Lansdowne Live will be good for the whole region
Posted Nov 26, 2009 By Jeff Maguire
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Tweet ThisEMC Lifestyle - Is there anywhere better in the world to hear and participate in conversations about sports than a barber shop?
In my experience it has always been thus! Most barbers love to talk and in a male-dominated environment the chatter inevitably turns to the thrills and spills, the ups and downs of the wide and wonderful world of sports.
That is certainly the case at my barber shop in Carleton Place. It is run by the Smiths, a father and son team who also happen to be major sports fans - with an emphasis on Ottawa sports of course.
I was in for a haircut last week and almost immediately son Dan and I started talking Ottawa Senators. Dan happens to be a close personal friend of Sens' forward Shean Donovan. Shean grew up in Carleton Place and the two went to school together. Shean is still a customer at the Smith barber shop and, naturally, he is one of "our" favourite athletes. Carleton Place folks stick together! Besides, Shean is a class act.
Unfortunately Shean suffered a serious knee injury late last week and is out of Sens' line-up for a minimum six to eight weeks. It could be longer depending on a pending examination by a specialist. Obviously everyone here wishes Shean a speedy recovery!
As the Sens/Donovan chatter abated, father Ike chipped in from across the shop where he was tending to another customer.
"What do you think about the Lansdowne decision Jeff?"
Ike said he was pleased to see it and there were general nods of approval around the shop, including from yours truly.
Our chat was the day after Ottawa city council finally ended the long and painful debate over what to do with historic Lansdowne Park. Lansdowne is the traditional home of professional football in the nation's capital along with SuperEx and so many other things.
Ottawa councillors, in a 15-9 vote, gave approval in principle to the project known as 'Lansdowne Live.'
It is a partnership between the city and an organization called 'Ottawa Sports and Entertainment.' The partners are Jeff Hunt, Ottawa 67's dynamic owner, William Shenkman, who also has interests in other sports including part ownership of the London, England soccer team Millwall Football Club, business leader and philanthropist John Ruddy and Roger Greenberg from the prominent Greenberg family who, among many things, are also well known for their philanthropic endeavors.
Lansdowne Live is a business proposal aimed at redeveloping Lansdowne Park and the city's crumbling outdoor sports arena Frank Clair Stadium. Included in the work would be the Civic Centre (now called Urbandale Centre), the arena and entertainment complex beneath the famous 'North Stand' of the former football stadium.
It is the city's proposed involvement in the multi-million dollar plan which sparked controversy and led to the lengthy process which finally gained traction last Monday (Nov. 16).
Expensive plan
The program would see some $129 million (m) of city funds used, most of which would be borrowed. The business partners would manage the construction project and accept the risk associated with cost overruns. They would build a complex including nearly 200,000 square feet of retail space, an eight-screen theatre complex and more than 75,000 sq. ft. of office space. There would also be many changes relative to existing buildings on the sprawling downtown site, including the famous Aberdeen Pavilion, known locally as 'The Cattle Castle'. It would remain a focal point with new restaurants and other associated facilities inside.
The business group would spend at least $117m of which nearly $98m would be borrowed.
In an effort to appease residents of the surrounding Glebe neighbourhood, who have long been opposed to the stadium, exhibition etc. (mainly due to the associated noise factor and high traffic volume) the existing parking lot on the site would become green space. Parking would be in underground lots.
There is also a Phase 2 proposal which could involve the addition of a hotel as well as town homes and condominiums.
At the heart of the stadium proposal is Ottawa Sports and Entertainment's conditional franchise in the Canadian Football League (CFL) which Hunt has held for several years and will continue to hold for at least two more years. The partners also hope to attract pro soccer to an improved Frank Clair Stadium, although there is at least one opposing bid.
The CFL badly wants back into Ottawa, despite the fact two previous teams failed. Besides being the capital of the country, Ottawa is also a major population centre.
The former Ottawa Rough Riders were one of the longest standing professional sports franchises in North America. The team operated for 120 years before collapsing in the midst of ownership problems in 1996.
Six years later the CFL returned in the form of the Ottawa Renegades who operated for fours seasons. The franchise was suspended indefinitely by the league in 2006 due to financial instability.
Hunt has worked wonders with the Ontario Hockey League 67's that are arguably the most successful franchise in Canadian Major Junior hockey. Hunt was awarded the conditional CFL franchise in March 2008 and it is he who Ottawa and Ottawa Valley sports fans, including me, are banking on to successfully revive pro football in the capital. He has some strong and rich partners in the persons of Messer's Greenberg, Shenkman and Ruddy.
Who wouldn't stand behind such a fine local group with a plan that holds such promise?
Well, nine members of city council to name some. There are numerous opponents and naysayers actually. They have come out of the woodwork during this slow moving process.
Now there is light at the end of the tunnel. A final council vote won't happen until next June once ongoing transportation and retail studies are completed and detailed agreements inked by all of the parties.
The good news is that with 15 supporters on the current council and the next election not until November 2010, Lansdowne Live appears to have enough support to go forward.
All things being equal construction could start late next year or early 2011 and would last nearly three years.
Long road
Hunt is on record as saying a CFL team will not kick a football in anger until the stadium itself (part of the south stands must be rebuilt from the ground up) is "completely finished.
"We won't be playing football in a partly completed stadium," he vows.
I couldn't possibly agree more.
The proposed start date for a revived CFL franchise - which is currently 2013 - may prove to be too tight? It could be 2014.
Critics and there are still many of them, say that after two failures CFL football will not work in Ottawa.
True, the CFL has left town twice and the city's pro baseball team, the Ottawa Lynx, were moved to Reading, Pennsylvania in 2008, ending a 15-year run in the city.
However, the football teams always garnered good crowds, even when their ownership was highly questionable.
Now, back to my conversation in the barber shop! There was strong support for the plan and from dedicated sports fans.
It is chats like that which make me optimistic pro football could still do very well in Ottawa. I certainly hope so! We were season ticket holders for years and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I prefer football to hockey actually and my friend Ike Smith said the same thing last week, pointing to the many good times he had during years of attending Rough Riders and Renegades' games at Lansdowne.
My father first took me to a Riders' game in 1960 and I was immediately hooked. Except for a five-year hiatus while I was working in southwestern Ontario. I attended virtually every Ottawa CFL home game over the course of more than 30 years. I even had season tickets in the end zone when I was in high school.
In the 1960s Ottawa ruled in the CFL. Rough Riders won three Grey Cups (Canadian championships) during the decade, including back-to-back titles in 1968 and 1969. In total Rough Riders claimed nine cups during their long tenure.
Much like the NHL Senators of today, Riders were an institution in Ottawa and across eastern Ontario. There were quarterback clubs in virtually every small town in the district, including Carleton Place. I clearly remember the celebration at the QB Club in Carleton Place following Ottawa's 1976 cup win.
(For the remainder of Jeff's reflections on the Lansdowne Live proposal, see next week's EMC.)
If you have any comments or questions for Jeff Maguire, he can be reached by e-mail at: jeffrey.maguire@rogers.com
What Ottawa sports fan, who was alive at the time, will ever forget the Tom Clements to Tony Gabriel pass which clinched the `76 cup win? That's the stuff sports dreams are made of.
Now there is a dream which would revive the CFL in Ottawa. I for one am hopeful it will happen!
Some members of council who were on the losing end of last week's vote say "the fight isn't over" meaning they still hope to defeat Lansdowne Live.
I laughed out loud at some of the comments by Ottawa Citizen columnist Randall Denley aimed at dissenting councillors Clive Doucet and Alex Cullen. Like Denley, I believe their approach to this matter has not been constructive.
I realize this proposal is the only one on the table. But it is a good one. Lansdowne Park is worth saving, for a wide variety of reasons, and I now feel this plan is worthy of general support.
Regular readers will know if I had my way the city's main outdoor sports stadium would be located in Kanata, not downtown. But nothing can change where Lansdowne is and because a west end stadium is unlikely in the near future, I think the city should work with Ottawa Sports and Entertainment to achieve the best possible downtown sports and entertainment facility for Ottawa and eastern Ontario.
There's no question this has positive ramifications, not only for the people of Ottawa, but for residents of communities across the region. Lansdowne Park has long been a focal point. Hopefully it will remain so?
As for the CFL there is every reason to believe Ottawa can have a successful team in the hands of the right people - people like Jeff Hunt. The league remains quite successful overall and Ottawa has a long and storied history of supporting the CFL.
I am now hopeful fans from across this district will have an opportunity to rediscover Canadian football, perhaps as soon as 2013.
