Search string: "pavilion"
Matches found: 18NCC gets "stimulus" money
In the giving from the right hand to the left department, the federal government is granting itself $35 million, give or take, to fix some roads, bridges and fancy washrooms administered by the NCC. There are 14 projects in all:
- fully $21.45 million is going to a clutch of roads and bridges for repaving and so forth
- $1.5 million for a new greenbelt pathway
- $450 000 to repair a retaining wall in Major's Hill Park
- $1.5 million to rehabilitate the Victoria Island Carbide Mill building masonry
- $3.75 million to replace "the existing public skateway facilities (washrooms, info kiosks, etc.) placed onto the Rideau Canal Skateway each winter"
- $3 million to Vincent Massey Park for "rehabilitation of the concession, bus shelter and bandstand buildings, plus select improvements to adjoining recreational pathways, parking facilities, and landscape renewal" - no mention of the planned $2.2 million dollar washroom though. Maybe that's because the washroom stimulus money's all going to the Hog's Back Park Washroom Pavilion, which is getting a whopping $3 million for "rehabilitation of the existing public washroom and concession buildings, including significant universal accessibility upgrades."
So the roads and bridges brigade beat out the parks and washrooms contingent roughly 2-1, which is probably par for the course.
CBC: National Capital Commission gets $35M in stimulus [6 Jan 2010]
Infrastructure Canada Release: Canada Invests In the National Capital Commission [6 Jan 2010]
PMO to decide fate of NCC tombstone
The fate of the NCC's vacant mouldy tombstone, the Canada and the World Pavilion, is now with the PMO, according to the Citizen:
Several prospective tenants have lined up to snag this scenic site by the Rideau Falls, including the Governor General, the Australian high commission and the municipal Ottawa Art Gallery. The battle has become so politically sensitive that the Prime Minister's Office has taken control of the file from the NCC.
Insiders say that the Governor General is the most likely winner of a long and vigorous lobbying campaign by the various parties to occupy the building and that the Ottawa Art Gallery, despite interventions from Mayor Larry O'Brien and vocal grassroots supporters, has virtually no hope of moving there from its cramped, drab location downtown in Arts Court.
The Aussies are in with a chance as payback for giving Canada a nice spot in Canberra for our high commission. Perennial no-hopers the Ottawa Art Gallery remain out of the running.
Citizen: PMO will decide fate of the Canada and the World Pavilion [7 May 2008]
NCC Watch: Ottawa Art Gallery news
Pavilion overtaken by mould
Oh look, the NCC's vacant tombstone of waste, the Canada and the World Pavilion, has been rendered uninhabitable by mould:
But when an engineer from Public Works and Government Services Canada investigated the state of the building, which is owned by the National Capital Commission, he found toxigenic mould.
"There is a high risk to the Crown to proceed with this project," engineer Joseph Wong reported.
"This facility presents a risk for developing significant mould-related problems that can induce allergies and other health and comfort problems," he wrote.
He reported that replacement of walls to solve the mould issue in the office areas had not fixed the problem.
"The issue of mould will not go away," wrote Mr. Wong. "It will be a great challenge to mitigate the potential dispersion of mould spores within the building due to the traffic and openness of the space."
[...]The source of the water appears to have been a leaking water intake at the Rideau Falls power plant next door, owned by Fortis Power. Repairs were done last summer and fall and now the NCC is waiting to see if there is more water infiltration when the spring runoff begins.
In one of his e-mails last spring, Mr. Wong said the high water table in the area could pose a long-term threat. "This problem will never go away," he said.
Typically, the Citizen had to obtain this information via an access to information request. What else did they discover? Dig:
Early in 2007, the Governor General's office was eyeing 50 Sussex Dr., steps from the prime minister's residence and Rideau Hall, as a showplace for its Chancellery of Honours. Despite some Ottawans' desire to see it put to other uses, documents released to the Citizen under access to information legislation show there was a rush within the federal government to get the picturesque property ready for the Governor General.
There were plans to have the Governor General's operation moved in, at least temporarily, by July 1, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean would open the new quarters to mark the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Order of Canada.
So the NCC made a secret deal last spring and the Governor General would be in the Pavilion now if the mould hadn't gotten there first. So much for the Ottawa Art Gallery and its plans for the Firestone Collection.
The NCC is currently undertaking openness and transparency initiatives. These are evidently irrelevant to the actual day-to-day operation of the NCC.
Ottawa Citizen: NCC's spectacular Sussex Drive property plagued by mould [11 Feb 2008]
Ottawa Citizen: Another secret deal [12 Feb 2008]
NCC stands up for portrait gallery in Ottawa
The NCC took a break from stymieing attempts by the Ottawa Art Gallery to put its collection in the unused Canada and the World Pavilion to announce they think the Portrait Gallery of Canada should be located in Ottawa-Gatineau. From the Citizen:
The National Capital Commission's board sent a message to the Harper government yesterday that the Portrait Gallery of Canada should be located in Ottawa-Gatineau, but it stopped short of urging the government to reconsider its plans for the institution.
Under the Conservatives' plan, the gallery could end up in the capital or one of eight other cities, built by a private developer.
The NCC board, under chairman Russell Mills, unanimously passed a motion at a meeting yesterday calling for the gallery to be located in the capital region along with the rest of the country's cultural institutions.
Former Ottawa mayor Jacquelin Holzman, a board member, presented a companion motion that called on the government to reconsider allowing the gallery to be located outside the capital area, but she received no support.
A plan to call on the government to also scrap its decision on private sector involvement was also discussed, but abandoned.
Ottawa Citizen: NCC wants portrait gallery in Ottawa [25 Jan 2008]
Tombstone of Waste in diplomatic tug-of-war
A slow news Monday has the National Post summing up the spat about what to do with the NCC's failed Canada and the World Pavilion:
It is one of Ottawa's most coveted sites -- a vacant two-storey building set among parkland, with the picturesque Rideau Falls cascading next door, an unrivalled view of the Ottawa River and Quebec, and a location just down from the official residences of the Prime Minister and Governor-General.
The site of 50 Sussex Drive used to house the Canada & World Pavilion, a $5.7-million taxpayer-funded museum opened in 2001 by the National Capital Commission to draw tourists and showcase Canadian accomplishments.
It featured, among other things, great sporting moments and Celine Dion's Grammy. Admission was free, but attendance was poor and the building closed four years later in 2005. It became a white elephant along this important stretch of road. The "NCC Watch" Web site dubbed it among Ottawa's "Tombstones of Waste."
The Governor-General wants the site for the Chancellery of Honours, the office that looks after the Order of Canada and Bravery Awards, and for a public exhibit to focus on Canada's honours system and the Heraldry.
The Ottawa Art Gallery, which houses a number of prominent Canadian works, is also vying for the space. The Australian High Commission is understood to have been interested and the NCC has acknowledged it has spoken informally to some embassies.
A NCC spokesman said last week it has not reached a decision and is also looking elsewhere within the "federal family" to occupy the space, but did not provide a full list of those being considered.
So, no change there, then.
National Post: Ottawa address in diplomatic tug-of-war [13 Aug 2007]
Governor General to annex Canada and the World Pavilion
According to the Ottawa Citizen, the Governor General wants the NCC's failed Pavilion on Sussex for offices. Well, who wouldn't? With some sweet views of the river and Rideau Falls, the pavilion would make a nice quiet spot for more of the federal bureaucracy. Problem 1, the building was designed as a museum and refitting it for offices would require further expensive modifications to the $6 million-and-counting white elephant on the falls. The Ottawa Art Gallery, whose extensive Canadian collection is currently housed in the inadequate Arts Court building on Daly Avenue, had been lobbying the NCC to get its collection into the pavilion, but, unbeknownst to anyone, the Guv'nor made a request for the space as far back as April 2, so the fix has been in for some time. Kinda explains why the Guv'nor never responded to the OAG's request for support. From the Citizen:
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean wants to take over the former Canada and the World Pavilion at 50 Sussex Dr., a $5.7-million building beside the historic Rideau Falls with stunning views of the Ottawa River. The Citizen's story and editorial this week on the fate of the site -- how the Ottawa Art Gallery wants the building but fears a deal has been struck to put Rideau Hall staff there -- prompted a letter from Rideau Hall yesterday, confirming that the Governor General's office wants the space.
Sheila-Marie Cook, secretary to the Governor General, says the pavilion -- with its high visibility, prestige and abundant exhibition space -- would be an ideal place for the Governor General's Chancellery of Honours. The building became vacant in 2005 when the National Capital Commission, which had used it as a small museum showcasing Canadian accomplishments, closed it to save money.
But John Baird, the senior political cabinet minister for the capital region, yesterday said he thinks it's a terrible idea.
"A prime piece of property like that, it just seems silly. I don't support it. It's on the ceremonial route. Putting the Governor General's staff there is ridiculous," said Mr. Baird, in a meeting with the Citizen's editorial board. "It shouldn't be used for that purpose. Surely to goodness there's a better use for that prime real estate."
Mr. Baird, the MP for Ottawa West-Nepean, said he's open to the idea of putting Ottawa Art Gallery works on display and therefore keeping it all public space, but that he doesn't have enough information about the proposal to endorse the idea.
If picked up by the Governor General, the space would accommodate about 35 staff members, including researchers, artists and the staff who process nominations for honours.
[Acting NCC CEO] Ms. Dube said yesterday that she received notice on April 2 that Rideau Hall wanted the property, but could not disclose to the gallery group, or the public, the nature of the proposal. She said the project was first raised in a letter from Ms. Jean to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who passed the matter to Public Works to handle. Ms. Dube said it was not her place to be announcing a project of the Governor General.
She added that the NCC has received a request from Public Works for a licence of occupation of the pavilion so that the Governor General's staff can begin using the space by July 1.
Journalist Sarah Jennings, who has supported the Ottawa Art Gallery in its push for the federal building, said it's important that this place be kept for public, cultural space, given that historic Sussex Drive has been swamped with high security offices and embassies in the last decade. She has hope that the gallery idea might still fly, if the public rallies behind it and the government backs away from spending money fitting up the building for the Chancellery of Honours.
"There's no Ottawa on Ottawa's Mile of History and this is the ideal solution," she said. "It's absolutely wrong to put this iconic site into office space for bureaucrats."
To support the Ottawa Art Gallery's campaign, sign their petition.
Citizen: World pavilion's future: art gallery or offices (expires 30 days) [3 May 2007]
Citizen: Leave room for the view (expires 30 days) [4 May 2007]
Citizen: Rideau Hall says it wants Sussex pavilion for offices (expires 30 days) [5 May 2007]
Ottawa Art Gallery: Petition to the NCC
Keep Sussex pavilion public, group tells NCC
The New Edinburgh Community Alliance is adding its support to the campaign to have the Canada and the World Pavilion made into the new home of the Ottawa Art Gallery. From the Citizen:
Gemma Kerr, president of the alliance, says allowing another embassy or federal office building will make Sussex Drive even more of a street that's dominated by high-security buildings, shut off from public access. "It's goodbye to free public access," if either an embassy takes over the building, or a federal agency or department moves in, said Ms. Kerr in an interview. "I do not want to see our ceremonial way become just a line of embassies." Without public access, Sussex Drive will lose its historic function as a ceremonial route, she said.
[...]The NCC says it will preserve public access to Rideau Falls in whatever deal is struck and it will carefully consider proposals to renovate or add on to the building.
The community is highly skeptical that public access would be maintained, given what has happened over the last quarter century along Sussex.
The street, famously known for the prime minister's residence and Rideau Hall, residence of the Governor General, is part of Confederation Boulevard, dubbed Ottawa's "mile of history" by former NCC chairwoman Jean Pigott.
But the street has become the "mile of security" in recent years. The NCC gave the green light to build the United States Embassy after a proposal to build it on Mile Circle at Rockcliffe created a community uproar there in the 1980s. The NCC also allowed the governments of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to build well-secured embassies on Sussex. The Aga Khan is taking over the former Canadian war museum on Sussex and is making it the Global Centre for Pluralism.
The federal government took over the former Ottawa city hall on Green Island.
Rideau Hall was closed to the public for a short period when former governor general Jeanne Sauve closed the gates in the name of security in the 1980s. After a community uproar in New Edinburgh, the huge property was reopened to the public.
"There's barely a property left that's not embassy. I'm not anti-embassy. I'm just trying to keep this mile of Canadian history," said Brian McGarry, the Conservative candidate in Ottawa Centre. "I'm trying to find a spot for it. There's really not much left."
[...]Ms. Kerr isn't convinced the NCC, long criticized for its secretive operations, will give the Ottawa Art Gallery a fair hearing. She says the commission's deliberations on this matter are not taking place in the open.
"We're seeing same old, same old," said Ms. Kerr.
[...]Mr. McGarry said he'd like to see the NCC conduct a public discussion about possible uses of the pavilion.
Time to test the NCC's newly declared interest in "Openness and communication with the public" and "Increased representation of Canada and Canadians in the Capital."
Citizen: Keep Sussex pavilion public, group tells NCC [4 Mar 2007]
New Edinburgh Community Alliance: Fate of the Canada and the World Pavilion Imminent? [1 Mar 2007]
Ottawa Art Gallery: Petition to the NCC
Federal candidate declares support for Ottawa Art Gallery proposal
More support for the campaign to have the Canada and the World Pavilion made into the new home of the Ottawa Art Gallery, this time from the new Conservative candidate in Ottawa Centre. From the Citizen:
Mr. McGarry, selected as the Conservative candidate in Ottawa Centre last Wednesday, said Monday Sussex Drive is supposed to be the national capital's "Mile of History," yet there have been an increasing number of embassies permitted to build on it. "No offence to our foreign neighbours, but they have quite a lot of property already. Could we not preserve some for ourselves?" he said yesterday, in an interview with the Citizen.
[...] Mr. McGarry - a prominent Ottawa businessman who served on Ottawa's public school board and on the city's former regional council - said the pavilion building is a perfect fit for the spectacular Canadian art in the Ottawa Art Gallery's Firestone Collection. The Firestone Collection was given to the Ontario government, and subsequently the City of Ottawa, by the late O.J. and Isobel Firestone, who travelled across Canada collecting art. But gallery supporters have been unhappy with the poor public display of the collection at Arts Court, an old building on Daly Avenue. They say it makes sense to have at least one presence from the City of Ottawa along the capital's Confederation Boulevard, sometimes called Ottawa's Mile of History.
Last week, Mayor Larry O'Brien publicly threw his support behind the idea of moving the gallery to 50 Sussex Dr.
Mr. McGarry said the art gallery would have to come up with money for the property, but he said some prominent Ottawa philanthropists would likely help in this cause. He is hoping to make a case for the gallery moving into 50 Sussex to Lawrence Cannon, the federal transport minister and MP for Pontiac, who has cabinet responsibility for the NCC and who will have to sign off on any long-term lease of the building.
Ottawa Art Gallery supporters who are eyeing the Sussex Drive property are worried that the exhibition space will slip through their fingers without any real public debate.
"We're all somewhat concerned about decisions being made behind closed doors," said Mr. McGarry. "I'd hope they'd give us a chance before it's decided without public input."
Citizen: McGarry sees Sussex Drive as future home of art gallery [26 Feb 2007]
Ottawa Art Gallery: Petition to the NCC
Whither the Canada and the World Pavilion II
Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien declared his support for a lobbying campaign to get the Ottawa Art Gallery into the NCC's vacant Canada and the World Pavilion at an Ottawa Art Gallery fundraising breakfast at Arts Court. From the Citizen:
Since the election and the collapse of the rail project, the gallery has set its sights on the Canada and the World Pavilion. Letters to that effect have been sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon (who is the minister responsible for the NCC) and other federal officials.
A public petition has also been started. The gallery believes public pressure on federal politicians is the best way to ensure the NCC delivers the building.
The NCC maintains it must first determine whether the building is suitable for use within the "federal family" -- government departments, agencies and foreign embassies.
"I asked them," O'Brien said, "why they couldn't get around that."
An answer was apparently not forthcoming. In fact, the NCC seems to be offering no encouragement to the Ottawa Art Gallery. Hence the decision to lobby politicians.
The Ottawa Art Gallery's petition is online at their website.
Citizen: Mayor takes up cause with new arts-friendly attitude [22 Feb 2007]
Ottawa Art Gallery: Petition to the NCC
Whither the Canada and the World Pavilion
The NCC's fabulous Sussex tombstone of waste, the Canada and the World Pavilion, still needs a tenant. Predictably, the NCC favors an embassy. From the Citizen:
NCC spokesman Mario Tremblay said yesterday that the commission has been discussing "informal proposals" with some embassies about the building. He said no formal proposal has been received.
The pavilion, just down the street from the prime minister's residence at 24 Sussex Drive and the Governor General's residence at Rideau Hall, was built at a cost of $5.7 million to federal taxpayers. It was operated as a mini-museum, celebrating the accomplishments of Canadians, but closed in 2005 due to budget cuts at the NCC. It features spectacular views of the Ottawa River and is part of the capital's historic Confederation Boulevard, a ceremonial route that includes Sussex Drive and Wellington Street.
Mr. Tremblay said the commission is trying to find the right match for the property within the "federal family." That includes federal departments, Crown agencies, non-governmental organizations and foreign embassies -- organizations that all serve a national interest for Canada.
The NCC has long been obsessed with encouraging such architectural mediocrities as the embassies of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Confederation Boulevard, claiming that doing so in some way communicates Canada to Canadians. Or something. In any case, some locals are suggesting to instead use the pavilion to house the Ottawa Art Gallery and the Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, given to Ottawa by Jack and Isobel Firestone in the 1970s. The 1,600-piece collection - valued at more than $11 million - includes works by prominent Canadian artists such as A.Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, Lawren Harris, A.J. Casson, Emily Carr and Jack Shadbolt. The art is currently housed in Arts Court on Daly Avenue.
Citizen: NCC wants embassy to take over pavilion [1 Feb 2007]
NCC to have "new, stronger mandate"
Little over a week before the expected report from the NCC Mandate Review, and Treasury Board pres John Baird is already crowing about a "new, stronger mandate" for the clapped out organization:
"Lawrence Cannon has been working on this hard, and we've got a phenomenal opportunity to protect the Greenbelt, increase accountability and transparency, and a new, stronger mandate for the NCC," Mr. Baird said in an interview.
"It has the potential to be a big win for environmentalists, for people who want more accountability and for people who want vision. It can be a real accomplishment of this minority Parliament. It is exciting."
Ah yes, the Vision thing - not all that long ago, the NCC's vision included the Metcalfe Grand Boulevard and the Canada and the World Pavilion.
Nevertheless, "most observers believe the NCC's mandate will be expanded to include, at least, transportation planning and a new funding model will be put in place to prevent it from being forced to sell land to fund and sustain its activities." Transportation planning - much like that freeway they're building through Gatineau Park? Another "big win" for the environmentalists. Oh yeah, and the new NCC will be "more open."
It's a curious end to a process that started a few short months ago with Lawrence Cannon wondering if the NCC was even necessary. Since then, the NCC performed a reverse takeover of the review to the point where NCC flak Laurie Peters now runs interference for the panel and the NCC gets everything it ever asked for, all in exchange for maybe opening up a few board meetings. Looks like a "big win" alright - for the NCC.
Citizen: More open NCC to have stronger mandate: Baird [13 Dec 2006]
Time to rethink the NCC
With a new government in power, seems like a good time reconsider the NCC's role, and Citizen editorial board member Kate Heartfield digs right in, suggesting right off the top that new minister Lawrence Cannon "should begin by asking himself why the NCC exists." And it only gets better:
The NCC's attempts to further beautify the city in the last decade or so have been ridiculous. Remember the proposal to widen Metcalfe Street so it would line up with the Parliament Buildings? Or the defunct Canada and the World Pavilion? This is what happens when you have an organization with a budget and no reason to exist. All the NCC can do to Ottawa now is mess it up.
There are plenty of ordinary projects the NCC could do that have nothing to do with making Ottawa capital-worthy. But there's no reason for the NCC to do those things. We have a city council, a provincial government, and federal departments in charge of heritage, parks and public works.
It was the NCC that razed LeBreton Flats four decades ago, but there's no reason the city government couldn't be in charge of redeveloping it now. The city manages development in other neighbourhoods within a stone's throw of Parliament Hill, and does at least as good a job as the NCC is doing with the Flats.
It is an insult to democracy to suggest that only the NCC can take the long view when it comes to developing Ottawa, as city council is too dependent on the goodwill of its constituents. Ottawa's residents have as much interest as anyone in ensuring that the capital is a beautiful place, now and in the future.
Citizen: Time to rethink the NCC [14 Feb 2006]
Good riddance to a white elephant
Randall Denley sums up the legacy of the Canada and the World Pavilion in today's Citizen:
If you believe the NCC's public utterances, the quasi-museum next to Rideau Falls closed strictly because of a budget squeeze at the commission. The real story, an internal NCC document reveals, is that the museum was closed because it was an expensive attendance flop that was outside the commission's mandate.
In letters to the private sector company and government departments that gave money to the pavilion, NCC chairman Marcel Beaudry said "the difficult decision to close the pavilion was motivated solely by financial considerations, and by the complexity of sustaining a museum-type infrastructure when faced with financial constraints."
That's still the official word, according to NCC vice-president Gilles Lalonde.
Funny, though, that's not quite the story revealed in the NCC report released to Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin as the result of an access to information request. According to that report, "Visitation levels at the pavilion are low and the facility is operated on a seasonal basis. As a result, this use of funds is not the best value for Canadians."
The report notes "operation of this facility is not central to the corporation's mandate." No kidding. Even though the NCC has a broad and vague mandate, being in the quasi-museum business isn't part of it.
You have to appreciate the droll language. "Interest and visitation have been somewhat disappointing, notwithstanding that there is no entrance fee charged for individuals." Translated, this means "we can't give the thing away."
The pavilion was projected to have annual attendance of 120,000, although it has mostly fallen well short of that. In 2001, it's opening year, it drew only 62,131 visitors. That crept up in 2002, then fell back again in 2003. The NCC says 125,211 visited last year, which would seem to indicate a record level of success. The problem with the numbers, though, is that they include all visitors to the site, even those who only attended outdoor events. No admission is charged, so the numbers are based on visual estimates. Guesses, in other words.
The NCC report suggested that each free visit actually cost the NCC $10 in operating costs.
[...]The NCC has dribbled away some millions in operating money, plus the $5.7-million cost to build and outfit the pavilion, but the bigger problem is in the long term. The commission's misguided dabbling in the museum business has created a white elephant, and a particularly awkward one. [...] the NCC will continue to bear the costs of heating and maintaining the building. The commission estimates that it will cost $75,000 to decommission the pavilion and return the contents. The staff report earlier said the figure would run to the hundreds of thousand of dollars.
Citizen: Good riddance to white elephant [18 Oct 2005]
Canada and the World Pavilion closes
The NCC's Canada and the World Pavilion closed for good over the weekend. Opened with little fanfare not five years ago for reasons no one is quite sure of, the Pavilion quickly sank into obscurity, and now takes pride of place among the NCC Tombstones of Waste.
Citizen: Five years after opening its doors, NCC's pavilion-with-a-view closes [17 Oct 2005]
Radio-Canada: Le Pavillon du Canada ferme ses portes [15 Oct 2005]
New Edinburgh Community Alliance: Wait Until Spring [8 Dec 2005]
NCC mothballs Canada and the World Pavilion
The NCC is closing its Canada and the World Pavilion after only four years. Built for a mere $6 million four years ago, the NCC declared the Pavilion a success even as it announced the shutdown.
The NCC is also closing its special events souvenir booths and boutique across from Parliament Hill and cutting 30 positions over the next three years to try to reduce its operating budget by 5% or $4 million.
They hope to move most of the exhibits to other NCC or government venues. The Pavilion is to close by mid-October.
CBC: NCC cuts pavilion showcasing Canada [17 July 2005]
Radio-Canada: Abolition de postes [17 June 2005]
Wednesday, October 8, 2003
Arrogant NCC now targets key islands
Researcher Ken Rubin critiques the NCC's development projects in the Citizen:
As the luxury condo slab on the Daly Building site rises and the start of the LeBreton Freeway sends cars speeding on their way, we are being saddled with expensive developments that are neither balanced nor attractive.
They benefit a few, ignore the environment and cater to the well off.
Even the crazy car drive down Island Park Drive isn't good enough for the NCC, so it's putting roadway markers and a new traffic divider along the way to remind taxpayers that it can do as it pleases. Their power is evident too in their cutting several new roads in or through the Gatineau Park that will further carve up the capital's only wilderness park.
The recent NCC announcement that it is spending millions of dollars to acquire the Scott Paper land on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River (with the actual transfer date being 25 years from now), may, on the surface, seem out of character. But don't expect that riverside land to be developed as one big green space beyond 2028, or to be without significant development projects. They could include more of the same type of tacky sightseeing pavilions as the Canada and the World one spoiling the Ontario side of the river next to Rideau Falls.
Let's also not forget that it was the NCC that adamantly resolved to sell off a large chunk of riverside green space, the Moffatt Farm, along the Rideau River, so that now, despite opposition, a mundane housing development is proceeding.
Indeed, it's the NCC's penchant to plan intensive development for the capital's three tiny islands in the Ottawa River that symbolizes just how out of control the NCC now is. Declassified NCC documents that I've obtained under the Access to Information Act show how the natural environmental settings of these islands takes second place to seeing how many structures with commercial payoffs can be stuffed in.
Take the four-hectare Bates Island, located off the Champlain Bridge. The NCC is not content to enhance the island's focus point for strolling, kayaking and fishing. Instead, it has pre- development infrastructure plans that call for spending millions of dollars for building, with a private developer, a hotel of up to 60 rooms that will occupy both sides of the bridge roadway.
Filling in the island space would also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring in cable and natural-gas lines. In addition, there would be increased traffic and up to 53 new parking spaces.
Similarly, Victoria and Chaudiere Islands, off the Chaudiere Bridge near Parliament Hill, would be overdeveloped.
The recent NCC studies there envisage not just a long-promised aboriginal centre, but possibly a hotel, government office space, recreation complex, and even a junior college. Again, there would be increased traffic flows and costly infrastructure installed, such as new water mains and sewage pipes. Even the proposed aboriginal centre would be a large structure and is slated to be more of an institutional social-service building than a meeting place.
Citizen: Arrogant NCC now targets key islands [8 Oct 2003]
Wednesday, October 9, 2002
NCC builds $250,000 dollar washroom in Rockcliffe
The Citizen revealed that the NCC paid a cool quarter million for a public washroom in Rockcliffe park:
What will $252,701 buy in Rockcliffe Park these days? If you are the National Capital Commission, a seasonal washroom.
But not just any washroom. This is a structure that speaks the same "architectural language" as the historic pavilion the toilet serves, according to Julie Roy, of Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects. Ms. Roy's firm received a $10,365 contract for designing the washroom, which was built this summer.
Yesterday, however, tour bus drivers like David Carlisle used their own "language" to question the wisdom of the luxury facility.
"That's kind of dumb," said Mr. Carlisle, on a cigarette break from ushering a group of Japanese tourists around the capital. "The buses can't even park there."
[...]A document search by independent researcher Ken Rubin revealed the washroom cost $242,336 and was built by V-Par Limited Construction. That total didn't include the architectural fee, but did include the cost of parking, paths, landscaping and water and sewer hook-ups.
Ms. Roy said the cost was increased by using material and details for the washroom similar to those in the pavilion. "The detailing is not standard in today's world," Ms. Roy said.
The washroom, which is typically open from 8 a.m. to sunset in the summer, is now only open on the weekends, said NCC spokesman John Kane.
The quarter-million-dollar structure is closed over the winter months.
Looks like we have a new Tombstone of Waste.
Citizen: NCC spends $250,000 on spiffy Rockcliffe biffy [9 Oct 2002]
Halifax Herald: New federal loo 'no scary park washroom' [10 Oct 2002]
Tuesday, June 6, 2000
NCC to fill gap in tourist experience
The NCC plans to build a new $5 million project at Rideau Falls Park, apparently to fill some perceived gap in the tourist experience. They're just not sure how, exactly. Called "Canada and the World Pavilion," it will be about peacekeeping, development, space, you know, good stuff like that. From the CBC:
"We've been working at this project now for quite a few years. It's nice to know that it's finally becoming a reality," says Marcel Beaudry, chairman of the NCC.
Beaudry thinks the pavilion will fill a gap in tourists' experience of Ottawa.
After several delays the NCC wants to fast track construction, which is already underway. They hope to open the doors next April.
But they do offer up the following guarantee: "This is not a story on the Canadian government, this is a story on Canadians." Oh, well, that's alright then.
CBC: Canada and the World Pavilion goes underground [6 Jun 2000]
Canadian Design Build Institute: Ottawa pavilion nears completion
NCC Watch Tombstones of Waste: Canada and the World Pavilion