BURGESS, Cecil (1888-1956) was active in Ottawa, Ont. for more than fifty years where he was partner in a succession of firms from 1910 onward. Born in Walkden, Lancashire, Engl. on 8 July 1888 he was educated there and articled to Henry Kirkby, an architect in Manchester. In 1905 he was brought to Canada by his parents and resided in Ottawa from 1908 where he was assistant in the firm of Weeks & Keefer. After the dissolution of that firm in 1910 Burgess worked briefly on his own, then formed a partnership with Arthur L.B. Weeks in 1914 (see list of works under Weeks & Burgess). Their collaboration was short-lived; within a year Burgess had joined Richard H. Millson in a partnership lasting ten years (see list works under Millson & Burgess). From 1927 Burgess maintained an office under his own name, working with an associate Edwin A. Gardner, with whom he was in partnership from 1934 until 1942. During WWII he closed his office and moved to Nova Scotia to oversee the construction of eighty buildings for the HMCS Cornwallis Naval Base. He later returned to Ottawa and continued to practise under his own name, and, after 1950, in partnership with J. Malcolm McLean.
Burgess had a lifelong interest in the Gothic Revival movement, a passion best seen in his fastidious and scholarly design for St. Matthew's Anglican Church, Chapel and Parish Hall in Ottawa (1929), where the entire complex of three interconnected buildings was clad entirely in Indiana limestone. Earlier, in 1921 he had employed this style with great effect in his competition entry for the Canadian Battlefields Memorials to be located in France and Belgium. His dignified scheme for the Memorial, consisting of a stone tower in the Gothic style, was selected as one of seventeen finalists (Const., xiv, June 1921, 168, illus.), but the project was eventually awarded to F.C. Clemesha and the sculptor Walter S. Allward. Burgess died in Ottawa on 19 July 1956 (obit. Ottawa Journal, 19 July 1956, 1 & 2; Ottawa Citizen, 19 July 1956, 7; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects). The National Archives of Canada holds a large collection of drawings for more than 250 projects executed by Burgess and the various firms in which he practised from 1910 until 1962 including:
Burgess & Co., Ottawa, 1910
Weeks & Burgess, Ottawa, 1914
Millson & Burgess, Ottawa, 1915-1922
Millson, Burgess & Hazelgrove, Ottawa, 1923-24
Millson & Burgess, Ottawa, 1925-26
Cecil Burgess, Ottawa, 1927-33
Burgess & Gardner, Ottawa, 1934-42
Cecil Burgess, Ottawa, 1945-51
(see the extensive dwgs collection for Cecil Burgess now held at NAC, National Map Collection, McLean & MacPhayden Coll., Acc. 86703/9)
CECIL BURGESS
(works in Ottawa unless noted)
UNITED BROTHERS JEWISH SYNAGOGUE, Rideau Street near Chapel Street, 1912; demol. c. 1960 (H. Hadaya, 'The First Synagogues of Ottawa', in Society for the Study of Architecture Bulletin, xix, Sept. 1994, 79-80, illus. & descrip.; dwgs. at NAC, National Map Coll., 80103/62)
(with Burritt & Hazelgrove) LANSDOWNE PARK, Howick Hall (later called The Coliseum), Exhibition Grounds, Bank Street at Holmwood Avenue, 1926 (Ottawa Journal, 9 March 1926, 14, descrip.; 13 April 1926, 3, descrip.; dwgs. City of Ottawa Archives; dwgs. NAC, Lithwick Coll.; inf. Jean-Claude Dube, Ottawa)
NU VOGUE LTD., Sparks Street, new facade and interiors for retail store, 1926-27 (Ottawa Journal, 25 March 1927, 5, illus. & descrip.)
GLOUCESTER STREET, at O'Connor Street, apartment block for Stuart Christie, 1927 (Ottawa Journal, 27 April 1927, 1, descrip.)
CLEMOW AVENUE, residence for Frank H. Plant, 1927 (Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 9 June 1927, 5)
PERTH, ONT., St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, North Street at Drummond Street, 1927-28 (Ottawa Journal, 2 Nov. 1926, 18, descrip.; and 17 Dec. 1926, 3, illus.; C.R., xli, 15 June 1927, 612, illus.)
KARSON'S RESTAURANT & GRILL, Rideau Street, 1928 (Ottawa Journal, 27 July 1928, 16 & 17, descrip.)
PEMBROKE, ONT., Presbyterian Church, Pembroke Street at Henry Street, 1928-29 (C.R., xlii, 23 May 1928, 43; Ottawa Journal, 16 March 1929, 17, descrip.)
PALACE COURT APARTMENTS, Elgin Street at McLeod Street, for S. Miller, 1927-28 (C.R., xli, 7 Dec. 1927, 50, t.c.)
LITTLE THEATRE PLAYHOUSE, King Edward Avenue at Besserer Street, for the Ottawa Drama League, commission won by Burgess in a competition in 1926; built 1927-28 (Ottawa Journal, 3 May 1926, 2, descrip.; 3 Jan. 1928, 14, descrip.)
ELMDALE PUBLIC SCHOOL, Iona Street, 1928 (Ottawa Journal, 23 March 1928, 23; C.R., xlii, 12 Sept. 1928, 52)
(with E.A. Gardner) ST. MATTHEWS ANGLICAN CHURCH & PARISH HALL, Bank Street at Carling Avenue, designed 1928, built 1929-30 (C.R., xliii, 1 May 1929, 68; Ottawa Journal, 24 Nov. 1928, 3, descrip.; 1 May 1929, 1 and 18, descrip.; 2 Feb. 1929, 3, illus.; 13 Dec. 1930, 26, illus. & descrip.; St. Matthew's Parish Golden Anniversary 1898-1948, 5, 8-9, illus.; Andrew Waldron, Exploring the Capital: An Architectural Guide to the Ottawa-Gatineau Region, 2017, 96-7, illus. & descrip.)
OTTAWA JOURNAL LTD., Queen Street, major addition to existing newspaper office, with new storage and mail rooms, and entrance from Sparks Street, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 24 April 1929, Section Two, 17-21, illus. & descrip.)
KEYES AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLY CO., Albert Street at Kent Street, showroom and warehouse for Corlis G. Keyes, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 6 Feb. 1929, Section Two, 19-28, illus. & descrip.)
NORTH BAY, ONT., a branch warehouse for Keyes Automotive Supply Co., 1929-30 (Ottawa Journal, 12 April 1929, 27, descrip.; and 17 Feb. 1930, 5, descrip.; The Nugget [North Bay], 21 June 1930, 9, descrip.)
(with E.A. Gardner) CLEMOW AVENUE, near Bank Street, residence for W.H. Dwyer, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 6 Feb. 1929, 54; Ottawa Journal, 14 March 1929, 1, descrip.)
WINDSOR ARMS APARTMENTS, Argyle Avenue at Metcalfe Street, for Stuart Christie, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 13 Feb. 1929, 57, t.c.; Ottawa Journal, 21 Sept. 1929, 9, illus. & descrip.; 15 March 1930, 29-31, illus. & descrip.)
O'CONNOR STREET, near Cooper Street, apartment block for Hopson & Shapiro, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 14 March 1929, 1)
BERKLEY APARTMENTS, Laurier Avenue East near Sweetland Avenue, apartment block for Wolf Shenkman, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 14 March 1929, 1; 21 Sept. 1929, 19, advert.)
HULL, QUE., major addition to the Hull Iron & Steel Foundry, with separate two storey block for staff cafeteria and lockers, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 1 June 1929, 3)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., a group of four detached houses on Briar Road for senior staff members of the Kenwood Woolen Mills, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 25 June 1929, 4, descrip.)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., Kenwood Woolen Mills, major addition to the factory, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 2 Oct. 1929, 23, descrip.)
ROCKCLIFFE PARK, a large residence for E. Keith Davidson, Mariposa Avenue at Manor Road, 1929 (Ottawa Journal, 25 June 1929, 4, descrip.; C.R., xliii, 3 July 1929, 65)
YORK STREET, at William Street, rebuilding of a two storey commercial block for F. Slover, 1930 (Ottawa Journal, 6 May 1930, 16, descrip.)
KARSON'S RESTAURANT, Bank Street, opposite the Jackson Building, for Peter Karson, 1930 (Ottawa Journal, 20 June 1930, 17, illus. & descrip.)
PERTH, ONT., major alterations to the Balderson Theatre, 1930 (C.R., xliv, 25 June 1930, 74)
RIDEAU THEATRE, Rideau Street at Dalhousie Street, 1931 (Ottawa Journal, 11 Feb. 1931, 2, descrip.)
COOPER STREET, at Elgin Street, a three storey apartment block for Dr. W.R. Caven, 1931 (Ottawa Journal, 6 May 1931, 2)
DUNCANNON APARTMENTS, Metcalfe Street at Cooper Street, for J. Harvey Hopper, 1931 (Ottawa Journal, 7 May 1931, 1, descrip.; Ottawa: A Guide to Heritage Structures, 2000, 78, illus.)
TRAFALGAR APARTMENTS, Metcalfe Street at Gladstone Avenue, for Wolf Shenkman, 1931 (C.R., xliv, 31 Dec. 1930, 245)
VAL CARTIER APARTMENTS, Cartier Street at Somerset Street West, 1931 (C.R., xlv, 1 April 1931, 60)
DOMINION HOUSE FURNITURE CO., Bank Street at Gloucester Street, retail store, 1933 (Ottawa Journal, 16 May 1933, 1 & 2, descrip.; C.R., xlvii, 17 May 1933, 34, t.c.)
RANGE ROAD, residence for Dr. Joseph P. Gilhooly, 1933-34 (C.R., xlvii, 8 Nov. 1933, 35)
BURGESS & GARDNER
ARBUCKLE BLOCK, Bank Street, between Sparks Street and Queen Street, extensive interior alterations and new stores, 1934; demol. c. 1970 (Ottawa Journal, 5 May 1934, 9, descrip.)
ST. CHARLES INN HOTEL, Queen Street near Bank Street, 1934 (Ottawa Journal, 6 Sept. 1934, 15, descrip.)
POSTAL SORTING TERMINAL BUILDING, Besserer Street, 1935-36 (Ottawa Journal, 8 March 1935, 1, descrip.; C.R., xlix, 13 March 1935, 219, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, June 1941, 99, illus.)
NORMANDIE APARTMENTS, King Edward Avenue, at Stewart Street, apartment block for Wolf Shenkman, 1935 (Ottawa Journal, 15 July 1935, 2, illus. & descrip.)
TWEEDSMUIR APARTMENTS, King Edward Avenue, at Daly Avenue, apartment block for Wolf Shenkman, 1935 (Ottawa Journal, 24 Aug. 1935, 21, illus. & descrip.)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., major addition to the factory for Kenwood Woolen Mills Ltd., Edward Street South at William Street West, 1935 (Ottawa Journal, 16 July 1935, 2)
ROCKCLIFFE PARK, residence for Keith Davidson, 1936 (C.H.G., xiii, June-July 1936, 34, illus.)
GOULBURN AVENUE, residence for Mrs. R. Soloway, 1936 (Ottawa Journal, 2 July 1936, 3)
LAKESIDE PARK, large residence for T.D. Clark Hamilton, Madawaska Avenue, overlooking Dow's Lake, 1936 (Ottawa Journal, 25 June 1936, 16; 15 July 1936, 4, descrip.)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., two residences for unidentified clients, 1937 (C.H.G., xiv, July-Aug. 1937, 30, illus.)
BELVEDERE CRESCENT, near Lisgar Road and Maple Lane, a group of ten semi-detached houses for the Belvedere Realty Corp., 1937-38 (Ottawa Journal, 5 Oct. 1937, 1, descrip.)
HULSE & PLAYFAIR FUNERAL HOME, McLeod Street near O'Connor Street, addition at the east end of a funeral chapel "in the form of a miniature church", 1938 (Ottawa Journal, 29 March 1938, 7)
SMITH'S FALLS, ONT., Trinity United Church, Market Street North at Russell Street East, major addition of a new Sunday School, and renovations to the existing church, 1939 (Ottawa Journal, 30 June 1939, 12, descrip.)
MOTOR BUILDING, Sparks Street near Kent Street, major addition of two new floors above the existing building, for R. & R.L. Blackburn, 1940; demol. c. 1975 (Ottawa Journal, 28 Feb. 1940, 1, descrip.)
CECIL BURGESS
DEEP BROOK, N.S., Cornwallis Naval Base, 1942-44 (list of works in the Ottawa Journal, 19 July 1956, 1 and 2)
SHERWOOD DRIVE, residence for Col. Edward R. McNeill, 1942 (C.H.G., xx, March-April 1943, 18-19, illus.)
WINCHESTER, ONT., General Hospital, 1947 (C.R., lx, Aug. 1947, 260)
HOLY TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH, Bank Street at Cameron Avenue, reconstruction of the church after a fire, 1947-48 (Ottawa Journal, 9 April 1947, 10; C.R., lx, Oct. 1947, 188; N. Frerichs, History of Trinity Church Ottawa 1876-1956, 14)
CORNWALL, ONT., addition to public school, S.S. No. 2, 1947 (C.R., lx, Nov. 1947, 142)
SACKVILLE, N.B., Mount Allison University, Allison Gardens Hockey Arena, 1948 (J. Leroux & T. Holownia, Vision in Wood & Stone: The Architecture of Mount Allison University, 2016, 118-20, illus. & descrip.)
PARKDALE UNITED CHURCH, Parkdale Avenue at Gladstone Avenue, major addition for a new Parish Hall, 1949-50 (C.R., lxii, Aug. 1949, 221; Ottawa Journal, 19 Jan. 1950, 10, descrip.)
HULL, QUE., South Hull Protestant School, 1949 (C.R., lxii, Nov. 1949, 121, t.c.)
ST. PETER'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Sparks Street at Bay Street, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Feb. 1950, 126)
MANOR PARK PUBLIC SCHOOL, Braemar Street, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, Feb. 1950, 128)
PERTH, ONT., public school, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, April 1950, 124)
SHAWVILLE, QUE., High School, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, April 1950, 124)
MINTO SKATING CLUB RINK, Henderson Avenue, rebuilding of the rink, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, April 1950, 130, t.c.)
ARNPRIOR, ONT., major addition to High School, 1950 (C.R., lxiii, May 1950, 142)
CAMPBELLTON, N.B., War Memorial Gardens, an indoor Arena & Rink, Arran Street, 1950; burned 1990 (C.R., lxiii, June 1950, 125)
COMPETITIONS
FRANCE & BELGIUM, Canadian Battlefields Memorial, 1921. Burgess was among more than 100 Canadian architects and artists who submitted plans in this national competition. He was one of 17 finalists who were selected for the second stage of the competition (Winnipeg Daily Tribune, 25 April 1921, 3, list of finalists). The First Premium was eventually awarded to F.C. Clemesha of Regina, and to Walter Allward of Toronto.