Ottawa Art Gallery expansion, Arts Court redevelopment begins

The $100 million-plus expansion of the Ottawa Art Gallery and redevelopment of Arts Court has begun after the City of Ottawa and a consortium of groups agreed to a funding arrangement, the city said today.

Construction is underway at the site at Nicholas Street and Daly Avenue that's lauded as a "cornerstone" of Ottawa's arts and culture scene.

The project team is in place, construction hoarding is installed and workers are on site as the art gallery plans to open in late 2017. The new Arts Court, plus a new development tower with boutique hotel and condominiums, are expected to open in 2018.

"This development will be an important sesquicentennial legacy project that will give our artists and audiences a place to come together," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said in a news release.

The site will be close to a new light rail station built as part of phase one of the Confederation Line, which isalso set to open in 2017.

The city is set to pay $41.68 million while $60 million will come from a private consortium of EBC Inc., DevMcGill and Groupe Germain.

The University of Ottawa is also a partner in the project, which will provide a 120-seat black box theatre and four studio-style classrooms for the school's arts theatre program.