Beautiful history on display at Hintonburg Pumping Station

Does the restored Hintonburg Pumping Station offer the finest views of the Ottawa River in town?

After two years of work and many more years of history the Hintonburg Pumping Station is open to residents. The Pumping Station’s legal address is 5 Onigam Street, but you probably know it better as the house on the little island just outside the Lemieux Island water treatment facility.

The Pumping Station was built in 1899 and provided water to Hintonburg and later Ottawa residents for over 30 years. It played a vital role in Ottawa’s early water infrastructure and is a rare example of late 19th-century municipal engineering. It was repurposed as a residence and gatehouse to the new Lemieux Island Water Purification Plant in 1932. The City designated it a heritage property in 1987, but it was destroyed in a fire in 1989 and has remained in ruins since.

After extensive public engagement in May and June of 2023, a design plan was chosen to formalize the Hintonburg Pumping Station site into a welcoming public space. Visitors can walk safely among the ruins and learn about the site’s history from interpretive panels.

The Pumping Station offers one of the finest views of the Ottawa River and City skyline. The natural river bays and rock shores also attract diverse wildlife, making it a rich ecological zone.

Accessible year round from the Kichi Zībī Mikan and multi-use pathways, the new public space complements the nearby Chief William Commanda Bridge pathway, the Bayview Innovation Centre and the renewed Laroche Park. It is also part of the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail – a 16-kilometre, groomed ski trail.