By Adam Hickman
Time out. Ottawa’s most successful sports franchise may lose its home at the Civic Centre, as a result of initiatives to redevelop Lansdowne Park.
Ottawa 67s co-owner Howard Darwin has publicly stated that if the Civic Centre is demolished as part of a massive redesign, he would move the junior hockey club out of the city.
He says they’d have no choice but to move because no other arena is viable. The Corel Centre is too expensive. The Nepean Sportsplex is too small.
This would be a catastrophe for the Ottawa sports scene. The 67s are an affordable, entertaining, exciting option for sports fans in a city otherwise lacking in sports attractions.
Losing this franchise would create a huge void. Now, there’s no doubt changes need to be made at Lansdowne. The site has racked up deficits of $20 million over the past decade and Frank Clair Stadium, home of the late Ottawa Rough Riders, is currently underused.
The city can’t give developers a carte blanche to do what they please with this important real estate, without assessing what can be preserved.
Lansdowne Park, as a whole, is in trouble. But certain parts of the 20- hectare site are successful and should be integrated into new development plans — and not scrapped.
The Civic Centre is a prime example. Home of the Ottawa 67s, it’s a medium-sized hockey arena seating 10,575 fans. It’s an anchor in the Glebe hosting concerts and trade shows that, like the 67’s, aren’t looking for the Corel Centre’s size and flash.
Unless plans for Lansdowne involve much-needed convention space, taking down the Civic Centre will leave the city even more starved for space.
While Frank Clair Stadium is virtually vacant, Jacquelin Holzman is right to caution that demolishing the football stadium will cost Ottawa a major site. And then Ottawa can kiss goodbye any chance at events like the Commonwealth Games not to mention ending any hope of resurrecting the CFL in Ottawa.
For now, developers say demolishing the Civic Centre isn’t being considered but it’s uncertain what’ll happen when the 67s’ lease is up in 2002.
Ottawa needs to develop a vision of what types of events it wants to host, before a final decision in May. Or else, a hasty decision on Lansdowne Park may exclude Ottawa from hosting any major sporting events and, worse, it may send a winning team packing.