How does Mechanicsville balance gentrification with preserving its history?

Despite the highrises and luxury condos, Mechanicsville resident Lorrie Marlow says you shouldn't think for a second her neighbourhood is lacking in history.

"Hintonburg [is] a little ahead of us on the luxury highrises and the luxury homes," said Marlow, chair of the Mechanicsville Community Association, of their friendly rival to the south.

"So they're kind of losing a bit of their history. I like to think we work hard at trying to preserve ours." 

Mechanicsville is a small but mighty neighbourhood nestled between Parkdale Avenue and the Trillium Line. Its northernmost point is along the Ottawa River, and it's bordered by Scott Street to the south.

It got its name in the 1870s, as a reference to the railway mechanics and blue-collar workers who resided there when it was first settled.

"It's called Mechanicsville because it was known for all the homeowners having a garage in the back and running a little side hustle of fixing cars," said Marlow. 

Marlow has lived there for more than two decades. Initially, she moved for work and didn't plan to stay long, but something about the neighbourhood made her fall in love.

"It was such a rough-and-tumble little neighbourhood. I thought, 'This place has colour,'" she said, remembering her first encounter in Laroche Park with families picnicking, folks drinking in a beer garden and baseball players fighting it out on the diamond.

Marlow said she loves the way her community comes together — sometimes joining forces to fight development.

'Trees not embassies'

To the far north of Mechanicsville is what the locals call the "Lazy Bay Commons." 

The 3.7-hectare area along the Kichi Zībī Mīkan features tall grass, well-worn footpaths and a view of the Ottawa River and Lemieux Island.

The land is owned by the National Capital Commission (NCC).

"It's a piece of green space," said Marlow. "We actually enjoy it for the wild that it is now." 

But in 2019, the NCC launched plans to build six embassies, along with parking space, in the commons. That led to a multi-year dispute between Mechanicsville residents and the federal agency. 

"We rallied," she said. "We started with a very simple campaign of painting signs that said 'Trees, not embassies.'"

In 2023, city council approved an agreement between the neighbours and the NCC. There may still be five embassies built on the now-vacant property, but  24 per cent of the land in Lazy Bay Commons will be reserved as green space.

There are no construction projects on the site at the moment, but the NCC said the site remains available for future embassies.

Not only is the Mechanicsville community intent on rallying together, Marlow said, but it's welcoming, too. In fact, it even lured a Hintonburg business to set up to the north recently. 

Sharpfle Waffle, a Korean-style croissant-based waffle shop, opened on the corner of Hinchey and Lyndale avenues last year, attracting a steady clientele of construction workers and local residents.

"It has sandwiches, sweets, and the best coffee in Mechanicsville," she said.

The Origin

For almost a decade, The Origin: Arts and Community Centre has been an institution for Mechanicsville's music scene.

The building, which is appropriately an unassuming garage, transforms into "kind of a speakeasy" when the doors open, according to Marlow. 

A neighbourhood touchstone, The Origin hosts community barbecues, street parties and youth workshops. Marlow said a typical Friday night sees the garage alive with R&B.

While Marlow and her Mechanicsville friends have a healthy competition with neighbouring Hintonburg, they aren't opposed to co-mingling. 

A mural featured on the wall of a building at the corner of Carruthers and Hinchey avenues is the work of Daniel Martelock.

He paints murals across the city in a distinct graphic style, often featuring birds with military medical helmets he refers to as the "Bird Army."

"He's from Hintonburg. But we allow him to come," laughed Marlow.