Lansdowne Park's park space officially opens

The park portion of a redeveloped Lansdowne Park project is now open to the public.

An 18-acre area near the east end of the property was the site of a Friday afternoon ceremony involving Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, area councillor David Chernushenko and members of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group behind the redevelopment.

The new park features a refrigerated outdoor skating rink, an apple orchard, a farmers market square, skatepark and green space thats close to the size of the lawn at Parliament Hill, according to OSEGs Bernie Ashe.

A news release said Ottawas parks, recreation and cultural services department will manage the space and events there, including a Christmas farmers market and events during Winterlude in 2015.

An "old-fashioned carnival and picnic" is being held at the new park space from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.