A city report identified the City Centre complex as one of the top five possible sites for a sports stadium, which would replace the office tower pictured above.
A city-issued report evaluating potential sites for a proposed soccer stadium has ignited discussion on the future of Plouffe Park and the rundown City Centre building, just west of Preston Street on Somerset Street West.
The report ranked the City Centre location fifth in a list of 23 potential construlction sites, adding that its current configuration is nearing the end of its economic life.
The report considered various sites that could host a major league soccer franchise in Ottawa.
Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes says that while the soccer stadium could be in the City Centre area, LeBreton Flats is a better candidate.
“Plouffe Park is a very small soccer field, it should not hold anything as big as a soccer stadium. LeBreton Flats is just across the way, it is a big stretch of undeveloped land,” says Holmes.
Still, she says she would like to see an improvement in the City Centre building.
“It is one of the worst buildings in the city. We have given the owner the ability to put a development on that land, but we cannot force the owner to develop it,” she says.
Holmes says she would like to see the building turned into a high-density commercial development.
She says she believes it would be more visually appealing for residents.
Jacob Freedman, owner of the City Centre building, says he would like to see it transformed into a high-density office tower, or a high-rise apartment complex.
“We have zoning for higher commercial development, but because the economy is slow right now, we are waiting for a good market opportunity. Should one arise, we are ready to take action,” he says.
Rob Mackay, acting director of Community Sustainability Services, an agency assessing locations for the soccer stadium, says that although the city suggested that Plouffe Park and City Centre are possible sites, there are others he would like to investigate.
Mackay suggests Carleton University as an option.
“I would imagine that City Centre would do well re-developed as a commercial site. From a stadium perspective, there are better sites,” says Mackay.