It doesn’t say tavern at all, not even the heavily reimagined kind.
The building that houses the Carleton was built in the late 1890s and has served as a watering hole for nearly a century after a few years housing a general store. It’s time to let it go.
I am sad to lose such a historic institution. But I want to remember it for what it was, not some reimagined hipster version of it.
Let the Carleton Tavern die a dignified death.
Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.
Man stabbed to death in downtown Ottawa News
Man stabbed to death in downtown Ottawa
Another federal public-service union files unfair labour practice complaint over four-day return-to-office order Public Service
Another federal public-service union files unfair labour practice complaint over four-day return-to-office order
Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});
'A single bedbug' found at government building in Ottawa after four-day in-office order Public Service
'A single bedbug' found at government building in Ottawa after four-day in-office order
Hum: Why a Centrepointe butcher shop sells Ottawa's best almond croissants Life
Hum: Why a Centrepointe butcher shop sells Ottawa's best almond croissants
Ottawa man, 63, charged with child-luring offences News
Ottawa man, 63, charged with child-luring offences
Share this Story : Ottawa Citizen Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.