The Lansdowne Development Saga

(Proposed game rendition of Frank Clair)

On Tuesday June 29th Ottawa city council voted 15-9 in favour of redeveloping Lansdowne Park with the bid proposed by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG). The OSEG is the consortium business group that has the CFL rights to Ottawa's next team. The new Lansdowne Park plan includes renovations to Frank Clair Stadium (where the new CFL Ottawa team will play), the building of 350,000 square feet of commercial retail space at the site (i.e. a new mall), 250 housing units, and the development of an urban park on Lansdowne's front lawn.

Many Ottawa citizens are upset with the outcome of city council. In particular, a protest group self proclaimed as "Friends of Lansdowne Park" (FLP) are the primary instigators in the fight against Lansdowne re-development. In the council decision it is outlined that the city of Ottawa (aka Ottawa taxpayers) will be paying $173 million towards the LP redevelopment, with OSEG forking out $117 million for their bit. The protesters have fought hard, even launching an application for appeal to Ontario's supreme court this past November to get the bid overturned. In February  FLP got a small victory, in that the Ontario courts ruled the city and OSEG had to open up their financial books to FLP so they could see where money was being allocated. Project redevelopment is still slated to occur soon barring more legal set backs.

The $173 taxpayer allocation breakdown looks like this:

• $124 million for the stadium renovation and parking
• $35 million for the urban park (including $5 million for moving the Horticulture building)
• $8.5 million for the new trade show and exhibition hall at Albion Road
• $3.8 million to relocate the sports Dome
• $1.2 million for life cycle renewal. 

The main thing the breakdown doesn't include is interest on the $173 million! That interest could be HUGE considering City council expects to be paying this over the course of 30 years. 

(Proposed inside of Frank Clair)

Another reason of FLP's fight comes down to business ethics. OSEG was the only bid that the city council of Ottawa had to choose from. Some see this as unfair, as you would like to see more bids and more competition to get the financial costs down and quality of bids improve. I feel this is completely fair as other companies were given ample notice to bid on the LP redevelopment, they just chose not to.

Many Ottawa residents feel the new redevelopments will cause an eye sore right along the Rideau canal. The proposed architect renditions say otherwise however. The new Frank Clair Stadium will be designed with a wood focus. All the exterior designs show elegant wood styles covering the stadium, creating a nice picture for any person strolling along the Rideau canal trails.

 

 

(Proposed Frank Clair renos at night by the Rideau Canal)

 

 

I feel the city of Ottawa and OSEG are heading in the right direction. They know what the public wants and are willing to give it to them! I truly hope they start the renovations soon however, as if the aim is to get the CFL franchise in Ottawa back up and running by 2013 they need to start NOW!

Next Sunday I will be posting an article on potential coaching staff for the new Ottawa team, stay tuned!