Description of Historic Place
The E.B. Eddy Digester Tower is a prominent building located at Laurier Park on the bank of the Ottawa River in the Hull sector of Gatineau. The 33.5 metre high (110 feet) square tower has solid limestone walls pierced by irregularly placed openings on all elevations. Details include stone brackets, a partially filled arch and a single entrance. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.
Heritage Value
The E.B. Eddy Digester Tower is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.
Historical Value
The E.B. Eddy Digester Tower is one of the best examples of a structure associated with the pulp and paper industry’s development in both Canada and in the Hull sector of Gatineau. The tower is associated with Ezra Butler Eddy, the founder of the company who, in 1851, arrived from Vermont and began manufacturing matches. As his business expanded he became the largest manufacturer of timber products in North America. E.B. Eddy later built his own paper mill on the site, which expanded in 1901 when this sulphite digester tower was built. The vertical digester housed within the tower was a landmark in papermaking, permitting a higher quality and more economical mode of pulping. Integral to the mill’s pulping process until operations ceased in 1972, the Digester Tower and the sulphite paper mill were acquired by the National Capital Commission and subsequently dismantled.
Architectural Value
Valued for its good aesthetic design, the E.B. Eddy Digester Tower, with its imposing profile, is an example of industrial architecture geared to a specific production process. It is a rare surviving example of a purpose-built, five-floor tower constructed to enclose pulping machinery and to support a rooftop water tower. Its simple appearance belies its very good functional design. Good craftsmanship is evidenced in the masonry.
Environmental Value
The E.B. Eddy Digester Tower is compatible with the present character of its recreational park setting, and is a familiar local landmark
Sources: Marc de Carraffe, I.H.B.C., Tour de lessivage de la compagnie E.B. Eddy, Parc Laurier, Gatineau, Hull sector, Quebec, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 83-062; E.B. Eddy Digester Tower, Laurier Park, Hull, Quebec, Heritage Character Statement 83-062.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the E.B. Eddy Digester Tower should be respected.
Its good aesthetic, very good functional design and good materials, as evidenced in:
- the simple, five-storey, square tower silhouette and massing;
- the exterior walls of solid limestone masonry;
- the ground floor doorway and the irregularly placed openings on all elevations;
- the parapets, which become stone brackets that are situated at the top of the north and south walls, and the partially filled arch in the centre of one elevation.
The manner in which the E.B. Eddy Digester Tower is compatible with the present character of its recreational park setting and is a familiar local landmark, as evidenced by:
- its location next to the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and directly opposite Parliament Hill which gives visual prominence to the tower;
- its design, tall profile, materials, and role as a vestige of Ottawa’s early industrial architecture, which harmonize with its now park surroundings, and makes it a familiar local landmark.
