April 16, 2010 - Glebe Report

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4.75 x 7.25 inches (1/4 page) 10 Glebe Report April 16, 2010 COUNCILLOR’S REPORT ottawa.ca/clean 2010018040 Glebe Report In partnership with April 15 to May 15, 2010 The City of Ottawa invites you to give your neighbourhood a clean sweep this spring. Clean up public property where you live, work or play and help keep Ottawa litter-free and graffiti-free. WIN PRIZES! Register your spring clean up project by visiting ottawa.ca/clean Cleanup starter kits are available to registered volunteers. Registration is available until May 15, 2010. More lipstick on the Lansdowne pig Group about farmers selling off the back of pickup trucks revealed they had no concept of how the current market is run let alone what its real potential is. Mr. Williams had never been to the market or asked anybody who had. The Farmers’ Market is one Councillor Clive Doucet When it comes to Lansdowne, some people think we are making progress and I would acknowledge the window dressing is getting better but it remains a taxpayer subsidized shopping mall with a $129 million stadium fully funded by the city. The quality of the lipstick on the pig has been improved but it’s the same pig. Witness the “front lawn” competition intended to cover the portion of the park next to the Canal left over after the shopping mall gets built and the stadium is refurbished. The “front lawn” competition will cost the City of Ottawa $375,000, and $3 million has already been committed to this sole-sourced deal. The original design competition for the entire park would have cost $350,000 and would have been completed by now. Not only is the new competition more expensive, it is for less than half of Lansdowne Park. The lipstick on the pig gets a little brighter with each passing week. Last fall city staff confirmed that Sylvia Holden Community Park, which is adjacent to Lansdowne Park, would not be included in the Lansdowne Partnership Plan. Now, we discover that Sylvia Holden Community Park has been inserted into the “front lawn” competition. Sylvia Holden is a community park, with baseball diamonds, a childcare facility, children’s playgrounds and a summer pool. It’s located in a neighbourhood which already has less than one quarter of the recreation space required by city policies. Now we are told it may need to be landscaped so that it can be integrated for events that produce “overflow.” How are residents supposed to have faith in a redevelopment process for Lansdowne when who gets what is constantly changing? Why aren’t council motions being respected? An oversight? Another oversight surfaced from a consultant at the city’s presentation on retail prospects for the park. Offhand comments from J.C Williams Clive Doucet 613-580-2487 Clive.Doucet@ottawa.ca www.clivedoucet.com of the most valuable assets currently at Lansdowne Park and if consultants aren’t even aware of the current situation, they can’t be paying much attention. What are consultants paying attention to? The Trinity Development Group’s website revealed a more detailed drawing of the commercial space for the shopping mall, including the “overlap” area of the “front lawn” where the Farmers’ Market is now located. Those detailed drawings were removed from the website shortly after I issued a media release pointing out the extent of commercial development planned. Yet another oversight or are we witnessing a pattern? We are born old and young at the same time. We are born with great loves and great pains that we grow into like an acorn grows into an oak tree; like God grows into the universe. Here’s another example that fits the pattern. The consultant hired to report on the heritage of Lansdowne Park pointed out in great detail the diverse uses of the park over the years and that none of them were permanent, commercial or retail. In spite of the complete lack of precedent as outlined in the report, the consultant concluded that it is appropriate to try to maximize the amount of retail space at the park. This is not surprising given that the report was paid for by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group and the city partners. He who pays the piper calls the tune. And the tune here is very clear. Only 14.4 per cent of the revenue for Lansdowne Live will come from sports revenue even with a $129 million subsidy – the rest will come from the mall. Coffee with Clive Coffee with Clive takes place on the third Thursday of the month at the Wild Oat on Bank at Fourth from 9-10 a.m. It is a good opportunity to discuss neighbourhood and citywide issues in an informal setting.
CITIZENS INITIATIVES Hands off our park In early March, many Glebe families first learned that the principles and terms of reference for the Lansdowne Park urban design competition were calling for proposals that would include the recreational, multi-use park located on a parcel of land east of O’Connor St. and just south of Fifth Avenue. In the true spirit of citizens’ initiatives, several concerned individuals stepped forward to organize a response at the grassroots level to the many questions and concerns articulated by residents in the area. As their numbers have grown, their campaign to raise awareness about the community park has made use of traditional means of communication such as flyers, posters, informal and formal meetings with neighbours, as well as e-mail and social media which have allowed them to post pictures of the park in use and announce upcoming events to a wider audience. On April 15, the public meeting at the Glebe Community Centre included dialogue about their concerns. by Adrian Evans The city chose to include Sylvia Holden Community Park in the Lansdowne Park design process. This has raised concerns for the following reasons: 1. Poor consultation The city passed a motion indicating that the community park was excluded from the Lansdowne re-development. We now find out that it is included and there has been no consultation with residents. It is incumbent upon the city to sit down with residents to explain. 2. Unknown layout As part of the Lansdowne Park redesign, the elements of the community park may be moved to integrate them into a larger urban park. Does this mean that parking garages or staging areas will be located along Holmwood Avenue and O’Connor Street? 3. Universal access The community park is to be integrated into the urban park. Parts of the urban park will be closed for large events. Will the wading pool and playing fields be closed whenever there’s a concert, football game or festival (e.g., during Bluesfest)? 4. Governance The re-developed Lansdowne Park site may be managed by a municipal services corporation (MSC). Apparently, the community park will be operated by the city. How is this possible? What prevents the MSC from controlling access or imposing fees? 5. Incorrect inventory (no dog park!!) The RFP for the Lansdowne Park design competition indicates that, “Sylvia Holden Park includes two baseball diamonds, a basketball court, a splash pad, a play structure, outdoor rinks, an informal sports field and a small wadding [sic] pool and a park support building.” The dog park, two sets of swings and all of the trees are omitted. There is no splash pad nor outdoor rinks. Would the new park only have a splash pad? 6. Will the new Lansdowne Park be safe for children? The re-developed Lansdowne site is going to include a large shopping mall and will host large sporting events, concerts and festivals with huge crowds. Will the community park attached to it be a safe place for children? 7. The community park is part of our neighbourhood The existing community park is a central part of our neighbourhood. It has come to be associated with the park established in honour of Sylvia Holden and it includes commemorative trees and many mature trees. How do we preserve this history? 8. Can the city deliver? The outcome of the design competition will be an ambitious park project. Does the city have the budget to deliver this project? Or will we only see the commercial aspects (e.g., shopping mall, hotel) built? The City of Ottawa has a track record of promising ambitious re-development and not following through (e.g., Orleans town centre, Lebreton Flats, Westboro Loblaws). Many aspects of the Lansdowne site can be improved; however, the community park works well as it is. Please write to council and the program manager, Development Review, John Smit (John.Smit@ottawa.ca) to share your concerns. Consult our blog (http://savesylviaholdenpark.blogspot.com/) or email save.sylvia.holden.park@gmail.com to get more information. Photo: Julie Riemersma Glebe Report April 16, 2010 11 City manager’s update on Lansdowne Park greenspace As you can see from other articles in this issue, a growing number of questions have arisen about the impact that re-designing Lansdowne Park may have on the boundaries, safe access to and future use of the community park east of O’Connor and south of Fifth Avenue in the Glebe. Answers provided to concerned citizens have often been contradictory and confusing, making it difficult to have a productive dialogue about the essential issues. In that context, the following clarification of the city’s terms of reference, which differentiate between Sylvia Holden Park and the multi-use recreational community park, comes as an invitation to take a breath and a welcome pause in the conversation. Delivered to council by Kent Kirkpatrick, this update does provide a more coherent summary of the information on record at the city and can be quite useful in trying to identify the parcel of land in question and to appreciate the importance of its past and current use. Editor Excerpt from March 31, 2010 Memo to Council: Update on Lansdowne Redevelopment “Sylvia Holden Park – Request for Information and Clarification” Further to Councillor Peter Hume’s letter dated March 15, 2010, sent to you in his capacity as a member of the Lansdowne Strategic Design Review and Advisory Panel, certain members of the community and the media have approached the City with questions regarding the future of Sylvia Holden Park in the context of the Lansdowne revitalization. By way of this memo, I would like to provide you with information that will be made public shortly in response to a number of inquiries received to date by staff. Sylvia Holden Park is often referred to as the greenspace which includes the corner of Holmwood Avenue and Bank Street, the grass corridor that runs along Holmwood and the park adjacent to the Ottawa Fire station and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway. In fact Sylvia Holden Park (0.46 hectares) is limited to the greenspace at the corner of Holmwood and Bank that runs along Holmwood to the west side of the Horticulture Building. As a result of further investigation on the history of the parks in and around Lansdowne, I would like to clarify that we have confirmed that the park adjacent to the Ottawa Fire Station and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway (which includes baseball diamonds, wading pool, basketball court, play structure, day care, service building etc.) is undedicated parkland, referred to as Lansdowne Community Park (2.56 hectares) and is not part of what is commonly referred to as Sylvia Holden Park. The Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department programs the wading pool and the two baseball diamonds at Lansdowne Community Park. It is fully intended that the Lansdowne Community Park remain a City asset and continue to be fully accessible to the community whether the revitalization of Lansdowne Park proceeds or not. The Lansdowne Community Park is and will remain directly under the control of the City of Ottawa and programmed by the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services department. It is important to note that Lansdowne Community Park has been included for consideration in the master plan development through the Urban Park Design Competition. This was done at the request of the Lansdowne Strategic Design Review and Advisory Panel in accordance with the “Guiding Principles for the Lansdowne Transformation”. In order to safeguard this area within the Urban Park Design Competition, specific provisions were included in the Request for Proposals (RFP), to ensure that the existing park amenities are retained and to emphasize the local and community importance of this park. It states, in part, the following: “The facilities in the existing park are important to the local community. Design solutions may propose to redesign the existing community park; however, must also ensure that the park amenities are not lost. Therefore if redesigned, the primary community facilities must be integrated into the new urban park and must remain fully community accessible at all times…If any of the current facilities are relocated to a new area, the new facilities must be in place before the existing ones are decommissioned.” According to the Schedule of Events in the RFP, the deadline for urban park design submissions is May 11, 2010. Immediately thereafter, between May 12 and 28, 2010, the submissions will be on public display in keeping with the design competition process. The Technical Panel and Jury for the urban park design competition will review the submitted designs in early June. Ultimately, City Council will consider the matter on June 23, 2010 when it will be asked to endorse the selected design proposal and approve the conditions upon which the City would negotiate a business arrangement with the selected firm for the refurbished urban park. Any changes to the existing programming for this site, including Lansdowne Community Park, Sylvia Holden Park and for Lansdowne Park itself will be the decision of Council. These important assets will remain City-owned.
Page 1 and 2: April 16, 2010 Vol. 38 rvn No. 4 Se
Page 3 and 4: EVENTS 25 th anniversary for the Gr
Page 5 and 6: LETTERS Glebe Report April 16, 2010
Page 7 and 8: NEWS Glebe fires: déjà vu by Juli
Page 9: FOOTBRIDGE UPDATE Midtown footbridg
Page 13 and 14: BIA Glebe BIA protecting our villag
Page 15 and 16: GLEBE HISTORY Heritage spaces, not
Page 17 and 18: BUSINESS BUZZ Alana leads one of he
Page 19 and 20: NEWS The Glebe: A healthy neighbour
Page 21 and 22: HEALTH Keeping drugs out of our dri
Page 23 and 24: Community parks of the Glebe by Car
Page 25 and 26: MUSIC St. Matthew’s spring concer
Page 27 and 28: FOOD By Karen Wallace-Graner Apple,
Page 29 and 30: ENVIRONMENT Keeping the Glebe green
Page 31 and 32: SCHOOLS Some updates from the board
Page 33 and 34: SCHOOLS Sustainability initiatives
Page 35 and 36: TRAVEL Glebe artist explores South-
Page 37 and 38: COMMUNITY Winners of Awesome Author
Page 39 and 40: BOOKS Egg on Mao, the story of a no
Page 41 and 42: RELIGION Tiptoe through the tulips
Page 43 and 44: Glebe Report April 16, 2010 43 BEST

April 16, 2010 - Glebe Report

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?