Larry O’Brien

Please click here to view my interview with Max Keeping that ran on CTV yesterday.

Redeveloping Lansdowne Park has been a priority of mine since the election campaign and I am delighted that today Council made the right decision to make it happen.

On a vote of 14-9, Council directed staff to negotiate a partnership agreement with the Lansdowne Live group to restore this important City asset as the jewel of Ottawa.

Plans for redevelopment include refurbishing Frank Clair Stadium, renovating the Civic Centre and adding trade space, green space and commercial space to revitalize Bank Street.

Over the next 60 days, City staff will work in partnership with the Lansdowne Live group to reach an agreement that will be presented to Council for final approval. The process will include public consultations and I encourage you to get involved in this exciting project.

Today’s decision is an important step this Council has taken to revitalize our downtown core. Along with redeveloping Lansdowne Park, we are also building a new Congress Centre and a downtown transit tunnel. With these major projects we are building world-class infrastructure for a world-class city.

There has been a lot of work done on this file and I want to thank my Council colleagues, City staff and the Lansdowne Live group for their good work.

I also want to thank Mr. Melnyk and the SSE Group for their proposal and professionalism throughout this debate. Council did not vote against a soccer stadium in Kanata today – the door is still open to bring Major League Soccer to Ottawa, but we decided to first focus our investment into the core of the city to repair our park that has been left to deteriorate over the last two decades.

This past week, after a great deal of consideration and dialogue with members of Council and the public, I have concluded that the best option for rejuvenating Lansdowne Park is to develop an effective partnership with the Lansdowne Live group.

The Lansdowne Live group includes Roger Greenberg, Bill Shenkman, John Ruddy and Jeff Hunt. Together these individuals represent the skills and the financial resources to revitalize Lansdowne Park and repair the damage that has resulted from 20 years of neglect.

Lansdowne is our “people’s park” and it should be an exciting, vital gathering place for all of Ottawa. The Park has played that role since 1866 and I, for one, want to continue that heritage and maintain an important tradition for all of Ottawa. The Lansdowne Live proposal offers us that opportunity in a timely and affordable way.

The proposal for revitalization provides us with a 25,000 seat outdoor stadium that can be home to football, soccer, concerts and large outdoor meetings. The proposal also brings alive the Bank Street retail space in a way that enhances the Glebe and the entire city. We also will have enhanced green space and community space along the world heritage Rideau Canal.

The Lansdowne Live proposal will entail a lot of effort to become a reality, but the value equation for the City is sufficient to make that work meaningful. The benefits are many and the cost of doing nothing is simply unacceptable for a Capital city of a G8 nation.

The status of Frank Clair Stadium is clear; the south side stands are condemned and the north side stands have problems too. Oh and yes, the Civic Centre leaks as well.

The facility serves as home to the successful Ottawa 67’s (who have a lease until 2012) and is the only trade show space in Ottawa. Also, the Farmer’s Market, and to a lesser extent the Ottawa Exhibition, contribute to the 1.5 million people who visit Lansdowne Park every year.

Even though Lansdowne is broken, it is still serving important duties for the citizens of Ottawa. It is also a big part of our City’s heritage.

Today we have a broken yet commercially useful Lansdowne Park and a consensus that the Park needs rejuvenation. Just to keep it functioning as it is now will cost taxpayers approximately $25 million over the next 10 years. Unfortunately this is what happens when you ignore something for the last 20 years.

Now it’s time to fix it.

Some unsolicited solutions to the Lansdowne problem have come from the private sector and have been received and reviewed by the City. One of these proposals (Lansdowne Live) addresses fixing up Frank Clair Stadium and bringing the CFL back to Ottawa and the other recommends building a City owned stadium in Kanata as a home to a professional soccer team.

Both of these proposals would cost taxpayers in excess of $100 million. In addition, both of these proposals would ultimately fix Lansdowne Park. Moreover, both projects would result in economic activity during this downturn and fix an eyesore in the middle of our City. Over the next three weeks, City Council will make some important choices for the future of Lansdowne Park. There will not be a right or wrong answer, but there will many options. The worst outcome is to do nothing – that in my opinion is not an option.

To a certain extent, these unsolicited proposals are competing with each other. And when choosing between competing options in business, I have often measured them against questions relating to values. The four values and questions that have helped me make these types of choices are 1) Do we have all the facts? 2) Is this the best choice for the long term? 3) Will the solution chosen provide the most value added? and 4) Is it the most economically prudent choice?

These are the questions I will be asking over the next three weeks. Please keep us informed as to your views on this subject.