Centennial Garden
Restoring a Village landmark. Together.
Centennial Garden Restoration - September 2026 Update
After more than a decade of neighbour-led effort, consultation, fundraising and planning, the restored Centennial Garden is now open to the community.
The major restoration is nearly complete, the new plantings and sod are in place and the construction fencing has come down. New benches will be installed later this fall, along with some final finishing work on the stone panels.
Designed by renowned Canadian landscape architect and Rockcliffe resident Humphrey Carver and constructed in 1967 to mark Canada’s centennial, the Centennial Garden is the stone circle at the heart of the Village Green. Nearly sixty years later, its restoration is a fitting project for Rockcliffe’s own centennial year.
The work has restored the Garden’s stonework and landscape, and added a new accessible path from Springfield Road, all with the goal of honouring Carver’s original design while making this much-loved Village greenspace more accessible, resilient and welcoming.
It has been a truly collaborative community project, bringing together the City of Ottawa, Councillor Rawlson King’s office, the Centennial Garden Revitalization Committee, the RPRA and the Rockcliffe Park Foundation, with CSW Landscape Architects and Exel Contracting providing the design and construction expertise.
The Foundation has supported the restoration with Village funds and serves as the project’s contracting party and financial steward, providing oversight and careful stewardship of both donated and public funds.
One particularly meaningful addition is a third boulder within the Garden. Over time, the original two boulders came to represent Yukon and the Northwest Territories. With the creation of Nunavut in 1999, Canada gained a third territory. The new boulder brings the Garden’s symbolism into the Canada of today.
We are enormously grateful to the many neighbours, volunteers, donors and community partners who helped make this restoration possible. After more than a decade of community effort, it is wonderful to see the Centennial Garden restored and ready to be enjoyed once again.
Background:
June 2025’s 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.
Based on this feedback, that July, the City asked CSW Landscape Architects to proceed with detailed design drawings and tender documents. This work was completed in February 2026, and the full tender package was carefully reviewed and approved by both the City of Ottawa and the Rockcliffe Park Foundation.
Following these approvals, qualified contractors were invited to submit bids through a process managed by CSW, including a coordinated site visit with the City. After review by both the City and CSW, a successful bidder was selected in the spring: Exel Contracting Inc.
A highlight of the spring was the community groundbreaking ceremony on May 22, hosted by Councillor Rawlson King’s office at the Village Green. Neighbours, supporters and City representatives came together to mark the beginning of this next chapter for the Centennial Garden after more than a decade of community-led effort, consultation, fundraising and planning.
Construction began this August and is now well underway.
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, worked 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.
The renewed Centennial Garden includes:
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.
