Part I - What's in the name?

The third CFL team is about to break ground within the next couple years. In addition, the new grounds at Lansdowne Park should hopefully be started within the next 6 months to a year (pending Friends of Lansdowne's court case).

Be it as it may I have no rumblings really of possible names to the new CFL team. Some Ottawa super fans would want to keep up with the old school tradition and name the team the Ottawa Rough Riders. This would be a BIG joke to the league unfortunately, as Saskatchewan already has laid claim to that name for years. The CFL would never agree to allowing two Rough Rider franchises anyway, and Saskatchewan won't be changing their name to something new just to appease the fans in Ottawa.

Another possibility could be to continue with the last franchise name, the Ottawa Renegades. This name holds great significance to me, as it was this franchise that truly got me hooked on the CFL, and more importantly football in the Canadian capital! Going into its final years of operation this franchise was really going places on the field. They had a core group of players who were capable of winning: Kerry Joseph, Josh Ranek, Pat Woodcock, Jason Armstead, etc. The Renegades were getting especially good at winning games within the eastern division, games they needed more to help their playoff chances. There's no doubt in my mind that if they had lasted another year they would have made the playoffs in their 5th season in the league.

This name to many non-hardcore Ottawa football fans will forever be associated with failure, therefore the new franchise should not incorporate the Renegades into their team. Even though it was entirely the Glieberman's fault that caused the Renegades to fold, most Ottawa citizens do not get this and probably won't attend new CFL Ottawa games because of it.

So just what should the new CFL Ottawa team now be? It needs to be something that represents the city, and not to sound corny, but the country. As Ottawa is the capital city of Canada they need to represent a little bit more in my mind. The first thought that came to my mind was to name the new team something to do with the Rideau Canal. The Canal is a big part of the city, and the stadium will be right along side of it. Alas, the Toronto Argonauts (Ottawa's most despised rival) are known as the "Boatmen" and already have long established ties with water.

So what could these options for a new name be...
Stay tuned!

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!