By Travis MacLeod
The newest development plan for Lebreton Flats isn’t bold enough and will cost too much money, says the author of a book about the vacant downtown land.
Phil Jenkins, author of An Acre of Time, which chronicles the history of one of the 154 acres that has been empty for over 30 years, says he’d like to see something that would be more valuable to the city and more cost-effective.
The latest addition to the federal government’s plan is for a national museum to be built on the site. That’ll be mixed with previous plans that include commercial and residential development and a festival park.
The National Capital Commission plans to spend $50 million to clean up the polluted land. Jenkins says a lot of that can be saved by turning most of the land into a large park, much like New York City’s Central Park.
He says the plans ignore the potential of the river.
“It’s as if both sides of the river have turned their backs and are facing away from each other rather than towards each other,” says Jenkins.
“I think you can take the park right across the river. You’d call it Unity Park, the park of the Canadas, and it would unite Quebec and Ontario.”
“We’ve always had Washington-envy. Downtown could be as beautiful as Washington (D.C.). We need a sense of vision for it, rather than a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
But it’s not likely the plans will change.
The land has been empty for 30 years, mainly because the three levels of government that own it couldn’t agree on what should go there. Now those differences are resolved. The NCC’s Diane Dupuis says there’s optimism the plan will be carried through. All that’s needed, she says, is funding.
Right now, the showpiece of the development appears to be the new museum.
Joe Geurts, director of the Canadian War Museum, confirms that his museum is being considered for the site.
He’s already working on plans to build a museum near the Canadian Aviation Museum in Rockcliffe. But Geurts says he’d be just as happy with the Lebreton Flats site.
Geurts says he expects that building the museum at Lebreton Flats instead of in Rockcliffe would make little difference. It would only push the completion date for the new museum back by a few months.
David Sutin of the Canada Science and Technology Museum says he understands his museum is in the running for the site, but hasn’t been given much information by the federal government.
He thinks moving the museum to Lebreton Flats would enhance the museum’s image and would double attendance.
He also says the railway lines on the land would be perfect for displaying the museum’s railroad artifacts.
The Department of Canadian Heritage is expected to announce soon which museum will be moved to the land.
But Jenkins says the new museum should be seen as only a small part of a bigger picture. He’s not against it, as long as it doesn’t mean a huge parking lot.
“The idea of a museum is neither here nor there. I’ve got a bigger vision for those acres. I’d rather see them do something bold.”
He admits his dream-park will probably never become a reality because developers and the NCC see the land as too valuable to be left for parkland.
“There’s no financial revenue from a park. They kind of feel they have to (make money off it),” says Jenkins.
“But there’s a huge psyche value to this. If you go and ask New Yorkers, ‘do you think you should get rid of Central Park and put low-cost housing in there,’ I think you’d find a lot of people would say no.”
“The only way we can make a dramatic change in the plans? I’d have to chain myself to Sheila Copps, which is not a pleasant thought,” Jenkins says.