Author Archive

“Sylvia Holden Park” On The Move

- February 9th, 2012

Remember when the Sylvia Holden Park kerfuffle started two years ago?

At the time, we were trying to figure out where exactly the park formally was. Or, maybe I was the only one who thought it was the park at the bend of Holmwood Ave. with the ball diamonds. Turns out the park was closer to the corner of Bank St. and the ball diamonds are part of Lansdowne Community Park.

With the redevelopment, the current Sylvia Holden Park will be wiped out. So, staff are now proposing to change the name of Lansdowne Community Park to Sylvia Holden Park.

Got all that?

Here’s the explanation staff use in the latest report on the proposed Lansdowne urban park:

Sylvia Holden Park – Transfer of Park Name
 
The former City of Ottawa honoured Sylvia Holden in 1994 for her many years of community involvement and the promotion of community recreation by naming the park at the southeast corner of Bank Street and Holmwood Avenue after her.   
 
As part of the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park, there will no longer be a public park at the corner of Bank Street and Holmwood Avenue.  While there will be a substantial amount of public space throughout the mixed-use area, staff recommend that the commemoration of Sylvia Holden Park be maintained by transfering it to the nearby community park known as the Lansdowne Community Park.  This transfer will provide an appropriate and tangible alternative honouring Sylvia Holden in a nearby park that serves the same community.  The transfer will also provide a clear distinction in names between the Lansdowne urban park and what is currently know as the Lansdowne community park.

Ottawa Stadium Financial Risks

- February 9th, 2012

When you’re talking about new or relocated sports franchises, there are always financial risks. At Lansdowne Park, we don’t know for certain how the CFL team will work out, especially considering the history of the last two franchises.

Same goes with this proposed lease for the Ottawa Stadium, where ball teams have come and gone.

Here are the city’s risks associated with the baseball agreement, according to staff:

1. The city doesn’t really know exactly how much the renovations will cost until it starts tendering the work. Same goes for Beacon Sports.

2. The city believes it can get its $5.7 million in maintenance expenses (plus debt servicing) back within 15 years. So if the ball team doesn’t pick up a five-year option after the 10-year lease, the city will lose out.

3. The city figures it needs to spend $250,000 to prepare a “renovation plan” for the stadium, something that’s required by Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball. If council approves the lease but the leagues don’t approve the relocation of a double-A team, the city loses that cash.

Here’s hoping baseball fans are ready to come out of the woodwork.

Ottawa 67′s Going To The Bank?

- February 7th, 2012

The scuttlebutt is this right now…The Ottawa 67′s will be holding a news conference this week to announce the team will be playing the next two seasons at Scotiabank Place so construction crews can work on the Lansdowne Park redevelopment. You’ll recall, a renovation of the Civic Centre is also in the redevelopment plan. Keep an eye on the Ottawa Sun website for updates.

For The Love Of Lansdowne Numbers

- February 7th, 2012

Reporters, they say, love numbers. Which means, I suppose, people like to read about numbers. If you’re one of those people, this might interest you. The city handed out some background information to the media during today’s Lansdowne presentation and since I don’t see it posted online, I share a brief version with you here. You might wonder how on earth the number of bike spaces will mysteriously quadruple on major event days. A note in the backgrounder says two “bicycle corrals” would be brought in.

  Before
After
Asphalt    26.8 acres     1.8 acres    
Park space    6 acres     18.5 acres    
Trees    230     880    
Event spaces    4     20    
Bike parking    32     450 (up to 1,970 for big events)    
Sidewalks and paths    35 metres     7.2 kilometres    
Bench seating    20 benches     1 kilometre of benches and “seating walls”    
Public art    3 pieces     5 pieces (2 new)    

Today’s presentation was interesting enough — hey, who doesn’t like snazzy pictures, right? — but I think the real meat of the redevelopment update will be in the committee reports scheduled to be published by the end of the week. For example, Heritage Ottawa past president David Flemming made a good point after the presentation about there being no information about what will happen inside Aberdeen Pavilion. We also saw no information about the renovations to the Civic Centre.

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Follow City Hall reporter Jon Willing on Twitter at @JonathanWilling

Competing Canal-Side Refrigerated Rinks

- February 7th, 2012

I’m a bit surprised the city would consider adding another refrigerated rink to its inventory, again, right next to the Rideau Canal skateway.

The latest iteration of the Lansdowne Park design includes a “skating court,” which in the summer will be a hard surface that can be used for functions and could also have basketball nets. I’m not so sure how this is going to work with the curling sheets that are also planned for the same ice surface. Curling surfaces have pebbles, although I’m not sure if that level of detail was ever in the cards for the sheets.

With two refrigerated rinks so close in proximity, which one will be the most popular? Lansdowne’s rink in the forest or City Hall’s Rink of Dreams?

Council Receives Lansdowne Invitations

- February 6th, 2012

Council late this morning was officially invited to the unveiling of the new Lansdowne Park designs. In a memo, city manager Kent Kirkpatrick provided council with an overview of what the presentation will cover.

Here is an excerpt from the memo:

The purpose of the briefing will be to inform Council on the work related to the Lansdowne redevelopment that has been undertaken since August of 2011, as approved and directed by Council. Architects and landscape architects will present their completed work on the plans to revitalize Lansdowne.

Presenters will be:
- Jeffrey Staates, Phillips-Farevaag-Smallenberg Principal, speaking about the urban park;
- Julian Smith, Julian Smith and Associates President, speaking about the Horticulture Building;
- Robert Claiborne, Cannon Design Principal Associate, speaking about the stadium; and,
- John Clifford, Perkins Eastman Principal, speaking about the commercial-residential area.

The 90-minute presentation will cover the details, sightlines, building materials, architecture and landscape plans for Lansdowne Park.

Architects and landscape architects working on the three pieces of the Lansdowne project − the urban park, the mixed-use area, and the stadium and Civic Centre – have successfully integrated their work and created a compelling design with strong connections to adjacent neighbourhoods.

Ongoing direction for this work has been provided by the Lansdowne Design Review Panel which was established by Council and chaired by George Dark.

Lawyers OK Lansdowne Presentation

- February 6th, 2012

The city will present the latest iteration of the Lansdowne Park design tomorrow morning at City Hall. The city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group have been planning a public unveiling for several weeks and they have kept a pretty good lid on tomorrow’s event, which was initially scheduled for last week. Most councillors have even been kept out of the loop.

I asked Mayor Jim Watson this morning if there was any concern about holding such a presentation when a decision still hasn’t been released by the appeal court on the Friends of Lansdowne application. Watson said the city’s lawyers gave the OK.

“We can’t stand still and not continue the work,” Watson said.

Watson said he’s pleased with the new designs he has reviewed.

“I think it has evolved nicely over the past several months,” he said. “I think people are going to come away very impressed with the look and feel of the new Lansdowne.”

Save Your Quarters If You’re In OCH

- February 3rd, 2012

Last month I reported Ottawa Community Housing was looking at ways to solve its operating deficit and making more money off laundry services was one option.

Well, if you live in OCH buildings, start saving your quarters.

The board next week will consider raising the rates by 25 cents for both washing and drying, to $1.50 and $1.25 respectively, starting March 1. Staff research shows OCH residents have been getting a bargain on laundry compared to other housing providers in the city.

OCH’s laundry rates haven’t changed in five years, but utility costs have gone up over the same time. Management figures the increased price will rake in an extra $142,000 annually. Every buck counts since the housing agency has been substantially dipping into its reserves to pay its bills.

Frustrated Seniors Advocate Leaves Chair

- February 2nd, 2012

A magnifying glass over the city’s advisory committees has apparently frustrated one of those (former) committee chairs.

Peter van Boeschoten told me today he was no longer interested in being chairman of the seniors advisory committee because of the city’s scrutiny of the advisory committee structure. One of the items on last night’s agenda was the election of a chair and vice-chair and van Boeschoten tells me Margaret Dunn is the new chair.

Although he didn’t want to dwell on it, van Boeschoten said he believes advisory committees don’t have much longer to live and their influence has evaporated. The city is “strangling” all the advisory committees, van Boeschoten offered.

“It’s very frustrating for all the advisory committees right now,” he said.

The city is currently reviewing the structure of the 15 advisory committees, which are made up of citizens. The governance renewal subcommittee directed that any recruitment for the committees be put on hold until council receives a report, which is expected before the end of March.

I’ve seen this struggle between council and advisory committees ever since I set up shop down here at City Hall. The advisory committees want so bad to be relevant in the decision-making process. And behind the scenes, many councillors don’t understand why the city needs the advisory committees when they, as council members, are the ultimate decision-making authority.

As for van Boeschoten, he said he will remain a strong advocate for seniors through his membership in other community groups.

Downtown Pub’s “Lifeline” Is Smokers

- January 31st, 2012

I caught up to Alex Munro today to ask him about the city’s proposal to ban smoking on restaurant patios. I was particularly interested in his thoughts since he’s the VP of the Heart and Crown Irish Pubs group, which owns James Street Pub, at the corner of Bank St. in Centretown.

I have been a customer of the pub and noticed the patio is incredibly popular with smokers. For whatever reason, it seems there’s more smoking happening on that patio than any other in the neighbourhood. Munro agreed the patio is a magnet for smokers and he suggested there’s a high demographic of blue-collar workers who come to the pub.

Smokers, Munro said, are the “lifeline” of that particular pub. He suggested the city’s no-smoking proposal for patios could sink the establishment completely.

Of course, we don’t really know what’s going to happen until the bylaw comes into force and the summer hits. But I can see how Munro would be concerned about patrons smoking on the sidewalk and leaning over the railing for a sip of their drinks. Liquor inspectors would certainly swoop in.

As an aside, talking to Munro also gave me the opportunity to ask him about rumours that the pub was being turned into condos. The rumours, as it turns out, were true, but Munro said those plans have been shelved. The idea was to keep the pub on the ground floor of a condo building.