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The Senators are contemplating a move downtown.
The group that operates the NHL team — Senators Sports & Entertainment — has confirmed to the Citizen that it is “actively considering the opportunity” to build a new hockey arena on the grounds of LeBreton Flats.
That means the Senators will be among those taking a long look at redeveloping the so-called second phase of the sprawling property on the south side of Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway across from the Canadian War Museum.
On Sept. 30, the National Capital Commission launched a request for proposals to redevelop as much as 21.4 hectares of land at LeBreton Flats that sits south of the parkway and west of Booth Street. One criteria for the redevelopment proposal is the inclusion of “an attraction of a regional, national or international significance” that is also a “world-class capital destination.”
The Senators told the Citizen the sports organization has been “approached by numerous well-established private sector companies and community organizations who have expressed a strong desire to partner with us on developing a world-class proposal for the site.”
The Sens organization said it will make its final decision on whether to submit an application to the NCC over the next few weeks. While the Senators believe an NHL arena at LeBreton could drive economic development in the core, as well as serve as an “architectural anchor” for the development, they underlined that they “feel very strongly that this could only be possible with strong community support.”
That could be a call to arms to Sens fans who support an arena in the city core to rise up in support of the idea.
For decades, many have decried the current arena’s Kanata location as inconvenient, if not a downright barrier to attendance.
As one of the NCC’s criteria for proposals is that the redevelopment be a “valued destination for residents from the region,” vocal support from fans in favour of a move to LeBreton could help the organization’s bid.
Even Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird seemed to question the current location of the NHL arena.
The Ottawa West-Nepean MP was at the Citizen on Tuesday for an editorial board meeting when he was asked about whether he’d be in favour of an arena being built at LeBreton.
Baird is the federal minister responsible for the NCC, and his opinion matters. He appoints directors to the NCC board and hired the new CEO, Mark Kristmanson.
His main concern is that any new plan for LeBreton be state of the art — “If it’s not excellent my strong advice would be let’s not do it,” he said — pointing out that few cities have an opportunity to develop a major piece of land in its downtown core. Baird also said he wants to “respect the process” and didn’t want to wade into what his personal preferences for LeBreton might be.
“I’m going to keep my powder dry,” he said.
Still, when pressed about the possibility of a hockey arena, the foreign affairs minister said, “I’ve travelled quite a bit and I’ve never seen a major sports arena in the middle of nowhere.”
It’s not a huge surprise that the Senators are looking as if they are moving ahead with an application for a major redevelopment project at LeBreton. Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has always said that the franchise needed non-hockey revenue in order to thrive. The original Senators owners wanted to make the current arena the centrepiece of a new commercial development, a controversial plan that never materialized, rebuffing the advice of then-councillors — including Jim Watson, Diane Holmes and Jacquelin Holzman, who was mayor at the time and is now an NCC director.
Building an arena not just in a more central location, but right on the new LRT line — LeBreton Flats will be served by the new Pimisi Station — could attract more people to the games. The NCC has called for a redevelopment plan that “builds on the investment in the Confederation Line,” which this surely would.
If the Senators go ahead with their application, they will have a number of hurdles to leap.
The concept of an NHL hockey arena doesn’t immediately jibe with other NCC criteria for the new development, including fostering a “strong integration with existing and surrounding communities” or being a “complementary use for a waterfront site, with nearby national institutions and memorials.”
As well, the NCC set up an expectation that the new development would be anchored by a public institution — LeBreton Flats is public land — and, at least under the current ownership structure, the NHL arena does not qualify.
Then there’s the fact the bidding process is expected to be quite competitive. Applications were due by Dec. 5, but the NCC extended the deadline to Jan. 7, 2015 “due to a greater expression of interest than expected.”
In September, the NCC’s CEO, Kristmanson, allowed that the LeBreton redevelopment “could” include a new arena, “but we can imagine other possibilities, as well.”
http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ ... s-lebreton
The group that operates the NHL team — Senators Sports & Entertainment — has confirmed to the Citizen that it is “actively considering the opportunity” to build a new hockey arena on the grounds of LeBreton Flats.
That means the Senators will be among those taking a long look at redeveloping the so-called second phase of the sprawling property on the south side of Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway across from the Canadian War Museum.
On Sept. 30, the National Capital Commission launched a request for proposals to redevelop as much as 21.4 hectares of land at LeBreton Flats that sits south of the parkway and west of Booth Street. One criteria for the redevelopment proposal is the inclusion of “an attraction of a regional, national or international significance” that is also a “world-class capital destination.”
The Senators told the Citizen the sports organization has been “approached by numerous well-established private sector companies and community organizations who have expressed a strong desire to partner with us on developing a world-class proposal for the site.”
The Sens organization said it will make its final decision on whether to submit an application to the NCC over the next few weeks. While the Senators believe an NHL arena at LeBreton could drive economic development in the core, as well as serve as an “architectural anchor” for the development, they underlined that they “feel very strongly that this could only be possible with strong community support.”
That could be a call to arms to Sens fans who support an arena in the city core to rise up in support of the idea.
For decades, many have decried the current arena’s Kanata location as inconvenient, if not a downright barrier to attendance.
As one of the NCC’s criteria for proposals is that the redevelopment be a “valued destination for residents from the region,” vocal support from fans in favour of a move to LeBreton could help the organization’s bid.
Even Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird seemed to question the current location of the NHL arena.
The Ottawa West-Nepean MP was at the Citizen on Tuesday for an editorial board meeting when he was asked about whether he’d be in favour of an arena being built at LeBreton.
Baird is the federal minister responsible for the NCC, and his opinion matters. He appoints directors to the NCC board and hired the new CEO, Mark Kristmanson.
His main concern is that any new plan for LeBreton be state of the art — “If it’s not excellent my strong advice would be let’s not do it,” he said — pointing out that few cities have an opportunity to develop a major piece of land in its downtown core. Baird also said he wants to “respect the process” and didn’t want to wade into what his personal preferences for LeBreton might be.
“I’m going to keep my powder dry,” he said.
Still, when pressed about the possibility of a hockey arena, the foreign affairs minister said, “I’ve travelled quite a bit and I’ve never seen a major sports arena in the middle of nowhere.”
It’s not a huge surprise that the Senators are looking as if they are moving ahead with an application for a major redevelopment project at LeBreton. Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has always said that the franchise needed non-hockey revenue in order to thrive. The original Senators owners wanted to make the current arena the centrepiece of a new commercial development, a controversial plan that never materialized, rebuffing the advice of then-councillors — including Jim Watson, Diane Holmes and Jacquelin Holzman, who was mayor at the time and is now an NCC director.
Building an arena not just in a more central location, but right on the new LRT line — LeBreton Flats will be served by the new Pimisi Station — could attract more people to the games. The NCC has called for a redevelopment plan that “builds on the investment in the Confederation Line,” which this surely would.
If the Senators go ahead with their application, they will have a number of hurdles to leap.
The concept of an NHL hockey arena doesn’t immediately jibe with other NCC criteria for the new development, including fostering a “strong integration with existing and surrounding communities” or being a “complementary use for a waterfront site, with nearby national institutions and memorials.”
As well, the NCC set up an expectation that the new development would be anchored by a public institution — LeBreton Flats is public land — and, at least under the current ownership structure, the NHL arena does not qualify.
Then there’s the fact the bidding process is expected to be quite competitive. Applications were due by Dec. 5, but the NCC extended the deadline to Jan. 7, 2015 “due to a greater expression of interest than expected.”
In September, the NCC’s CEO, Kristmanson, allowed that the LeBreton redevelopment “could” include a new arena, “but we can imagine other possibilities, as well.”
http://ottawacitizen.com/sports/hockey/ ... s-lebreton
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