Ottawa residents attended a public information session about the Lansdowne 2.0 project at TD Place on Jan. 15.
Community opinions on the Lansdowne 2.0 project varied as residents shared their perspectives at a public information session at TD Place on Jan. 15.
The $419 million redevelopment plan of the popular Lansdowne complex aims to replace the Arena at TD Place with a 5,500-seat event centre and construct new north-side stands for the football stadium.
Construction for two residential towers beside the arena entrance is also planned. Towers will be no taller than 40 storeys.
The City of Ottawa is set to move forward with the project in partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, which would cover the costs of the new arena and stadium stands. BBB Architects was enlisted to draw schematics for the project based on its previous experience with venues including Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Renderings of the proposed designs filled the halls of TD Place, showing off architectural upgrades, more space and better accessibility.
However, not every feature is appreciated by all. Glebe resident Sally Price said she worries about construction disruptions to the surrounding neighbourhood and the unimaginative design of the proposed north stands.
Sean Moore, director of the Lansdowne Redevelopment Project, said public feedback has been a major component of Lansdowne 2.0’s planning.
“Exterior washroom access for Lansdowne users, bringing in new seating, reinstating a sledding hill and having places to sit during concerts … all of those things have been brought up with us and we’ve incorporated them into our plan along the way,” he said.
Tone Frisina, a partner with BBB Architects, said TD Place’s main hockey tenants, the Ottawa Charge and the Ottawa 67’s, will also benefit from the expansion.
“With this new project, the Ottawa Charge and the 67’s will get their own rink — they’ll have the brand new events centre,” they said. “The capacity will be going from around 9,000 to 5,500 … This way, both teams will be selling out games a lot.”
Frisina said the new events centre will be built in the current football field’s endzone, bridging the north and south stands with an exterior patio — a unique feature of the project.
“You can stand on a patio at the events centre and look out at the football field, and when you turn around and walk in the doors you’re in the arena’s suite level,” Frisina said.
The events centre will be built first, Frisina added, and they hope to start the two-year construction process in fall 2025.
“Once it’s done, we’ll move both hockey teams over to the new centre, take the TD Place rink down, and then build the new stands,” they said. “It should hopefully take four to four-and-a-half years.”
Featured image by Daniel Fraser.
