Revised Lansdowne Park plan to be unveiled

A redevelopment plan for Lansdowne Park has been revised to include more details for the back part of the park, further away from Bank Street, an Ottawa councillor says.

Coun. Rick Chiarelli, who represents College Ward, said the new version of the Lansdowne Live plan, which will be presented to city council Wednesday, incorporates a lot of suggestions made since the original proposal last October by Jeff Hunt, owner of the Ottawa 67's Ontario Hockey League Team, and local developers Roger Greenberg, John Ruddy and Bill Shenkman.

For example, Chiarelli said, the public wanted more eating areas and increased green space.

"This is going to be a really great coming together of sports and entertainment, of eating and dining facilities and green space and use of the waterway and pretty significant modifications of the traffic," Chiarelli said Monday, adding that he absolutely loves the plan.

"It is so much better than something that I thought was good in the first place."

The original plan included an updated football and soccer stadium, a refurbished arena and exhibition hall, an aquarium and a retail and restaurant complex.

Chiarelli said overall, the new plan will boost green space, use of the waterway, reduce the amount of above-ground parking and significantly change the flow of traffic in the area. It will not include big box stores, he added.

He expects council to take a final vote on the project in about two months.

Opposition continues

Meanwhile, a group opposed to the Lansdowne Live project continued lobbying for public support over the weekend.

Will Murray, a volunteer for Friends of Lansdowne Park, visited the Ottawa Farmer's Market at Lansdowne Park Sunday, trying to get shoppers' signatures for a petition calling for a "fair and inclusive process" to determine the fate of the park.

The group is upset that a design competition launched in early 2008 was shut down and that the city isn't considering options other than the Lansdowne Live proposal.

Chiarelli said that's because no other plans pitched at the city have come with money attached, and the city can't afford to redevelop the park without such funds. The Lansdowne Live group is promising $130 million in private financing.

But Murray isn't convinced the project is a done deal and is asking people to contact their councillors.

"The more people that become aware of the issue, the more certain I am that this can't happen,"he said.

'Too important a piece of land'

"It's not reasonable what's going on, and we have to make sure that it goes through a proper process. It's too important a piece of land just to let it become another mall essentially."

But Coun. Clive Doucet, who represents the Capital ward, which includes Lansdowne Park, said finding enough votes on council to reject the Lansdowne Live proposal won't be easy.

"Can we get that other four or five? Very difficult. I think the mayor's working very hard, he's having interviews one-on-one with people, he wants his shopping centre proposal through."

Redevelopment of Landsdowne Park has been under discussion for more than a decade. However, a recent push for redevelopment came after cracks were discovered in the lower southside stands of Frank Clair stadium in 2007 and they had to be demolished.

The Landsdowne Live group has been awarded a CFL franchise contingent on a suitable stadium being built and has until Sept. 18 to secure a stadium agreement with city officials.