The Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Club celebrates 125 years
The OTLBC (Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Club) is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. For 20 of those years early in the twentieth century, the club’s home was in the Glebe.
The Ottawa Lawn Tennis Club came into existence on Oct. 24, 1881, under patronage of the Governor General, the Marquess of Lorne. The club’s first facilities were located on the east side of Elgin Street, between Lisgar and Cooper, where Know Presbyterian Church now stands. This land was loaned to the club by prominent businessman and future Ottawa mayor, Charles T. Bate.
Club Members at the OTLBC clubhouse on Third Avenue, west of Lyon Street
In 1888, the Tennis Club moved to greatly improved facilities on Cartier Square, midway between the Drill Hall and the Rideau Canal. This site was rented or a dollar a year from the Canadian Military. A two-story clubhouse was built here, with six grass tennis courts and provision for lawn bowling.
In 1902, the Ottawa Improvement Commission (precursor of the NCC) expropriated the club to construct the Driveway along the Rideau Canal. The club then moved to the Glebe, renting property from land developer Henry Monk on the south side of Patterson Avenue, between Metcalfe Street and the Driveway.
An aggressive membership drive by the Ottawa Golf Club (now the Royal Ottawa Golf Club) drew away many members. So, to broaden their membership, the Ottawa Lawn Tennis Club reorganized in 1905 as the Ottawa Tennis & Lawn Bowling Association.
Upon the death of Henry Monk in 1906, the Patterson Avenue club site was sold by heirs. Seeking some long-term stability, the club directors decided to purchase a site for their fourth home in 25 years. For $6,050, they obtained a block of land between Third and Fourth Avenues, west of Lyon Street, where the Mutchmor/Corpus Christi playground is today. A wooden clubhouse was erected along Third Avenue, an eight-rink bowling green was built east of the clubhouse, and four grass tennis courts, shaped as a square, were laid out on the west side. The new facilities were officially opened on May 24, 1907.
In 1908, the combined tennis and lawn bowling membership was just over 200. By 1922, the total membership was 415, comprised of 263 tennis players, 139 bowlers, and 13 social members.
The club was able to accommodate the growing number of tennis players by converting its grass tennis courts to clay during the First World Way, and by building four additional clay courts in 1919. The four new courts, known as “the church courts,” were built directly across Third Avenue from the club, on the grounds of St. Paul’s Methodist Church.
Neither these new courts nor the original ones had a fence or barrier between the adjoining baselines, with the result that players had to retrieve loose balls from the court to the rear. This is an undesirable happenstance in the middle of a hotly contested match. The need for larger facilities led the club directors to seek a new site in 1922.
A five-acre property between Cameron Avenue and the Rideau River in Ottawa South was purchased for $7,500. The Third Avenue property was sold to the Ottawa Public School Board and the old clubhouse was donated to St. Paul’s Methodist Church and moved across the street to serve as the clubhouse for the church courts, where it is still in use today.
In 1925, St. Paul’s Methodist joined the United Church of Canada as St. James United. In 1973, the congregations of St. James United and Glebe United voted to merge, and the St. James church building, tennis courts and clubhouse were sold to the City of Ottawa. The courts have continued to operate as the St. James Tennis Club.
The official opening of the OTLBC in their Cameron Ave. facilities was on June 4, 1923. A large two-story clubhouse had been built at a cost of $26,000. Twenty clay tennis courts and two eight-rink bowling greens were laid out by Joseph Flitcroft, the club’s experienced groundskeeper.
The 125-year-old OTLBC is now in its 83rd year of operation at this site. It has one of the largest clay-court facilities in Canada, with 18 clay courts, two bowling greens and an outdoor swimming pool. The clubhouse and licensed restaurant facility are open to the public. For more info, visit www.otlbc.com.
Tony and Sharon Bernard, members of the OTLBC.