ROUTHIER, Joseph Simeon Jude (1863-1949) of Ottawa spent most of his career as a staff member of the Chief Architect's office in the Dept. of Public Works in Ottawa, but he appears to have executed several private commissions for clients in the Ottawa region. Born in St. Placide, Que. on 4 November 1863 he received his early education at Vankleek Hill, Ont. where his father had moved in 1870. Routhier showed an early interest in architecture by spending the summer of 1880 working in the office of Perrault & Mesnard in Montreal. He studied engineering at Ottawa University in 1880-81 and spent four years at McGill University where he graduated in civil engineering in 1885. He then returned to Ottawa and served a three year apprenticeship under James Mather before commencing practise under his own name in 1889. He was 'unassuming but clever, genial and attentive to all patrons, and of marked and superior ability', but his initial success could not be sustained and by 1892 he had decided to enter the civil service rather than pursue a professional career. He received a temporary appointment to the Public Works Dept. on 9 November 1892 and worked under the direct supervision of Thomas Fuller while executing private commissions during his spare time.
In 1907 he was one of thirty architects to submit an entry in the competition for the Departmental and Justice Buildings in Ottawa, but his scheme scored badly because the juror Edmund Burke found his design '.....entirely lacking in dignity and monumental features' (OA, Horwood Papers, Departmental Building Competition, notes of E. Burke on Design No. 26). In September 1908 Routhier obtained a permanent appointment to his position and remained with the department until his retirement in December 1936. He died in Ottawa on 28 March 1949 (obituary in Le Droit [Ottawa], 29 March 1949, 8; Ottawa Citizen, 29 March 1949, 14; biog. and port. in Dominion Illustrated, 1891-92, 103)
(works in Ottawa unless noted)
SOMERSET STREET, residence for Philip O'Reilly, 1890 (Ottawa Free Press, 7 Feb. 1890, 1, t.c.)
DE LA SALLE ACADEMY, Susses Street at Church Street, extensive alterations and additions for the Christian Brothers, 1890 (Ottawa Free Press, 6 May 1890, 3)
RICHMOND, ONT., presbytery for the Roman Catholic Church, 1891 (Ottawa Free Press, 3 Feb. 1891, 1, t.c.)
RIDEAU STREET, at Cumberland Street, commercial block for L.O. Egleson, 1891 ((American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.)
VANKLEEK HILL, ONT., parsonage for the Presbyterian Church, 1891 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.)
P. BASKERVILLE & BROS., George Street, row of five stores and apartments for Patrick Baskerville, 1891 (American Contractor [Chicago], xii, 6 June 1891, 41, descrip.)
CATHOLIC LYCEUM SEPARATE SCHOOL, Nepean Street near Kent Street, c. 1891 (Dominion Illustrated, 1891-92, 103)
HINTONBURG, St. Francoise d'Assise Roman Catholic Church and Capuchin Monastery, Richmond Road, c. 1891 (Dominion Illustrated, 1891-92, 103)
GOOD SHEPHERD ROMAN CATHOLIC CONVENT, St. Andrew Street overlooking the Rideau River, major addition, 1894-95 (C.R., v, 13 Dec. 1894, 2)
ST. JOSEPH'S ROMAN CATHOLIC ORPHAN ASYLUM, Rideau Terrace at Springfield Avenue, for the Grey Nuns, 1897 (Evening Journal [Ottawa], 9 March 1897, 7, descrip.; C.R., viii, 18 March 1897, 2)
FRENCH CANADIAN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, athletic hall and clubhouse, 1898 (C.R., ix, 2 March 1898, 3; Evening Citizen [Ottawa], 23 Feb. 1905, 8)
MONTREAL, QUE., electric illumination and decorations of the federal Post Office, the federal Inland Revenue Building, and the federal Customs House, for the Royal Visit of the Duke & Duchess of York, 1901 (Montreal Daily Star, 4 Sept. 1901, 6, descrip.)
CUSTOM HOUSE, Wellington Street at Sparks Street, extensive improvements, 1902 (Montreal Daily Star, 12 Feb. 1902, 3, descrip.; C.R., xiii, 19 Feb. 1902, 3)