flamed across the Chaudire Falls and burned a swath through Ottawa as far as Dows Lake, making thousands homeless. Canada had not celebrated its first half century when tragedy struck once again. On February 3, 1916, near 9 p.m., a small fire started in the Parliamentary Reading Room in the Centre Block. Fed by stacks of newspapers and varnished woodwork, it was soon a raging blaze that claimed seven lives and reduced all but the northwest wing and the Library to a charred shell. Despite the almost complete redirection of resources to fighting the First World War, construction began almost immediately on rebuilding Canada's Parliament. The new structure, which preserved the Gothic Revival style of the original, was designed by John Pearson and Jean Omer Marchand and completed by 1922. The Grber Plan: Modern Ottawa Arises In 1936, while visiting the site for the World Exhibition of 1937 in Paris, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King became acquainted with Jacques Grber, chief architect for the exhibition and reputed for his work in Philadelphia on the Fairmont Parkway. King invited Grber to come to Ottawa to advise on the plans for Confederation Square and to undertake a number of studies of the National Capital area. The Prime Minister envisioned large parks, scenic driveways and broad thoroughfares for Ottawa and Hull as well as the preservation of a natural park - his beloved Gatineau Hills. Before his departure Grber submitted a report in which he recommended the creation of a master plan for