Discovery of old sign enthralls Chinatown community
Renovation turns up remnant from soda maker’s shop
Members of Ottawa’s Chinatown community were fizzing with excitement about a piece of Ottawa’s soda manufacturing history they removed — with the help of a couple of crowbars, a saw and elbow grease — from a Somerset Street business on Wednesday.
“It’s kind of funny, a drink place becoming another drink place,” said Simon Huang, the co-owner of the bubble tea shop at the corner of Somerset and Bronson Avenue, where a 22-foot-long Pure Spring Ginger Ale sign was discovered.
The hand-painted wooden sign is a remnant of Ottawa’s old independent soft-drink maker, Pure Spring Ginger Ale, a company that used to have a plant close by near Ottawa’s Italian community. It was later sold to Crush Beverages.
“It’s Canada’s 150th and it’s an original sign by a Canada-based company — it’s something we want to keep the history a part of,” said Huang, who discovered the sign last Friday when he started renovating his storefront to make way for a new sign for his Chatime restaurant.
On Wednesday afternoon, Tom Padhauser, co-owner of Birling Ottawa, a skateboard shop in the area, helped to oversee the taking down of the large sign from Huang’s storefront.
Padhauser said that after they removed the three large pieces of the Pure Spring sign that they discovered an even older sign behind it for a store called Foodland. But it couldn’t be salvaged.
Huang and the ward’s councillor, Catherine McKenney, believe the Pure Spring Ginger Ale sign is still in good condition, though it needs some restoration. “Originally, we thought it would find its way (to the Wellington Diner),” said McKenney. “But now we’re not sure it would fit anybody’s store.”
Wellington Diner owner Jeffrey Frost, who was contacted about having the sign at his restaurant before it was taken down, said he would love to have it join his collection of soda memorabilia.
“The Wellington Diner represents history and the City of Ottawa,” Frost said.
It’s an original sign ... it’s something we want to keep the history a part of.