The parking lot at Hulse, Playfair and McGarry funeral home may become a park.
Brian McGarry is moving forward with his proposal to turn the parking lot of his Centretown funeral home into a park.
In the face of rising property taxes and funeral home franchises taking over more Ottawa funeral homes McGarry is hoping to remain competitive by proposing the city buy a section of his property and turn it into a park.
“We’ve been here for the best part of a century and would like to stay but it’s getting more expensive,” says McGarry, of Hulse, Playfair and McGarry Funeral and Cremation Services.
McGarry is proposing that the city buy the eastern section of his one-acre property and convert the area where the parking lot currently sits into a park. The park would be called the McGarry Family Park. be just over a third of an acre, and would border O’Connor Street between Gladstone Avenue and McLeod Street.
The funeral home would also build a replacement three-storey parking garage for about 75 cars on the west side of the property.
The reduction in property for taxation, as well as money from the sale would give the funeral home’s finances a boost and help maintain the Centretown location, says McGarry.
“A park is what Centretown is all about,” says Rob Dekker, vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association. “It’s giving people a livable space to spend some time whether it’s playing with a Frisbee, playing with a dog, or playing with kids.”
Dekker says the park’s location at the heart of the community and its proximity to the Museum of Nature is ideal. The proposal is also in line with the city’s vision for the area, which highlights the need for increased green space, Dekker says.
While the idea is a good one, Dekker says he is cautious about the outcome of the proposal.
“Not knowing exactly what the cost is and knowing what shape the city’s finances are in right now, I hope that it comes through but I’m not holding my breath,” he says. “It’ll take some tough negotiations between the two parties to get it done. Hopefully, it’s feasible.”
This is McGarry’s second proposal to the city for changes to the funeral home’s downtown location. The first was to convert the area into a condo on stilts with a public garden underneath.
“The whole crux of the matter is if it’s viable financially,” says McGarry. “It’s just become too costly – or flip it the other way, too profitable – to have a funeral home on the property.”
Property taxes are rising as more high-valued buildings are congregating in the area.
Additionally, McGarry’s company is facing increased competition from national funeral homes franchises such as Arbor Memorial Services, which recently bought Ottawa’s Kelly Funeral Homes.
While McGarry could just sell the entire property to one of the countless developers who appear on his doorstep every two months, he says he is committed to keeping at least one family-run funeral home in Centretown.
“We’re not looking for a medal here, but I promised Hulse we’d stay here, certainly as long as I’m living,” McGarry says of his former mentor. “The latest price was astronomical. It was $18 million, just to get off this lot.”