When completed the enscarpment is supposed to become a hub for neighbourhood activity.
But there are mixed feelings among those directly affected by the city’s proposal for a central park to be built on the 0.9 hectares of existing space behind the former Ottawa Technical High School in Centretown, also known as Upper Town Commons.
The planning and environment committee passed a motion last week approving the Escarpment Area District Plan, a vision for the northwest corner of downtown including the creation of a showcase downtown park at Upper Town Commons.
The commons currently has an open field, basketball court, a legal Graffiti Wall – used to display public art, and a community garden.
According to the plan, the new park’s western end would begin at Bronson Avenue and extend a little past Percy Street.
But, some community leaders are concerned.
The plan leaves room for potential residential and general use development. Fifty-seven per cent of the land (everything but the community garden) belongs to the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and it is prime real estate.
They could choose to develop the land, which presently can have buildings three- to 12-stories in height under the existing zoning. The city is hoping to strike a deal with the school board so it can acquire the property.
Frank Paterson, the building manager of the Queen Elizabeth Towers, a 28-floor apartment complex located on Laurier Avenue across the street from the proposed park, says the people of Queen Elizabeth Towers like the overall concept of the park.
But “if the city ever went for [commercial] development of the property, we [Queen Elizabeth Towers] would fight against it,” he says, adding that the development of a better green space in Upper Town Commons is a “legacy to leave for our grandchildren.”
Patterson says, if the city does not secure the additional hectors of land from the school board, he would not mind the development of more residences, a library or a medical clinic. But retail or office space, he says, is opposed by area residents.
The escarpment plan states that once the city secures the park space from the school board it should engage the community to determine the park design.
But a blueprint, modelled on the existing space, is already incorporated in the escarpment plan. It includes a new basketball court, a new children’s playground area and a tree line to separate the field from the existing community garden, which would grow larger under the proposal.
The Nanny Goat Community Garden Association currently leases the city-own parcel of land on the southwest section of Upper Town Commons.
Under the new plan, the garden would be formally integrated into the commons, which would become 50 per cent garden and 50 percent park.
Rosemary Taylor, the garden’s co-ordinator, favours more open space.
Taylor notes that there are 15 highrises in the three adjacent blocks south and southeast of the proposed park.
The continued development of highrises, she says, “is another reason for the preservation and enhancement of the Upper Town Commons.”
“I believe that the vibrancy of our neighbourhood centres around this existing green space,” she says.
The park is part of the 20/20 initiative to create an environmentally sensitive city.
However, there are other motives as well. The escarpment plan says the additional green space will help offset any potential impacts of development on the surrounding neighbourhood.
The problem, note observers, is that a lot of the planning depends on the school board.
Jennifer Mackenzie, the school board’s downtown trustee, says the school board has been talking with the city about the park, but has yet to make a decision on what they will do with their property.
But, she added, “It’s quite clear that the community sees that property as being important to their daily lives.”
Mackenzie says the idea behind the plan is tradeoffs – green space for development.
“The hope is that we can keep that part of the green space intact.”
There is also the issue of the zoning on the school board’s property, with the northern half designated for institutional development and the southern half for residential.
The city will have to rework its zoning bylaws for the park to become a reality.
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes, who championed the Upper Town Commons proposal, says it will be challenging for the city to implement the vision for the park, but what they’ve done is a very good start.
The city’s next move is to secure a memorandum of understanding from the school board to start the development of Upper Town Commons.