Saturday, March 20, 2010
Councilor Peter Hume
110 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1P 1J1
re: Sylvia Holden Community Park
Dear Councillor Hume:
I am writing you in regards to Sylvia Holden Community Park. I live near Lansdowne Park and have two young children. We frequently use the wading pool, play structure, playing field, basketball courts and picnic tables in the park. These facilities are extensively used by local residents : the wading pool is always full, the play structures crowded with children and the field is frequently used for pick-up soccer.
During the public consultations in 2009 regarding Lansdowne redevelopment, the City reassured residents that the Community Park was not part of the redevelopment and that it would be left intact. Furthermore, during the consultations there was no mention of using Lansdowne for events like Bluesfest. Not once during the consultations in 2009 did a representative of the City stand in front of a public meeting with the residents of the affected communities (Glebe, Old Ottawa South, Ottawa East).
Now, the City has now done an about face and has included the Sylvia Holden Community Park within the scope of the RFP and is now planning to make Lansdowne a site for major festivals. I’m familiar with the caveats in the RFP regarding Sylvia Holden Park which stipulate the elements of the park must be retained, although they can be moved, however, I feel this is totally inadequate. Therefore, I kindly request that you address the following three points:
1. It seems clear that the OSEG shopping mall and stadium development are going to go ahead. This alone is going to cost the city over $100M. It’s likely that the current competition for the back of the park (aka ‘Front Lawn’) will produce some innovative designs. What assurance do citizens have that the City will actually proceed to implement the winning design for the urban park? Does the City have the budget to finance an elaborate urban park - especially in the context of the stadium redevelopment and lightrail projects? Or will the outcome be what happened with the Loblaws in Westboro, where the plans included elements like townhouses to buffer the neighbourhood, but which never materialized. Similarly, with the Shenkman Arts Centre in Orleans. This PPP was supposed to include affordable housing and an expansion of the YMCA amongst other things which never materialized. The City ended up paying a nearly million dollar cost overrun and chose not to cash a $2.5 million penalty due to delays. So, why should residents have any confidence that the City of Ottawa will follow through with the full implementation of an expensive urban park at Lansdowne - especially those elements that are not revenue generating?
2.The City now foresees that Lansdowne will host large events like Bluesfest, Jazzfest, etc. in addition to CFL football games and large outdoor concerts. Even if there is a re-configured community park, how will the city ensure that the park and surrounding streets are a safe place for children? Most of these festivals occur during the summer, just when local residents need a children’s park. Will we be able to take our children to a safe park if tens of thousands of people are congregating for a CFL football game or Bluefest concert? Due to the high-density in the surrounding neighbourhoods, few families have gardens which are large enough for children to play. During the summer, the community park is critically important as it’s the only place local children can play.
3.The governance structure for the Lansdowne site involves having a OSEG manage the site under the auspices of a Municipal Services Corporation. If the Community Park (e.g. wading pool, play structures, playing field) are dispersed through a larger Urban Park managed by a MSC, how will the City retain control of the Community Park? If, in the future, OSEG through the MSC wants to close the Community Park to use the space for concerts or overflow parking - what is to prevent them?
In respect to the issue of Sylvia Holden Community Park - the Lansdowne project has evolved significantly since the consultations held during the fall. The community park is now going to be re-designed, whereas previously it was excluded. During the fall, the public was told that there would only be a few nights a year when large events (10,000+ people) were going to be held at the new Lansdowne Park. With the inclusion of Bluesfest, Jazzfest, Winterlude and other festivals - these large scale events are going to be the norm rather than the exception. This will no doubt bring more consumers through the OSEG shopping mall - but it is also going to transform the local vicinity from one that is a great place to raise children into one that will be unsafe for children. It’s not reasonable for any city to undertake development of this scale which will massively impact the local neighbourhood without at least having an interactive, public meeting with the affected residents. I therefore, call upon you to attend the meeting being held by the Glebe Community Association on Thursday April 15th on the topic of Sylvia Holden Park, in order to address the concerns of local residents.
Respectfully,
Adrian Evans
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