CEO Mark Kristmanson said he is happy with the progress being made in the openness and transparency of discussions with regards to NCC business being made publicly.
The National Capital Commission (NCC) held a board of directors meeting today to address recent and upcoming activities.
A number of topics discussed involve Centretown-area updates and tributes.
Kristmanson confirmed that on Jan. 26 and 27, the NCC will host an open house about the re-development plans forLeBreton Flats. As of today’s meeting both of the LeBreton Flats proponents met the NCC set criteria.
More information on the re-development plans can be found at http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/planning/master-plans/lebreton-flats/redevelopment-of-lebreton-flats.
Rideau Canal operations are underway and Kristmanson announced if all continues as planned the skate way will open in time for the beginning of Winterlude on Jan. 29.
The Rideau Canal now has a new and fully responsive website with an interactive map which can be found at http://rcs.ncc-ccn.ca/.
Parks Canada and the NCC will be partnering together to repair a damaged 500-metre portion of the Rideau Canal wall near the Bronson Bridge on Queen Elizabeth Drive. The damaged section of the old concrete will be replaced with a newer and more durable surface. The job is not anticipated to be fully completed until this April.
In 2067, Canada will be celebrating its 200 anniversary and the NCC is continuing its work with Canadians across the country to develop plans for the capital event.
“We’ve received hundreds of ideas. Some are small but interesting, others are giant and transformative ones,” Kristmanson said.
“It’s an exciting debate going on online and we welcome it,” he said about Canadians using the #Capital2067 to get involved in the discussion.
The Memorial to the Victims of Communism, which was originally set to be built in front of the Supreme Court, will now be moving to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories. The 5,000-square-metre area of land in front of the Supreme Court was originally intended to be decontaminated as a result of the NCC board approval last June to prepare for the memorial. All motions to complete the decontamination have come to a halt for the near future.
The initial delays with another memorial, the Holocaust Monument being built at Booth Street and Wellington Street opposite to the Canadian War Museum, was originally intended to start construction in this March but was delayed because of issues of tender. These issues are expected to come be resolved by early February and the construction of the monument will begin this spring.
The last topic covered before the board broke for lunch was the approval of the final concept designs for the new Visitor Welcome Centre on Parliament Hill. The welcome centre is planned to be developed on the West Block of Parliament and will feature a four-storey underground facility to provide security screening and visitor services.
The meeting will continue through until just after 4 p.m. today.
All publicly accessible documents as well as a live stream of the meeting can be found at http://www.ncc-ccn.gc.ca/about-ncc/calendar-events/public-meeting-of-ncc-board-of-directors-2.
A recap of the central meeting topics discussed can be found at https://storify.com/NCC_CCN/ncc-publc.