Lansdowne green space plans unveiled

A pedestrian bridge and a farmers' market were common themes in the five designs for the green space at Lansdowne Park unveiled Thursday.

The presentation of the designsin the council chamber at city hallkicked off 12 days of public consultation on the proposals.

All five urban park designs included a farmers' market, four included a pedestrian bridge, three include inlets from the Rideau Canalthat would bring the water right up to the Aberdeen Pavilion, while twofeature ponds.

The competition deals with thesection of the parkbordering the Rideau Canal, mostly toward the southeast.The competition areadoes not include the northwest section of the park along Bank Street.

There were "some pretty neat ideas" among the designs, said John Smit, the city'smanager of development review.

He added that there's "no question" that onewill ultimately serve as the foundation to make Lansdowne Park "a very unique and distinct place."

Coun. Peter Hume said he likes the fact that all the designs make the park a people place.

"It makes you want to come to Lansdowne Park, which is what we want to achieve," he said. "It's really quite exciting very un-Ottawa. We really don't do this kind of thing, we don't reach. We usually plan for the lowest common denominator and now we're seeing things that are exciting and expansive."

The price tags for the designs range from $33 millionto $88 million. The city has only allocated $5 million for the first phase of the green space development. One team estimated that asphalt removal alone would cost $1.3 million.

Price not an issue: councillor

When asked if the city could afford the designs, Humeresponded that each one includesseveral phases.

"If it's the right one, over time we'll be able to implement it," he said.

Rick MacEwan, an architect with the firm Watson MacEwan Teramura, was one of hundreds of people who came to Ottawa City Hall Thursday to be among the first to see the designs. He said all five were "really good schemes" that showed a huge variety of design options.

MacEwancalled Design E, which allowspart ofthe historic Aberdeen Pavilion to pull out, expanding it to twice its usual size,a "bold gesture," but wasn't sure about whether its technically possible or would upset heritage enthusiasts.

A seven-member juryled by urban designer George Dark will pick thewinning concept on June 4and will take public input into consideration when making their choice. The design will have to be approved by city council, the National Capital Commission and Parks Canada.

Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, which is proposing a new stadium and commercial complex at the northwest section of the park, is set to release its designs next Thursday.

City councillors are expected to vote on the redevelopment plan at the end of June. Coun. Alex Cullen, who is running for mayor in this fall's municipal election, said he'd rather leave the decision to the new council and postpone the vote until after the election.

Council voted last November to start negotiating the terms of a private-public partnership with the OSEG to redevelop Landsdowne Park.

The controversial development plan includes the construction of a cluster of shops, cinemas, condominiums and townhouses and the revamping of the site's existing stadium.

There have also been recent rumblings about a new proposal to include space in the development for the Ottawa Art Gallery, which has been tucked away in a section of Arts Court.

Lansdowne Park is a former agricultural fairground just south of downtown, in the Glebe neighbourhood, where rows of boutique-style shops are flanked by tree-lined streets of single-family homes.

The property is bounded by busy Bank Street to the west and faces the Rideau Canal to the south.