About 70 people protested the elimination of green space at the Museum of Nature to make way for a new parking lot. Roshell Bisset attended the rally to impress on her four-year-old daughter, Nadya, the importance of keeping promises.
Part of the west lawn of the Museum of Nature, which was used for temporary parking during the museum’s renovations, will remain as a parking lot despite previous plans to return the area to green space.
The decision has left some residents unhappy, claiming the museum went back on its promise, which sparked an immediate backlash.
Residents created a Facebook group, started a petition and held a public rally Sunday calling for the space to return to parkland.
About 70 residents met at the rally on the piece of grass outside the temporary parking lot on the west lawn. Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes, respresentatives of Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar, who was unable to attend due to the NDP leadership debate, and concerned community members spoke out against the decision.
Local resident Jennifer Stewart asked residents to sign the petition that Dewar has said he will present to Parliament. Stewart says part of the reason she wanted to live in the area was due to the green space it provided for her and her daughter.
Stewart says if the museum is trying to accommodate visitors, parking isn’t what is needed. She says good use of the parkland would make the museum more appealing to visitors.
“The museum can use it as an interpretive space about nature . . . right now there is nothing here about nature,” she says.
The west lawn was supposed to fully return to park space when renovations finished, but the museum was unable to obtain the $10 million in funding for underground parking.
Underground parking was needed to deal with the increase of museum visitors while maintaining park space, but museum president Meg Beckel says the project would require money the museum doesn’t have.
Beckel said the museum’s investment in parking would have to pay for itself, but the underground parking project would not generate enough revenue. Underground parking is a much more expensive option and the museum “wouldn’t have any money left over to support the public programs of the museum which (parking revenues) are currently supporting.”
But Holmes is concerned about the loss of more green space in Centretown. Holmes again asked Ottawa West-Nepean MP John Baird to use his influence to convince the federal government to consider the museum as a candidate for stimulus infrastructure projects to build underground parking.
Beckel said that the possibility of obtaining a grant is difficult when the government is calling for reductions in spending. She adds that if the museum were to ask for a grant, she would want the money to go elsewhere.
“I would seek funding for our core mandate, which is research, collections and education before I would ever ask for a grant for parking,” she says.
Jordan Charbonneau, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, says he has heard concern from Centretown residents about the issue, but that co-ordinating action is difficult due to the number of players involved.
“This is a big issue for the area because it’s a major institution. It’s a major chunk of land we’re talking about, so whatever the result is, it’s going to have a large impact on Centretown citizens,” he says.
Despite concern from citizens about their green space, Charbonneau says he doubts the federal government will provide funds to the NCC for the project in the current economic climate.
Charbonneau says he has met with Beckell to discuss the best plan for the lot, which intends to add 150 parking spaces on the west side.
He says the parking on the east side of the museum is not effectively laid out, a problem that will be addressed for the west side.
“The rest of the spaces on the west lawn will be constructed in a much more efficient manner. So it will take up less space of the total surface area, but have more spaces in it,” he says.
Beckel says underground parking is still part of the long-term plan, but isn’t feasible in the near future.
Holmes told residents at the rally that if the parking lot is built, the green space “could be destroyed for a very long time.”
Beckel says she wants parking to take up less than half of the west side, leaving the rest as park space. She says she is hoping preliminary plans will be done by January and then will be brought to local residents for consultation.
“We want to talk to our neighbours and get people’s ideas and responses before any draft ideas are forwarded to the NCC, because ultimately, they have to approve whatever it is we do with that property,” she says.
Beckel says the project aims to make the parking lot as attractive as possible, but coming up with a plan that pleases all parties will be difficult. “It will be a challenge for creativity.”
But residents are still eager to stop the plans before they begin, offering alternatives to the parking lot.
Stewart says the museum should not be focusing on increasing parking, but on promoting the use of transit.
“They do not promote transportation enough for a national museum.”
Holmes said at the rally that she thought it was ironic that the Museum of Nature was involved in the destruction of local green space. She said there were other ways for the museum to deal with the parking issue.
“They should be promoting transit . . . but they are simply destroying green space.”