The public is shaping the future of Lansdowne Park at workshops and online as the City of Ottawa seeks a redevelopment vision for the site.
More than 150 city residents gather to discuss options for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. At least one City of Ottawa employee was at each table to guide discussion and take notes.
The consultation will guide those making submissions to a design competition conceived by councillors Clive Doucet and Peter Hume last fall.
“We will value the input we receive from the public, but it is important that it be reasonable,” Hume told more than 150 residents at a workshop last week.
The workshop gave locals a chance to speak out about the redevelopment of Lansdowne Park.
The six questions up for debate considered the importance of professional sports, Frank Clair Stadium, the SuperEX, private sector involvement and the development of new buildings.
The questions will remain open for public debate on the city website until Feb. 10.
The redevelopment process was prompted by the discovery that the southside stands at Frank Clair Stadium, built in 1960, are in need of at least $5 million in repairs.
Ottawa 67’s owner Jeff Hunt and three local developers made a public proposal to purchase the majority of Lansdowne Park and develop it in a bid to bring a Canadian Football League team back to Ottawa.
Hunt said Frank Clair Stadium was the worst in the league and requires more than a touch-up.
"This should become a world class facility and that will take tens of millions of dollars the city does not have," said Hunt.
Hunt said he and local developers Minto Group Inc., Trinity Development Group Inc, and Shenkman Capital Management Inc. are still flexible about how to best develop the park.
"For football to work and for Lansdowne to work you need redevelopment that includes public space , residential and other uses," said Hunt.
His original timeline was to get a conditional team by late 2007 and be ready to compete in 2009.
Hunt has not received a conditional franchise and said it could not be finalized until the end of the city competition January 2009.
"I understand the need to have a process," said Hunt. "I just hope it won't be needlessly long."
Similarly, The CFL seems to have slowed down its plans to return to Ottawa
CFL commissioner Mark Cohon had said in September that the league planned a 30-to-60 day push to “move forward or not.”
That deadline passed in November. The league has now shifted its emphasis to the long-term viability of football in Ottawa with no return deadlines or goals in mind.
“What’s important is that Ottawa football, if it returns, is there for years to come,” said CFL spokesperson Jamie Dykstra.
He said discussions are ongoing with a group of potential owners, but the league is moving slowly to ensure that any new team would be for the betterment of the entire league.
Any franchise given by the league would be conditional upon having proper facility.
“We would need a suitable stadium to play in, so that would definitely be apart of it,” said Dykstra.
Meanwhile, many members of the community put no rush on returning football to Ottawa or even rebuilding the southside stands.
One table representative said her group had no interest in rebuilding the stands and does not consider maintaining Frank Clair Stadium a top priority.
A man who stood out from the group of largely Glebe residents was Scott Bradley. He wore a retro Ottawa Rough Riders uniform that bore Tony Gabriel’s number 77.
The fact many in Ottawa don’t recognize the number shows how lost the glory days of football in the city truly are.
Gabriel caught the winning touchdown pass in the last minute of play to beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 1976 Grey Cup. Ottawa has not won since.
“I met him as a really young lad just across the street at the restaurant that used to be here,” said Bradley.
“He was a real gentleman and took the time to chat with me even though I was only eight years old.”
Bradley said he would like to see the CFL return, but he realizes that the public consultation could make the process more difficult.
“I found it very Glebe-centric tonight; unfortunately I don’t think a lot of the comments that were given tonight really focused on the whole city of Ottawa,” said Bradley.
The city will host its next facilitated workshop about Lansdowne redevelopment the evening of Feb. 26 with a second set of six questions.
These questions will be posted online from Feb. 26 to March 9.
After the second set of questions, the city will send out a survey about specific site uses to all residents who have registered on the site.