Centennial Garden
Restoring a Village landmark. Together.
Project Update - February 2026
With winter well underway and the Village wrapped in snow, we’re pleased to share an exciting milestone in the Centennial Garden restoration: the project is now officially out to tender.
Last June, community consultations, including Councillor King’s in-person session and the City’s online survey with nearly 300 participants, showed strong support for a restoration that is accessible, resilient, and faithful to the Garden’s original design, while renewing it for generations to come. In July, based on this feedback, the City gave CSW Landscape Architects the green light to prepare detailed design drawings and tender documents.
That work was completed by CSW in February, and the full tender package was carefully reviewed and approved by both the City of Ottawa and the Rockcliffe Park Foundation.
With these approvals in place, qualified contractors are now being invited to submit bids through a process managed by CSW, including a coordinated site visit with the City for prospective bidders. Once the tender closes, CSW will review the submissions and bring forward a recommended contractor.
The City will approve the selected contractor, after which the proposed construction contract will come to the Foundation for review and formal approval. Construction is currently anticipated for summer 2026, with restoration work expected to last approximately ten weeks.
Throughout this next phase, the Foundation continues to work closely with the City’s Centennial Garden Working Group to ensure the project reflects community priorities, strong governance, and responsible stewardship of funds.
We are grateful for the community’s ongoing engagement and support and look forward to sharing further updates as the project continues to move ahead.
See the Concept Drawings for the Centennial Garden restoration here, prepared by CSW Landscape Architects.
This restoration builds on more than a decade of neighbour-led efforts and collaboration. Designed by Humphrey Carver in 1967 to mark Canada’s centennial, the Centennial Garden was created as a place of calm and community. That kind of space matters. Neighbours walking their dogs. Children on their way to school. Sometimes the littlest ones sitting cross-legged in outdoor class or discovering nature among the plantings. That’s community, and that’s what shared greenspaces like this give us.
The Foundation is grateful for the leadership of the Centennial Garden Revitalization Committee, with:
Honourary Chairs: Adrian Burns, Gordon Cudney, and Peter Nicholson
Chair: Marilyn Collette
The Rockcliffe Park Foundation and the Rockcliffe Park Residents Association (RPRA), alongside City planners, the Councillor’s office, and the Centennial Garden Revitalization Committee, work together as part of the City’s Centennial Garden Working Group in collaboration and shared excitement for what this restoration will bring to the Village, now and for generations to come.
What’s Coming
The renewed Garden will include (see link below for the concept drawings):
Restored stonework
Improved accessibility and climate resilience
New plantings (in the fall) and benches
An additional boulder recognizing the creation of Nunavut
The Foundation is proud to support this thoughtful, neighbour-led renewal of a much-loved greenspace and historic garden - a restoration that honours the past and invests in the future.
Greenspaces like this don’t just happen. They’re sustained by neighbours who care. Thank you to everyone who’s played a part so far - and to those helping shape what comes next.
This community project is made possible through partnership with the City of Ottawa.
The Foundation provides contractual and financial oversight of the project.