Viewpoint: City not quite set to party for 150th
By Alexandra Mazur
Over the last few months, you may have noticed a scintillating structure slowly coming together, rising from the construction site at the corner of Bank and Wellington streets. It belongs to the long-awaited and newly rebranded Bank of Canada Museum.
Even though what used to be known as the Canadian Currency Museum officially closed for renovations in 2013, many tourists coming to Ottawa in 2017 will have to be patient before getting to see Ottawa’s shiniest new cultural space.
The Bank of Canada isn’t giving a specific date as to when the public will once again be allowed in to see the collection, but has estimated a summer opening.
With all the hubbub around 2017 (if you haven’t heard yet, it’s the 150th anniversary of Confederation) you’d think the Bank of Canada would have wrapped up this revamp in time for the big party — especially since they’ve had nearly four years to get it done.
But the reconstruction of the money museum is just one of many undertakings that won’t be done until midway through Canada’s big birthday celebration, leaving the first half of the year in the dust of construction projects.
The National Arts Centre has been undergoing a $100-million facelift, which is set to be unveiled on July 1, Canada’s official birthday. The Canadian History Museum’s new History Hall is set to open, after spending $25 million on the project, on Canada Day, as well.
Couple those ongoing renovations with major roadwork and other digs — especially LeBreton Flats, the LRT construction and the refurbishment of Rideau Street, which will extend beyond Canada Day celebrations, and downtown Ottawa may actually serve as a letdown to many visiting the city for the highly publicized Canada 150 prior to July 1.
According to Ottawa 2017 organizers, the capital region usually receives about eight million tourists a year, but that number is supposed to rise by 1.75 million for the sesquicentennial.
Canada Day, of course, is the big event. In 2016, nearly 350,000 people participated in Canada Day celebrations, and the Department of Canadian Heritage estimated that about one-third of those were tourists.
Numbers are certainly meant to soar this year, but Ottawa Tourism can’t predict by how much. Nevertheless, there are other big things happening in Ottawa long before July 1.
Ottawa Tourism says that, on average, nearly 600,000 people participate in Winterlude each year, although the agency couldn’t specify what percentage of participants were tourists.
In 2015, nearly 70,000 people attended the Red Bull Crashed Ice finale in Edmonton, so Ottawa’s 2017 event will surely bring people by the tens of thousands in early March. Then there’s March break and the Tulip Festival in May, as well as long weekends and statutory holidays in February, April and May.
It may come as a surprise to many tourists expecting to visit Canada’s glittering capital to see that it’s actually marred by construction zones and closed signs. But for those of us who live here, it’s just more evidence of what seems like a last-minute scramble to get Ottawa party-ready for Canada Day.