Consultation Meeting with the City June 14th

For those of you not on the google group:

Folks,

Good news. We've confirmed the date and time for the consultation with the City:

Date : Monday, June 14th
Time : 7:30 pm
Location : Glebe Community Centre

This time it is **really** important we get the entire community out. If we can pack the room - it will put immense pressure on the City to ensure the largest community park in the Glebe is preserved. This Saturday is the Glebe Garage Sale. When you're out and about tell your neighbours about the importance of attending this meeting.

->Adrian

Urban Park Designs Available

Here are a couple of ottawa.ca links regarding the Urban Park Design Competition for your perusal.

• the designs
• the public display schedule

Council Decides to Defer Motion On Park

The Sylvia Holden motion has been referred to next council meeting on May 26, 2010 (Hunter/Deans motion). Some councillors were trying for referral to the June 9 council meeting which was supported by the Mayor and the City Manager. Members of council who voted against
the May 26 referral include: O'Brien, Chiarelli, Qadri, Monette and Thompson.

Be ready to review the 'Front Yard' designs when they come out on May 20th and to be at City Hall on the 26th for the next vote on this matter.

Corrected Fact Sheet

Check Out Our New Fact Sheet

Please pass this information along.

Contact your councillor to let them know that on Wednesday you want them to vote to protect the park!

Upcoming Vote at Council - May 12th

Hello,

On May 12th, council will be voting on the following resolution:

Whereas relocating the existing community park amenities, which include a wading pool, maintenance building, play structure, baseball diamonds and dog run could cost in the order of two million dollars;

Whereas the wading pool of this community park space is the most heavily used children’s pool in the city and is essential to the successful operation of the City summer recreation programs;

Whereas the residents and community park users do not want any changes made to their local park nor do they want the city to incur needless new costs to the taxpayer to relocate park amenities;

Whereas the inclusion of the community park in the Request for Proposals for the Lansdowne Park Front Lawn Design Competition was done without any consultation with the local community or council and city staff have refused to meet with the community on this matter;

Be it resolved that the community park bounded by Queen Elizabeth Drive, Fifth Avenue and O’Connor be retained in its current configuration and function.

This is our opportunity to preserve the community park which is used extensively and which is adjacent to the Lansdowne site and should not be sucked into the overall Lansdowne re-development. Please contact council to tell them how important this park is to you and tell them why it should be preserved. If you can, please come out on May 12th to City Hall. Watch how your councillor votes. Do you want your councillor to vote in favour of wasting millions of tax-payer dollars to re-configure one of the most successful community parks in the city? If it ain't broken - don't waste money "re-configuring" it.

April 15th Meeting

The meeting was held to provide information and to gather feedback on the addition of Sylvia Holden Park to the Urban Park RFP.

There were three presentations followed by questions and comments.
Caroline Vanneste, president of the Glebe Community Association went through the sequence of events leading up to the inclusion of Sylvia Holden Park in the RFP. You can find Caroline's presentation here.

Clive Doucet, Capital Ward Councillor, put the concerns over the community park in the context the the greater Lansdowne redevelopment and expressed his support for initiatives to protect the community park. Also, Clive is going to pass a motion before council to request to remove the community park from the RFP.

Adrian Evans, a concerned citizen who lives close to the park spoke convincingly about the real risks of having the community park included in the RFP. Adrian's presentation is here.

Unfortunately no one from city staff attended the meeting. Invitation letters were sent by the GCA and followed-up on. Apparently city staff was specifically instructed NOT to attend.

There were many questions after the presentations. The questions were positive and mostly centered around what could be done to save the park. We also heard from a few of the "hundreds" of dog owners who use the dog park. Apparently this is the only dog park in the city that is totally fenced-in with high fences.

About 80 people attended the meeting. Also, two names were drawn for the park coloring contest. Congratulations to Leo and Rachel, each winners of $20 Miss Tiggy Winkles gift certificates.

Google Group Setup

We've setup a google group for people interested in protecting the community park to discuss with each other. Click here: http://groups.google.com/group/save-sylvia-holden-park/subscribe?note=1 to become a member.

Peter Hume on Sylvia Holden Park

You can view what Councillor Hume has said regarding Sylvia Holden Park under Maria Cook's

column :

http://communities.canada.com/OTTAWACITIZEN/blogs/designingottawa/archive/2010/04/15/sylvia-holden.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage

Councillor Hume tells us the community park will remain under control of the City. How is this possible if the park is seamlessly integrated into the larger Lansdowne site which is going to be managed by a Municipal Services Corporation?

How is the park going to be protected from huge crowds leaving the stadium after sports events and concerts?

If the community park is going to be improved - why isn't anybody from the City allowed to speak to local residents to tell them about this improved park?

In a year or two from now, with a new council, what value will these re-assurances have? Does the City have the budget to rip-up the existing park and re-build it?

The design teams have said that good consultation is required for good design. Why has there been zero consultation with local residents about the community park?

How can we resolve the claims about the park with the drawing which is being shopped around to prospective retailers at the mall:

There doesn't appear to be a lot of park-space here...

Public Meeting Thursday

Don't forget to come out to the public meeting :

When : April 15th at 7:30pm

Where : Glebe Community Centre

This is your chance to get your voice heard and speak to City officials.

Circa 1995

Thanks to Elaine, here's a copy of the article from the Glebe Report in 1995 when Sylvia Holden Park was created:

Petition is On-Line

Our on-line petition is up and ready. Please follow this link to sign the petition:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-community-park. We need to get a large number of signatures to have an impact - please get all your neighbours to sign!

Hands Off Our Park

The City chose to include Sylvia Holden Community Park in the RFP. This has raised concerns with residents for the following reasons:

1. Poor Consultation
The only public meeting held with local residents was on 28-SEP-2009 and the people had no opportunity to ask questions. At that point, the City assured residents that the park was excluded. Now, we find out that it is included and know little about what will become of it. It is incumbent upon the City to sit down with residents to explain.

2. Unknown Layout
The elements of the park may be moved around to integrate them into a larger Urban Park. Does this mean that parking garages or staging areas will be located along Holmwood & O'Connor?

3. Universal Access
The Community Park is to be integrated into the Urban Park and parts of the Urban Park will be closed when large events are held at Lansdowne. Will the wading pool and playing fields be closed whenever there's a concert, football game or festival (e.g. during Bluesfest)?

4. The Park is Part of our Heritage
The existing Community Park is a part of the heritage of the neighbourhood. It was established in honour of Sylvia Holden and it includes commemorative trees and mature trees. How do we preserve this history?

5. Governance
The re-developed Lansdowne Site may be managed by a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC). Apparently, the Community Park will continue to be operated by the City. How is this possible if the Community Park is integrated into the Urban Park? What prevents the MSC controlling access or imposing fees?

6. Incorrect Inventory (no dog park!!)
The RFP indicates that : "Sylvia Holden Park includes two baseball diamonds, a basketball court, a splash pad, a play structure, outdoor rinks, an informal sports field and a small wadding [sic] pool and a park support building." The inventory omits the dog park, two sets of swings and all of the the trees. And there is no splash pad nor outdoor rinks. Will the new park have a splash-pad instead of a real wading pool?

7. Will the Park be Safe for Children?
The re-developed Lansdowne site is going to include a huge shopping mall and will host large sporting events, concerts and festivals with huge crowds. Will the Community Park continue to be a safe place for children?

8. Is the City able to Deliver?
The outcome of the design competition will be an ambitious park project. Does the City have the budget to deliver this project? Or will we only see the commercial aspects (e.g. shopping mall, hotel) be realized. The City of Ottawa has a track record of promising ambitious re-development and not following through (e.g. Orleans town centre, Lebreton Flats, Westboro Loblaws).

Many aspects of the Lansdowne site can be improved - however - the community park works well as it is. Please write to council and John Smit, city manager in charge of the redevelopment project, to share your concerns.

The GCA is organizing an information meeting on April 15th at 7:30pm at the Glebe Community Centre - please come out!

Dear Councillor Hume

What follows is a cut/paste of Adrian's letter to Councillor Hume:

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

Good to Meet You

Despite cold weather there was a strong turn-out for the March 21st meeting at Sylvia Holden Community Park with 20 new volunteers signed-up to help the cause. The children started the 'popsicle soccer' season with a small match on the playing field and then moved over to the play structure. The adults met to discuss their concerns; many people weren't aware that the intended uses of Lansdowne include large concerts and as a satellite site for festivals like Bluesfest. This was of great concern to parents who realized that their children wouldn't necessarily be safe. Users of the dog park weren't aware that the dog park is possibly in jeopardy. MPP Yasir Naqvi joined the meeting and he pointed out that it was important to consider the history of the park and that the current park commemorates Sylvia Holden who played an important role in our community - we can't just move the park and preserve this heritage. After the meeting, the group moved over to the play structure for a photo of children displaying the message 'Save Our Park'. We discussed follow-up activities and are planning to organize a hug-the-park event and a community barbecue. Many thanks to everybody who came out and who volunteered to get involved.

Please remember to send a note to register your concern.

Use this quick email link to begin composing an email which includes the mayor and councillors, the city`s project manager, the NCC,  Parks Canada, and mayoral candidate Jim Watson.

Meeting This Sunday

Come and share info with your neighbours this Sunday! 4pm at the park, by the playstructure.

Flickr Is Up!

The Sylvia Holden Park flickr site is setup with the photos we received so far. Please still send your pictures and we can add them. The more the better.

Enjoy!

Photo Site

Hi everyone,

We are setting up a photo site to highlight the different uses of the park and how much fun we all have there. If you have photos to contribute, please pass them along.

Note that the photo site will be viewable but the public so please make sure that the people in the pictures (or parents!) have given their consent.

Rob

Lots of Links

Here are some links to information about the Lansdowne Partnership Plan that relate to our community park:

• Guiding Principles for Design Competition
• Lansdowne Timeline
• Slides from the Design Symposium. The 3rd to last slide 'Overlap Area' is very interesting. It shows how the Commercial development is really what dominates the site.
• An Ottawa Citizen article by Maria Cook on the Request for Proposals (RFP)
• and the actual RFP for those who really want to dig in.
  

From the RFP, here is the key text regarding the community park:

Sylvia Holden Community Park
Sylvia Holden Park is currently separated from the Primary Competition Area by a chain-link fence. Design solutions are to integrate the existing park with the new urban park design.
The facilities in the existing park are important to the local community. Design solutions may propose to redesign the existing community park; however, must also ensure that the park amenities are not lost. Therefore if redesigned, the primary community facilities must be integrated into the new urban park and must remain fully community accessible at all times.
Currently, the primary community facilities in Sylvia Holden Park include two baseball diamonds, a basketball court, a splash pad, a play structure, outdoor rinks, an informal sports field and a small wadding pool and a park support building. If any of the current facilities are relocated to a new area, the new facilities must be in place before the existing ones are decommissioned.

Let’s Save Sylvia Holden Community Park!

Dear Neighbours,

Do you use the wading pool, dog run, baseball diamonds, basketball courts, play structures or open field at the Community Park behind the fire station near Lansdowne Park? If so, you should know that this Community Park (part of Sylvia Holden Park) may be affected by Lansdowne’s redevelopment.

The principles and terms of reference for the Lansdowne urban park design competition call for proposals to integrate the Community Park within the new urban park and the larger civic agenda of Lansdowne Park. From a design perspective, this might make sense and there may be an opportunity to redesign the Community Park. However, if the partnership with OSEG goes ahead, the city will no longer run Lansdowne Park. It will be managed by a Municipal Services Corporation (MSC). Will there be user fees? Will they close off access during large events at Lansdowne? Will it determine the types of activities? Many questions, few clear answers.

We believe it is vital to protect this space as a Community Park (wading pool, play structure, dog park, baseball, basketball, dog park, etc.). One has to ask why the Community Park is being included in the design competition, while more than twenty acres of the site are set aside for commercial development.

If you are concerned, please:

• Write Councillor Peter Hume (peter.hume@ottawa.ca), the City’s project and manager John Smit (john.smit@ottawa.ca); the NCC (marie.lemay@ncc-ccn.ca) and Parks Canada (alan.latourelle@pc.gc.ca). Ask them to leave the Community Park out of the Lansdowne redevelopment. Please copy to the rest of council. (This mail link will include the named people, councillors, and mayor.)
  
• Join your neighbours for an informal get-together at the Community Park on Sunday, March 21st at 4:00pm.
• Attend a public meeting organized by the GCA on Thursday, April 15th at 7:30pm the Glebe Community Centre (Scotton Hall).
• Get involved by sending us an email; include photos showing how you use the park to: save.sylvia.holden.park@gmail.com.
• Stay informed at http://savesylviaholdenpark.blogspot.com/
• Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper!

Adrian Evans
Robert Campbell
Joseph Duggan

First Post

You might have seen this poster around the neighbourhood. We'll be using this blog for keeping people informed regarding our community park and potential changes to it. Please make time for the meetings. Your participation is important.

If you have ideas, comments, or would like to post to this site you can send mail to save.sylvia.holden.park@gmail.com.