Embassy of Canada, Washington, D.C.
The Embassy of Canada in Washington, D.C. (French: Ambassade du Canada à Washington) is Canada's main diplomatic mission to the United States. The embassy building is located at 501 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. between the Capitol and the White House just north of the National Gallery of Art.
The embassy had long been based in a mansion on Embassy Row that had been purchased in 1927. The house had been built in 1909 for Clarence Moore, a financier who was killed in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. It was at this building that the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II, hosted a return dinner for President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the end of her state visit to the United States in 1959. (The building now houses the Embassy of Uzbekistan).
Over time, the Canadian delegation outgrew this building and spread to other structures scattered throughout Washington. In the 1970s the Embassy of Canada began to search for a new home. At the same time the District of Columbia government was looking to revitalize Pennsylvania Avenue. In 1978 the government of Canada purchased a vacant lot for $5 million. The site had previously been a Ford dealership and a public library. Canada is the first, and so far only nation, to build an embassy so close to the Capitol. The two nations share a close relationship due to their cultural similarities, geographic proximity, and the volume of trade across their borders.
The new building was designed by British Columbia architect Arthur Erickson. This decision generated some controversy as Erickson was handpicked by his friend, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, but the building itself was much acclaimed. The new chancery was officially opened by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in May 1989.
The ambassador is former Minister of Finance Michael Wilson. The ambassador lives in an official residence just off Embassy Row in the northwest of the city. This building was purchased in 1948 and Lester B. Pearson was the first ambassador to reside there. The embassy also owns several other residences.
There is a domed roof that is supported by the columns. If a person is standing in the center of the area under the dome, any noise they make is reflected and focused back. The magnified volume is only appreciated by the person in the centre. Persons at the perimeter do not experience the same effect.
The site is decorated with the large sculpture Spirit of Haida Gwaii by Bill Reid.
See also
- Canada-United States relations
- Embassy of the United States in Ottawa
- List of Canadian ambassadors to the United States