Sparks Street

[lrt's friend]

Of course, a lot of the problems all stem back to the building of the Rideau Centre. It literally sucked the life out of Sparks Street and Rideau Street. Also, there was all the street reorientations that took place at the same time that were more about traffic flow and were ultimately anti-pedestrian.

Hopefully after 30 years, we are starting to see some re-invention of both Sparks Street and Rideau Street. Certainly the return of some population to the central core will help bring back some customers and some street life.

[lrt's friend]

I don't think it ever fancied itself a commercial artery. Government has always been its main function since Parliament came to town; the 19th and early 20th-century non-government uses on the street were, apart from a few pioneer-era survivors west of Bank, mostly ancillary to government. (Law offices, newspaper bureaus, etc.)

Of course, this is why Sparks Street had developed as a commercial street one block to the south.

The fact that Sparks Street was relatively narrow with a density of buildings on both sides made it a natural for stores to develop. Also, Sparks Street was where the streetcars were running and the federal government deliberately kept them off of Wellington east of Bank so that the hanging wires would not be apparent in front of the Parliament buildings.

People are basically lazy and always have been, so Sparks Street (in the day) was a great place to shop in many stores in a short distance.

Ottawa also developed separate downtown areas on Sparks and Rideau with dividing point being the bridge over the Canal as a reflection of its divided sectarian history with upper town being the Protestant sector and lower town being the Roman Catholic sector. Obviously, this division has disappeared but was still apparent as recently as the 1960s. This has been replaced by the invisible division of the so called gap.

Interestingly, this was one of the factors in redeveloping Lansdowne Park to eliminate the gap between the commercial areas of the Glebe and Ottawa South that always existed with the exhibition grounds in between. It only takes a few blocks of emptiness to stop pedestrian traffic in its tracks.

[canabiz]

This won't help Sparks Street

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/cbc-staff-in-ottawa-bizarrely-forbidden-from-using-sparks-st-exit-from-their-building-to-shop-on-sparks-st

[Capital Shaun]

This won't help Sparks Street

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/cbc-staff-in-ottawa-bizarrely-forbidden-from-using-sparks-st-exit-from-their-building-to-shop-on-sparks-st

Here's a novel idea: suspend the employees (no matter who they are) who are violating the employer's security policies (proping the door open.) They'll learn quickly after a few incidences.

Banning the employees from frequenting shops on Sparks St is completely ridiculous. I'm not a labour expert, but that's probably not even legal without a really good justification. An employee could easily walk around the block if the Sparks entrance is such a big issue.

[rocketphish]

Here's a novel idea: suspend the employees (no matter who they are) who are violating the employer's security policies (proping the door open.) They'll learn quickly after a few incidences.

Banning the employees from frequenting shops on Sparks St is completely ridiculous. I'm not a labour expert, but that's probably not even legal without a really good justification. An employee could easily walk around the block if the Sparks entrance is such a big issue.

My guess is that they've done this so as not to allow a select group of employees (those with the privilege of access to this door) to use it to quickly pop out and go next door to get their Timmy's coffee, while the majority of the employees have to walk all the way around the block to do the same thing. It removes a double standard and makes everybody equal. It has nothing to do with preventing employees from shopping on Sparks Street.

[Capital Shaun]

My guess is that they've done this so as not to allow a select group of employees (those with the privilege of access to this door) to use it to quickly pop out and go next door to get their Timmy's coffee, while the majority of the employees have to walk all the way around the block to do the same thing. It removes a double standard and makes everybody equal. It has nothing to do with preventing employees from shopping on Sparks Street.

Could they not simply put an acess card reader on that door?

[kevinbottawa]

Winners opened on Sparks Street yesterday. I went with my wife and kids. It has a similar look as the one at Lansdowne. The entrance is very well done. Winners and Bier Markt are a major upgrade over Zellers although it was convenient to have a store like Zellers downtown.

[citydwlr]

Stumbled on this article in the Hill Times today regarding the future of some of the buildings on the northern side of Sparks Street:
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2015/11/09/public-works-considering-big-plans-for-sparks-street-north-parliamentary-precinct/44139

Of Note:

Preparation of a “Blocks 1, 2, 3 Demonstration Plan,” as Public Works calls it, has been more actively ongoing since a 2010 memorandum to Cabinet, as indicated by documents uncovered by investigative researcher Ken Rubin and shared with The Hill Times—though conversations about work to the area pre-date this.

Last spring, Public Works met with the NCC in-camera to present its plans and the department already has approval “in concept” from the NCC and the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office (FHBRO, which falls under Parks Canada).

Based on “class D” cost estimates provided to Public Works in October 2013, the “Blocks 1, 2, 3 Master Plan” could cost between $253.6-million and $385.3-million, depending on chosen options, and involves the construction of four new office buildings.

The House of Norcano, the O’Brien Building and the Nelms Building—all built at the turn of the 20th century, the first of which is home to The Hill Times—on Sparks Street would all be demolished under this plan in order to build a new, roughly 4,000-square-metre building.

A new building would also be built at 90 Wellington St., a site currently home to the visitor’s information centre and a public square featuring a statue of Terry Fox. A third new building would go up at 120 Wellington St., between the old U.S. embassy and its small annex building, both of which have sat abandoned for years and development of which is also being discussed. A fourth, roughly 2,000-square-metre office building would be erected where the Fisher Building currently stands on Sparks Street.

Along with construction of these new buildings, renovations are proposed for the Blackburn Building and the Langevin Block, at an estimated $32.59-million; to the Hope Chambers building, at an estimated $5.62-million; and the National Press Theatre, at an estimated $10.73-million, among a number of others. Each of the three blocks would also include atriums and underground walkways, which would connect to the main Parliamentary Precinct.



Kevin McHale, executive director of the Sparks Street business improvement area (BIA), said plans to potentially demolish buildings along the north side of Sparks Street and construct new office buildings were news to him.

“I can say that we haven’t been contacted by anybody about any type of these long-terms plans in the year-and-a-half, almost two years that I’ve been in the [BIA],” said Mr. McHale.

He said before he joined the BIA, “there was a brief discussion to our board about their [Public Works’] kind of 50-year model,” but “not to any detail.”


Personally, I'd hate to see some of these buildings demolished, specifically the O'Brien and Fisher buildings. Here are some photos of the buildings up for demolition via the Treasury Board website :

House of Norcano:

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/services/structurephoto-photostructure.aspx?sn=103824
[Source (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/sn-ns/103824-eng.aspx)]

O'Brien Building:

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/services/structurephoto-photostructure.aspx?sn=103827
[Source (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/sn-ns/103827-eng.aspx)]

Nelms Building:

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/services/structurephoto-photostructure.aspx?sn=103828
[Source (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/sn-ns/103828-eng.aspx)]

Fisher Building:

http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/services/structurephoto-photostructure.aspx?sn=103861
[Source (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dfrp-rbif/sn-ns/103861-eng.aspx)]

[OTSkyline]

May I please purchase the O'Brien building and turn it into an urban townhome or "pied-a-terre" ;)

[silvergate]

May I please purchase the O'Brien building and turn it into an urban townhome or "pied-a-terre" ;)

You might single-handedly save sparks st with that move

[YOWetal]

Granted Fisher and O'Brien are nice enough buildings and might be worth protecting in say Smith Falls, but they are far from unique and far to short for the centre of, as the Cliche goes, a G7 capital.

[DEWLine]

I miss Renouf Books. Unrelated, but now that I've seen the picture of the former storefront...

[kevinbottawa]

I see they're laying down new red brick on Sparks.

[acottawa]

I see they're laying down new red brick on Sparks.

I wonder if there was some sort of historical requirement to use 70s style pink paving stones, or are they now back in style?

[citydwlr]

Here's a photo of the pink/red pavers from November 12, via the EcoDisitrict Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/ott_ecodistrict/status/664819351405465602):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTnprV0UcAEYy5N.jpg

[Aylmer]

That'll fix it! All this time, all Sparks Street needed was red brick for it to become a vibrant, world-class destination for all Canadians!

[Arcologist]

That'll fix it! All this time, all Sparks Street needed was red brick for it to become a vibrant, world-class destination for all Canadians!

Who knew?!?

[J.OT13]

Here's a photo of the pink/red pavers from November 12, via the EcoDisitrict Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/ott_ecodistrict/status/664819351405465602):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTnprV0UcAEYy5N.jpg

Ottawa, the tacky (G8) capital of the world!

[Cre47]

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/vehicles-on-the-mall-sparking-pedestrian-concerns-its-to-the-point-where-someones-going-to-get-hit

[Buggys]

Vehicles on the mall sparking pedestrian concerns: 'It's to the point where someone's going to get hit'

DON BUTLER, OTTAWA CITIZEN
More from Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 10, 2016 | Last Updated: March 10, 2016 8:15 PM EST
Sparks Street businesses are handing out free parking passes to their customers.
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For a pedestrian street, the Sparks Street Mall sure does have a lot of traffic on it.

And at least one public servant who walks the mall to work says the cars, delivery vans and construction trucks that increasingly use Sparks Street are imperilling the safety of unwary pedestrians.

William Wells, who works in the Thomas D’Arcy McGee Building, says he regularly sees cars driving down the mall at 30, 40, even 50 kilometres an hour.

While crossing the street this past Tuesday, Wells narrowly dodged an SUV. “Had I not looked back and checked, I would have walked right into it,” he says. “The guy stopped and apologized because he saw how close it was.”

Wells says this was not an isolated incident. “I’m constantly telling drivers to slow down now. It’s to the point where somebody’s going to get hit.”


Wells isn’t the only person to notice a change. Last month, Ottawa resident Phil Gordon tweeted this: “So remind me again when Sparks Street became a thoroughfare and parking lot? So much fun dodging traffic!”

Vehicular traffic has increased for several reasons. Until 10 a.m., the street is often chock-a-block with trucks and vans making deliveries to shops and businesses.

For much of the day, vehicles belonging to crews working on several major construction projects are parked on the mall. And the mall’s own VIP parking program, introduced last winter, only adds to the traffic.

Click on graphic for larger view:

An auto invasion



The program, which runs from early December until the end of March, gives retailers — though not restaurants — two passes they can give customers providing an hour of free parking directly on Sparks Street from Monday to Saturday.

“The response from our merchants has been very positive,” says Kevin McHale, the Sparks Street Authority’s program and events co-ordinator. “It helps them create a very good customer experience during what’s traditionally the slow season for them.”

It also helps address the loss of business from hundreds of public servants displaced by long-term renovations under way at 180 Wellington St. and the Thomas D’Arcy McGee Building at 90 Sparks St. “These retailers down here have seen a lot of their customer base disappear,” McHale says.

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According to a notice on the Sparks Street Authority’s website, drivers taking advantage of the VIP parking program are supposed to slow down to five kilometres an hour and turn on their four-way flashers.

Most follow the rules, according to McHale, who says it would be “fairly impossible” to drive down the mall at the speeds claimed by Wells.

However, during a 75-minute audit by the Citizen on Thursday afternoon, none of the dozen cars and trucks seen entering or leaving the mall used their four-way flashers. None drove recklessly or came close to hitting any pedestrians, but most appeared to be driving between 10 and 25 kilometres an hour.

As many as 20 vehicles were parked on the three-block section of the mall around 2 p.m. Thursday. Most had construction permits or the green VIP permits visible.

But two drivers entered the one-way street from the wrong direction, parked and ran quick errands. One dashed into a sushi outlet and emerged five minutes later with a takeout order. Another returned an apparently defective suitcase to a leather goods store.

Another woman parked her Mercedes near Sparks and O’Connor, collected a permit from a nearby merchant, then strode the length of the mall to Elgin before disappearing in the direction of the ByWard Market.

McHale says the mall authority does what it can to crack down on speeding and people who abuse the ability to park on Sparks.

While the mall authority doesn’t rely on city police to curb speeders, it employs a site supervisor who patrols the mall, McHale says. “If he thinks someone is moving too fast, he’s the first one to wave them down and slow them down.”

The mall also calls in bylaw enforcement when it believes someone is parking illegally, he says.

McHale says he understands that some people oppose the presence of vehicles. “They look at Sparks Street and say, ‘You’re a pedestrian promenade. That’s what you should be. You shouldn’t have vehicles on there.’

“Unfortunately, the reality is deliveries have to be done, businesses need to survive. And one of the things the businesses were saying is they really needed a little bit of extra help during the off-season when our foot traffic on the street is greatly reduced.”

That’s little comfort to Wells. “What I loved about Sparks was it didn’t have cars,” he says. “Before, I could jog down there without having to worry about it. But now, I’m constantly looking over my shoulder.”

dbutler@postmedia.com

twitter.com/ButlerDon

[kevinbottawa]

The Expedition Shoppe on Sparks Street is closing down. They're having a closing sale.

[rocketphish]

The Expedition Shoppe on Sparks Street is closing down. They're having a closing sale.

No real surprise there. How many people buying hiking boots, long underwear and tents are going to do that right downtown versus going to SAIL, Bushtukah, MEC, Trail Head or Le Baron? Stupid idea, opening a Sparks St. location.

[rocketphish]

Riviera restaurant promises new flavour for Sparks Street

Laura Robin, Ottawa Citizen
More from Laura Robin, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 14, 2016 | Last Updated: March 14, 2016 6:19 PM EDT

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/03/chef-de-cuisine-jordan-holley-l-and-craig-douglas-general1.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=750

The Riviera will soon enliven Sparks Street — though more in the spirit of the vintage luxury Buick than the Mediterranean coast.

Matthew Carmichael and Jordan Holley, the winning chefs who brought El Camino and Datsun to Elgin Street in recent years, hope to open a finer dining restaurant, to be called The Riviera, in mid- to late May. The team has been working on the 1920s Art Deco building at 62 Sparks St., near Elgin, since November and offered a glimpse inside the construction site on Monday.

The building, which once housed a CIBC and, more recently, Ian Kimmerly Stamps, has a soaring 50-foot white plaster tray ceiling, marble on the grey-and-white panelled walls, brass fixtures and massive windows that let in plenty of light front and back. An open stainless steel kitchen area, 70-foot-long brass bar and banquettes with lamps on the tables are being installed.

“We had been looking at a space on Somerset Street, but when we looked at this we immediately fell in love with it,” says Holley, who has worked with Carmichael since their days at Social and a pop-up at Mellos. “We’re definitely keeping the Art Deco style, putting in some great chandeliers and original art. We hope it will bring life to this end of Sparks Street, and maybe attract some other businesses.”

With interior design help from Ottawa’s Linebox Studio — also responsible for the decor at El Camino, Datsun and Fauna Restaurant — the old bank manager’s office will become a private dining room for 10 to 12, while the old vault on the main floor will house unisex washrooms with a lounge area outside. A vault on the lower level will be used as a wine cellar and kitchen for making charcuterie in house. A second bar will eventually be added on the lower level, down a marble staircase with a curving metal Art Deco-banister.

Holley says that while he’d describe the popular El Camino and Datsun as “bars with really good food,” the 105-seat Riviera on Sparks “will have more attention to detail with the food.”

“It will be casual fine dining, where you can come in a suit, but also feel comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt. Nothing will be over $35 to $37.”

He and general manager Craig Douglas said they expect the new spot will attract a downtown political crowd, as well as visitors staying at nearby hotels such as the Château Laurier and Westin.

“I would imagine that we will attract the Hy’s crowd, especially at lunch,” said Douglas, who said the restaurant will offer “a really good wine program, by the glass and by the bottle, at approachable price points, but some heavy hitters as well.”

The Riviera will open at 7 or 8 a.m., with a espresso machine on one end of the long brass bar and take-out house-made pastries available. It will also be open for lunch and dinner six days a week, possibly also for brunch on Sunday.

“I’m also hoping it’s a place where the (restaurant) industry wants to hang out,” said Holley. “I”m personally hoping for a late-night crowd too.”

The Riviera will also have an outdoor patio on Sparks Street with seating for about 40.

Holley said the menu will include some greatest hits from their days at Social, including Carmichael’s black cod with carrot purée and Holley’s smoked short ribs on white-corn polenta, as well as “a really great steak frites” and “a really good tomato salad.”

He said the menu “will also have a little bit of an Italian influence” with the help of a $16,000 pasta extruder they’ve ordered from Italy.

“It will have a strong vegetable focus,” said Holley, noting they will buy produce from local growers such as Wakefield’s Juniper Farm, Carp’s Acorn Creek and North Gower’s Rideau Pines.

As for the restaurant’s name, Holley said he and Carmichael threw around a few possibilities, but decided to stick with the car theme.

“Also, it references that we’re near the river. But Matt and I both love the ’70s-era cars. Matt has a 1970s El Camino. If I could find a Riviera in good shape, I’d definitely get it.”

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/riviera-restaurant-promises-new-flavour-for-sparks-street

[McKellarDweller]

^Thanks for the post. This whole set-up sounds amazing.

[bikegypsy]

This is such awesome news. The foodie scene in Ottawa has evolved greatly in the last 10 years and just keeps getting better. The 7am opening is spot on with the coffee bar and fresh pastries. Can't wait to go next time I'm in town.

[gjhall]

This is such awesome news. The foodie scene in Ottawa has evolved greatly in the last 10 years and just keeps getting better. The 7am opening is spot on with the coffee bar and fresh pastries. Can't wait to go next time I'm in town.

I work nearby and this is going to be awesome. With this, Nando's, and the new coffee shop planned for the NAC, this little area will finally have something going on.

[J.OT13]

Riviera restaurant promises new flavour for Sparks Street

Laura Robin, Ottawa Citizen
More from Laura Robin, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 14, 2016 | Last Updated: March 14, 2016 6:19 PM EDT

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/03/chef-de-cuisine-jordan-holley-l-and-craig-douglas-general1.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=750


http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/riviera-restaurant-promises-new-flavour-for-sparks-street

I'm a little confused. So CIBC use to have two buildings on Sparks? Is the CIBC on the north side between O'Connor and Metcalfe is still operating as a CIBC?

[acottawa]

I'm a little confused. So CIBC use to have two buildings on Sparks? Is the CIBC on the north side between O'Connor and Metcalfe is still operating as a CIBC?

One of them (the former stamp store) used to be an Imperial Bank (http://www.iankimmerly.com/about/our-building/). The other one (current CIBC) has "Bank of Commerce" carved into it.

Those two banks merged in the 60s, at some point the former stamp store was probably deemed redundant.

[J.OT13]

One of them (the former stamp store) used to be an Imperial Bank (http://www.iankimmerly.com/about/our-building/). The other one (current CIBC) has "Bank of Commerce" carved into it.

Those two banks merged in the 60s, at some point the former stamp store was probably deemed redundant.

Thank you for the clarification. Much appreciated.

[rocketphish]

Sparks Street cancels VIP parking program over concerns for pedestrian safety

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 17, 2016 | Last Updated: March 17, 2016 5:01 PM EDT

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/03/sparks-street-parking.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=750

In response to safety concerns expressed over the presence of vehicles, the Sparks Street Mall Authority has abruptly cancelled a seasonal program that lets shoppers park on the pedestrian street.

Tony Kano, who chairs the board of the mall authority and Sparks Street BIA, decided to immediately shut down the VIP parking program Thursday after an email complaint from architect Greg Manley.

In the email, sent to the Citizen on Wednesday and copied to the mall authority, Manley said he has almost been struck several times by cars travelling along the mall. “This has become a serious problem and the Sparks Street BIA seems to be ignoring all complaints,” he wrote.

On any given day, Manley’s email stated, between 25 and 45 vehicles are either parked or moving on Sparks Street between Lyon and Elgin streets.

On Wednesday, Sparks Street workers “were on Sparks with a stack of VIP parking passes, and they were filling them out and putting them on parked vehicles,” Manley said in his email. “They are not taking this issue seriously at all.”

The Citizen reported a similar complaint last week from public servant William Wells, who also said he had almost been hit by cars on the mall, some travelling 40 kilometres an hour or more.

The VIP parking program, which lets retailers give customers permits for an hour of free parking on the mall, runs from November until the end of March. Its purpose was to give a boost to merchants during the traditionally slow winter season.

But Kano said he decided to end the program two weeks early because trucks and hoardings associated with several construction projects have narrowed parts of the mall to the point that it’s unsafe for pedestrians.

“There’s not enough room for the pedestrians and the cars,” he said.

The unseasonably warm weather has also drawn more people to the mall, adding to the potential hazard, he said.

“In January, when it’s -30 degrees, there’s nobody on the street.”

Some drivers are barrelling down the mall at excessive speeds, said the Sparks Street BIA’s administrator, Brenda LeBlanc, who spent Thursday retrieving the VIP parking passes from retailers.

“Yesterday, there was a vehicle that just turned onto Sparks Street and just zoomed through, like it was an ordinary street,” she said. “Vehicles are coming onto the street and they’re just not realizing to bring down their speed — which is ludicrous.”

The problem, said Kano, is that people who aren’t familiar with Sparks Street see a truck or car parked on the mall and “just assume that you can drive on that street. They don’t know that they have to respect the (five-kilometre-per-hour) speed limit, so they just zoom down the street.”

Kano said the mall authority’s board will decide later whether to bring back the VIP parking program next winter.

“We have some ideas about how to limit the traffic on Sparks Street, especially during working hours, from nine to five,” he said. “We’re going to come up with a solution.”

Before making his complaint Wednesday, Manley raised his concerns with Somerset ward Coun. Catherine McKenny in late February.

In an email response March 4, McKenney said the city will soon undertake a “revisioning exercise” of Sparks Street, which will likely include the creation of a Sparks Street master plan. “This will be a terrific opportunity to think big and innovatively,” she wrote.

That was music to Manley’s ears. He said he hoped the revitalization of Sparks Street will happen “sooner than later.”

dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/sparks-street-cancels-vip-parking-program-over-concerns-for-pedestrian-safety

[MarkR]

Sparks Street cancels VIP parking program over concerns for pedestrian safety


(Rest snipped)

So you could drive and park your car on the Sparks St. Pedestrian Mall, but of course if you ride your bike you could still get a fine. Brilliant...

[Uhuniau]

That was music to Manley’s ears. He said he hoped the revitalization of Sparks Street will happen “sooner than later.”


What, exactly, do people mean when they talk about "revitalizing" Sparks Street?

How many iterations of prettier pavers and planters have their been, installed at great expense, then ripped out and replaced at equal expense a decade later when tastes, fashions, and planning fads changed?

As with so many other things in Ottawa, the problem is not in the colour of the paving stones (and for god's sake can we stop using paving *stones* and bricks that end up frost-heaved and hazardous?) or the number of flower pots.

But people will gladly continue overlooking the real problems in favour of the cosmetic, pointless, and irrelevant, much as they fixate on the height of buildings, only to end up with a forest of exactly-24-storey buildings with street-deadening ground-level presence.

[Uhuniau]

YES YES YES A THOUSAND YESSES

Let's kill the Sparks Street mall (http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-lets-kill-the-sparks-street-mall)

[rocketphish]

YES YES YES A THOUSAND YESSES

Let's kill the Sparks Street mall (http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-lets-kill-the-sparks-street-mall)

Let's kill the Sparks Street mall

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 18, 2016 | Last Updated: March 18, 2016 6:54 PM EDT

Let’s give up on Sparks Street.

It’s a failure as a pedestrian mall, a failure as a shopping district, a failure as a roadway. The city’s planning a “revisioning” for it, in keeping with the full-on rethink of downtown brought on by the impending opening of the light-rail line. Perfect. Let’s revision it as a street.

We found the nerve to admit failure with the Rideau Street bus mall 20 years ago, when we stopped tinkering with that disaster, admitted we’d got it wrong, trashed the shelters we’d put up. Let’s reopen Sparks to traffic. Pave it. Put a two-way bike track on one side and parking on the other. Make the sidewalks as wide as we can get away with. But no big central patios, no ribfests or zip lines. Maybe close it for special events like Canada Day.

For almost 50 years, Sparks has been, in some nominal sense, closed to car traffic. For almost the whole time, we’ve wondered how we can fix it. Nobody says that about Elgin Street or Wellington West. On those streets, we argue about bike parking and patio extensions, and those are real things to care about, but they’re quibbles. Nobody considers Elgin or Wellington civic embarrassments.

Nobody who has a direct stake in Sparks Street takes its pedestrian status seriously. It cannot even theoretically be made to work without the co-operation of merchants, landlords, the city and the National Capital Commission, which has never all been forthcoming at the same time. Sparks has always needed better design, maintenance, rules and activity than we’ve ever had the wherewithal to give it.

We may say we want Sparks to work as a pedestrian mall, but our actions reveal otherwise.

The merchants on Sparks Street cram as many cars into the space as they can. Delivery trucks and tradesmen’s vans line the street constantly. When the weather’s bad, the association turns the whole place into a parking lot with their program of passes for “VIP” customers. Get it? Very important people get to drive there — on this pedestrian mall, walking is for the rabble.

Even the merchants’ association admits that seeing all the driving going on confuses visitors who aren’t familiar with the place, who turn onto Sparks and treat it like a normal road, which is ridiculously dangerous.

The mainly public buildings on both sides are so preoccupied with security they’re all but sealed off. Public Works moves tenants in and out constantly. The CBC headquarters, once envisioned as a street-embracing cultural centre, might as well be underground. Even people who work there aren’t allowed to use the fortified back door that opens onto Sparks.

When the weather’s nice, the place can be pretty crowded at lunchtime and right after work, but the rest of the time, you could throw a brick and not hit anybody. There’s probably a convenient pile of them lying around if you want to try.

Sparks has never succeeded as a retail district. It’s not a draw. Never has been. Name two distinctive stores there. Holt Renfrew was one and it closed. E.R. Fisher moved. The Expedition Shoppe is closing and the mustard shoppe is long gone.

The merchants’ association tried opening a farmers’ market, then throttled it because vendors were too much competition for the restaurants. They fired the guy whose idea it was. They bring in rib and poutine fairs, which have no synergy with the tailors and hairdressers.

Pedestrian advocates, including me, have treated Sparks Street like a place within reach of greatness, if only we did this or that. Get the cars right off it, or add more condos so residents will bring it life after-hours. Let people ride their bikes. More festivals because they attract people. Fewer festivals because they obstruct people and make your clothes smell like barbecue sauce. What about a casino? We put flower planters and those green chalet things on it for visual interest, then took them off because they were just clutter and messed up the sightlines.

Sparks is a sucking disappointment for tourists unless they need new pants or a haircut. Why do visitors think Ottawa rolls up the sidewalks at 6 p.m.? They went to Sparks Street looking for the action.

Sparks is a service area for public servants and politicos and it’s pretty good at that job. Let it do its work in peace.

dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-lets-kill-the-sparks-street-mall

[McC]

I think there are tweaks that could work better than starting over yet again. There's nothing wrong with it filling the roles it fills now, but doing a better job of it. First thing first, end regulation of when the patios operate. Let the establishments put them out whenever and for as long as they want, if a resto operator thinks people will sit out there with blankets and heaters in November, let em try! A meandering bike path. How about planting some trees right in the damn middle of the street in a couple of spots? Flexible bollards at the intersections to make it clear that strangers should not be turning onto Sparks. Something that should be regulated are strict delivery hours. No vehicles from say 7am-7pm, 7x7x365. Period. no exceptions except emergency vehicles. All others will be ticketed immediately. Use red light cameras to do it. Buy a couple of golf carts for maintenance, no more 2.5 tonne pickup trucks.

[Aylmer]

I disagree with the idea of bringing cars back to Sparks. There's nothing magical about adding automobiles to a street; If it worked in reviving US pedestrian malls in small cities in the 1970s, it's because it was still possible to drive to a store downtown which you couldn't find in the suburbs and park in front of it. Neither of those things are true today in Ottawa.

In no universe can Sparks compete with outlet malls for drive-by convenience. The problem with Sparks is that it isn't a great pedestrian space either:
- It's exposed to the elements: in the Summer sun, it's HOT without shade, in the Winter, the cold wind rushes uninterrupted through downtown. There absolutely need to be healthy, mature trees - it makes the difference between a beautiful, comfortable street and a hostile moonscape.
- It runs from a highway on-ramp to nowhere: there's a constant flow of people from Downtown to the Rideau/Market area, but Sparks fails to capitalize on that desire because of the intersection clusterfuck at Wellington/Rideau/Elgin/Sussex/Col.By/Mackenzie. That whole area needs to be redesigned to make Sparks the default route for pedestrians. And soon, there will be a desire to go from Downtown to LeBreton which Sparks could capitalize on by establishing a solid link from Pooley's bridge to the Gardens of the Provinces; I can imagine there being a continuous pedestrian/pedestrian-oriented link from the Market to the new LeBreton Arena.

I think that if you fix these two fundamental issues, Sparks will go from being a sad and empty detour to being a well-used, active link and the retail activity will follow.

[Uhuniau]

I think there are tweaks that could work better than starting over yet again. There's nothing wrong with it filling the roles it fills now, but doing a better job of it. First thing first, end regulation of when the patios operate. Let the establishments put them out whenever and for as long as they want, if a resto operator thinks people will sit out there with blankets and heaters in November, let em try!

I would love that! But this is anal Ottawa — remember the other year when bars in the Market dared open their patios on a glorious sunny warm spring day a few days before the official centrally-planned opening day?

A meandering bike path. How about planting some trees right in the damn middle of the street in a couple of spots?

No. One. Visits. Trees.

[ElieB]

And soon, there will be a desire to go from Downtown to LeBreton which Sparks could capitalize on by establishing a solid link from Pooley's bridge to the Gardens of the Provinces; I can imagine there being a continuous pedestrian/pedestrian-oriented link from the Market to the new LeBreton Arena.

I think that if you fix these two fundamental issues, Sparks will go from being a sad and empty detour to being a well-used, active link and the retail activity will follow.

I think Lebreton has always been the problem. We've got one end of Sparks which has always been a complete deadzone which doesn't contribute any foot traffic. And there's never been a public use anchor at the west end either.

Which is a big reason I think the new OPL should be at the escarpment at Bronson & Sparks. A new public building there could anchor the west end, and once Lebreton is up and running it could be a gateway between communities. A part of the design could be creating a new pedestrian link down the escarpment in line with Queen and Pooley's bridge. That way, when Lebreton is all built up, you could have a pedestrian street going from lebreton all the way to Elgin.

[Aylmer]

No. One. Visits. Trees.

Yes, but people gladly visit shade in the summer and respite from the wind in winter.

There's an undeniable aesthetic value to street trees (or perhaps a universal blah-ness of tree-less streets), but they have an even more important functional value of protecting and enhancing pedestrian comfort. And on a pedestrian street, that is basically the one thing you can't afford to screw up!

[Aylmer]

To that end, I wish they'd put the new library where the Gardens of the Provinces are now in order to restore the Sparks Street 'split', with one side going up the hill and the other side sloping down towards LeBreton.

http://www.pastottawa.com/include/ottawa/images/archivephoto/640/sparks_bay_sparks_split_ottawa_1938_1376745912.jpg

[acottawa]

I'm not really sure what would be accomplished by reopening the road. Are the other East-West downtown streets (Queen, Albert, Slater) more interesting places?

It dead ends on both ends so it wouldn't really serve any transportation purpose.

I agree with Alymer that fixing the clusterf*** off ramp at Colonel By would make it a more natural pedestrian route.

It would be nice if they would park food trucks in front of the dead zones (particularly the CBC studios) to encourage landlords to bring a little more life to the streetfront.

The LRT entrance in the Winners building will also help a little.

[ElieB]

To that end, I wish they'd put the new library where the Gardens of the Provinces are now in order to restore the Sparks Street 'split', with one side going up the hill and the other side sloping down towards LeBreton.

http://www.pastottawa.com/include/ottawa/images/archivephoto/640/sparks_bay_sparks_split_ottawa_1938_1376745912.jpg

This guy gets it. (Except leave the garden alone :irked: )

[Aylmer]

I think that you could close the gardens tomorrow and it would be at least a week until anyone noticed anything was amiss! :P

I joke, but it's just that it's such an underused space. Though I'm certain that if it was part of the main Downtown-LeBreton link, it would be a much more interesting space.

[bikegypsy]

Let's kill the Sparks Street mall

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 18, 2016 | Last Updated: March 18, 2016 6:54 PM EDT

Let’s give up on Sparks Street.

It’s a failure as a pedestrian mall, a failure as a shopping district, a failure as a roadway. The city’s planning a “revisioning” for it, in keeping with the full-on rethink of downtown brought on by the impending opening of the light-rail line. Perfect. Let’s revision it as a street.

We found the nerve to admit failure with the Rideau Street bus mall 20 years ago, when we stopped tinkering with that disaster, admitted we’d got it wrong, trashed the shelters we’d put up. Let’s reopen Sparks to traffic. Pave it. Put a two-way bike track on one side and parking on the other. Make the sidewalks as wide as we can get away with. But no big central patios, no ribfests or zip lines. Maybe close it for special events like Canada Day.

For almost 50 years, Sparks has been, in some nominal sense, closed to car traffic. For almost the whole time, we’ve wondered how we can fix it. Nobody says that about Elgin Street or Wellington West. On those streets, we argue about bike parking and patio extensions, and those are real things to care about, but they’re quibbles. Nobody considers Elgin or Wellington civic embarrassments.

Nobody who has a direct stake in Sparks Street takes its pedestrian status seriously. It cannot even theoretically be made to work without the co-operation of merchants, landlords, the city and the National Capital Commission, which has never all been forthcoming at the same time. Sparks has always needed better design, maintenance, rules and activity than we’ve ever had the wherewithal to give it.

We may say we want Sparks to work as a pedestrian mall, but our actions reveal otherwise.

The merchants on Sparks Street cram as many cars into the space as they can. Delivery trucks and tradesmen’s vans line the street constantly. When the weather’s bad, the association turns the whole place into a parking lot with their program of passes for “VIP” customers. Get it? Very important people get to drive there — on this pedestrian mall, walking is for the rabble.

Even the merchants’ association admits that seeing all the driving going on confuses visitors who aren’t familiar with the place, who turn onto Sparks and treat it like a normal road, which is ridiculously dangerous.

The mainly public buildings on both sides are so preoccupied with security they’re all but sealed off. Public Works moves tenants in and out constantly. The CBC headquarters, once envisioned as a street-embracing cultural centre, might as well be underground. Even people who work there aren’t allowed to use the fortified back door that opens onto Sparks.

When the weather’s nice, the place can be pretty crowded at lunchtime and right after work, but the rest of the time, you could throw a brick and not hit anybody. There’s probably a convenient pile of them lying around if you want to try.

Sparks has never succeeded as a retail district. It’s not a draw. Never has been. Name two distinctive stores there. Holt Renfrew was one and it closed. E.R. Fisher moved. The Expedition Shoppe is closing and the mustard shoppe is long gone.

The merchants’ association tried opening a farmers’ market, then throttled it because vendors were too much competition for the restaurants. They fired the guy whose idea it was. They bring in rib and poutine fairs, which have no synergy with the tailors and hairdressers.

Pedestrian advocates, including me, have treated Sparks Street like a place within reach of greatness, if only we did this or that. Get the cars right off it, or add more condos so residents will bring it life after-hours. Let people ride their bikes. More festivals because they attract people. Fewer festivals because they obstruct people and make your clothes smell like barbecue sauce. What about a casino? We put flower planters and those green chalet things on it for visual interest, then took them off because they were just clutter and messed up the sightlines.

Sparks is a sucking disappointment for tourists unless they need new pants or a haircut. Why do visitors think Ottawa rolls up the sidewalks at 6 p.m.? They went to Sparks Street looking for the action.

Sparks is a service area for public servants and politicos and it’s pretty good at that job. Let it do its work in peace.

dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-lets-kill-the-sparks-street-mall

Horrible idea. Sparks haters talk about how dead it is in the winter but forget to mention how popular the place is in summer. The way I look at, this is work in progress. Fuck cars.

[bikegypsy]

I would love that! But this is anal Ottawa — remember the other year when bars in the Market dared open their patios on a glorious sunny warm spring day a few days before the official centrally-planned opening day?

I worked extensively in restaurants and bars across eastern Canada. Yes, I agree that Ottawa is anal about this, but the entire country is the same. Particularly if when locations serve alcohol; everything is controlled to the max. Authorities will calculate everything from the distance between the bar and the entrance to the number of toilets in respect to the estimated number of patrons (allowed). Clubs are obligated to keep track of the number of people on the premises at all time. I experienced similar crap while working in bars in Montreal, when an ex employer was heavily fined for exceeding the number of tables allowed on his patio.

[bikegypsy]

The NCC should cover Sparks with a canope, with movable roof glass panels and removable doors.

[McC]

I think that you could close the gardens tomorrow and it would be at least a week until anyone noticed anything was amiss! :P
.

Ha! It actually is closed tomorrow, they chain up the ramps and staircases every year from around mid-November to sometime in April. It's noticed by the few people who use it to get from the Ottawa River path into the CBD (by far the nicest, directest, safest route), but we aren't many. They always wait way too long after the paths are clear of snow to remove the chains.

[FFX-ME]

Personally I favour the historic streetcar idea. Too bad it hasn't gathered more steam.

http://www.ottawastreetcar.com

[MarkR]

Personally I favour the historic streetcar idea. Too bad it hasn't gathered more steam.

http://www.ottawastreetcar.com

Love streetcars!

But, no one will go to Sparks St. by foot, bike, or car if there aren't any stores / attractions that interest them.

It has been observed for years that Sparks took a big hit when the Rideau Centre opened. My mom used to live just off Preston St. in the 1950s, and told me of taking the streetcar to Sparks St., because that was Ottawa's shopping district. It has not been that district for a long time now. I think what they need to do is turn some of those buildings into condos / apartments to get people living there, because then stores will open up to serve them.

[McC]

Rideau Centre opened in 1983, Sparks had long faded by then, and most of the big department stores and other draws were already gone. Despite what you might hear, Rideau Centre actually saved downtown shopping.

[Aylmer]

Love streetcars!

But, no one will go to Sparks St. by foot, bike, or car if there aren't any stores / attractions that interest them.


I don't completely agree with this.

I agree that people won't go far out of their way to just walk on Sparks if it isn't a destination in its own right, but I think that people will make their way via Sparks to somewhere else if it's convenient and pleasant. As anyone standing at the Château Laurier will notice, a disproportionate number of people walk on the north side of Wellington despite the fact that almost all of those people have both their origin and destination on the south side (Rideau Centre and Downtown). I strongly suspect it has to do with the unpleasantness of the Col.By/Mackenzie on-ramp underpass. I think that if we were to just remove that one on-ramp, it would move the path of least resistance for the flow of pedestrians from Wellington to Sparks.

So now, all of a sudden, you have a large flow of people walking from, say, O'Connor and Laurier to the Rideau Centre who now walk down Sparks because its more convenient. That incidental walk-by traffic is a conditio sine qua non for downtown retail. Other forumers have brought up challenges concerning other business conditions (restrictions, poor management, etc.), but I think that even with the best-run BIA, little can happen without the kind of walk-by traffic which is lacking on Sparks. Once we sort the rest out, Sparks might become a destination in itself, but just as people are attracted by destinations, destinations are attracted to places where there are already people.


Instant change is rare in city-building, but I truly believe that the day we do away with that one on-ramp, we will see an immediate and significant jump in foot traffic on Sparks. It certainly won't fix all of the street's problems, but it's the one thing which we need to fix before we can start on anything else.

Or maybe I'm just crazy :P

[lrt's friend]

Personally I favour the historic streetcar idea. Too bad it hasn't gathered more steam.

http://www.ottawastreetcar.com

this was always a pie in the sky idea with no backing from anybody serious.

However, I have mentioned various streetcar ideas before.

Maybe in isolation this streetcar idea is ridiculous but as a local addition to the Confederation Line, why not? It would act as a downtown circulator, when subway stations are too far apart and too far underground for short trips.

I certainly would forget about the replica vintage streetcar concept and buy standard modern streetcars. Using replica vintage equipment just makes it too much a toy system geared to tourists.

But why not make this part of a greater urban network that expands over time?

I have suggested connections to Zibi and to federal offices and museums in Hull and to Rideau Street. In the long-term extend out Montreal Road to the 'toilet bowl' Rockcliffe development.

The idea of additional subways is probably not in the cards for a very very long time, but a modern streetcar in exclusive lanes will still provide better than current bus service.

And the further advantage of surface rail will be that riders will see every business as they go by and with convenient stopping (closer than subways), what better advertising and convenience of getting off and on a streetcar and shop along the way if it runs every 5 minutes.

I always thought the idea of bringing back streetcars to Sparks Street would be part of the answer of bringing life back to Sparks Street, but we have to make sure that the streetcars actually travel far enough to useful to enough local residents and not just be a tourist trolley.

[lrt's friend]

Rideau Centre opened in 1983, Sparks had long faded by then, and most of the big department stores and other draws were already gone. Despite what you might hear, Rideau Centre actually saved downtown shopping.

I saw what happened when the Rideau Centre opened and yes the idea of the Rideau Centre was to rejuvenate downtown shopping, however, it effectively killed both Sparks Street and Rideau Street.

Yes, Sparks Street had faded to a degree before then, but the opening of the Rideau Centre was the tipping point. There were still some major chains on Sparks Street but a number of stores relocated to the Rideau Centre, which encouraged the spiral downward at an accelerated pace. The department stores on Rideau were still present but the horrible bus mall pretty well destroyed every business on downtown Rideau.

You present a rosy picture that I just don't see in my memory of what actually happened. Yes, it helped modernize downtown shopping but the concept of a totally inward looking mall that excluded the rest of downtown retailers, did as much damage as it did good. And what says it all is that after 33 years, neither Sparks nor Rideau streets have recovered and they represent a failure in urban planning. The condition of both of those streets tarnish the image our city.

[Mr.Flintstone]

Isn't spark st in kind of in between changes. LRT Should be coming near it soon. Wouldn't it also be help with the future development at lebreton. I know lebreton is years away but probably have big changes for sparks if they play their card right.

I think the best thing now would be to turn the building in to condos.

[teej1984]

Sparks would be great for temporary public art installations. Something big and beautiful. Maybe similar to what runs along Sainte-Catherine in the Village: http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Gay-Village-Boules-Roses.jpg

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

See, here is really the only concrete way Sparks St. can "succeed" as a pedestrian-only street in this city and in this climate:

You need THE high-end shopping stores, and you need some really good restaurants.

I've cut a swath across western Europe and parts of India. For pedestrian-only streets, they all seem to have something in common; the street is anchored on the ends with sites of local (and sometimes national) interest, and the street itself is filled the premiere shopping destinations and outlets, as well as several restaurants, cafes, and other shops.

Never have I seen this more perfectly executed than in Lleida, Spain. You want to go to H&M, Jack Jones, Stradivarius, Desigual, United Colors of Benetton, or get any kind of jewelry, perfumes, and leather accessories? Better get your ass to Carrer Major.

Year round, that street is packed because it's THE place to do your clothes shopping, as well as any clothing related items. There are game stores, mobile shops, restaurants, bars, and cafes interspersed throughout and the result is this:

http://i.imgur.com/IHIbsGI.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gb7nYiW.jpg



The foundation is there for Sparks Street; at the east end there is Confederation Square with the NAC, Union Station, Congress Centre, Rideau Centre, and Confederation Park all nearby. At the western end of Sparks Street is the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, Library and Archives, and the future mega-site of LeBreton Flats. Along the way is access to Parliament and Bank Street.

If Ottawa and the NCC want to do what Lleida and so many other cities do, they have to keep building upon what they currently have, and really push for some high-end stuff among other things. I don't know if there is a Winners or something where the old Zellers was, but this street needs at least a handful of high-end, well-known flagship stores, more restaurants and cafes, more people living in residential nearby, etc.

You need to give people both a reason to go to Sparks Street, and a reason to stay there. Right now we don't seem to be doing much of either, but we are getting better at getting people to go there. Making it a destination worth staying around in is the challenge.

[Uhuniau]

Yes, but people gladly visit shade in the summer and respite from the wind in winter.

Shade can be generated by buildings and street furniture. I'm not sure trees offer much of a respite from wind, and in any event, again that's a job for buildings to do.

There's an undeniable aesthetic value to street trees (or perhaps a universal blah-ness of tree-less streets), but they have an even more important functional value of protecting and enhancing pedestrian comfort. And on a pedestrian street, that is basically the one thing you can't afford to screw up!

If you can find trees that won't end up just looking wilted and sickly, that can survive more than a few years, go for it.

Otherwise, they'll be as temporary as the street furniture.

[Uhuniau]

I worked extensively in restaurants and bars across eastern Canada. Yes, I agree that Ottawa is anal about this, but the entire country is the same. Particularly if when locations serve alcohol; everything is controlled to the max. Authorities will calculate everything from the distance between the bar and the entrance to the number of toilets in respect to the estimated number of patrons (allowed). Clubs are obligated to keep track of the number of people on the premises at all time. I experienced similar crap while working in bars in Montreal, when an ex employer was heavily fined for exceeding the number of tables allowed on his patio.

I can understand regulation of those things, yes, but there is absolutely no need for the city to regulate *when* patios open for the season.

[Uhuniau]

The LRT entrance in the Winners building will also help a little.

It's gonna be in the Constitution Building or whatever it's called at Queen and O'Connor, not the former Zellers.

[Uhuniau]

I think that you could close the gardens tomorrow and it would be at least a week until anyone noticed anything was amiss! :P

I joke, but it's just that it's such an underused space. Though I'm certain that if it was part of the main Downtown-LeBreton link, it would be a much more interesting space.

Underused?

It's pretty well unused, except by the occasional skateboarder or LAC employee on lunch break during the summer.

It's yet another pointless open public space that Ottawa fixates on, and demands more of, and then is never used. The Garden of the Provinces and Territories is a classic "edge vacuum" case.

Bulldoze it and build something useful on the site.

[Uhuniau]

I don't completely agree with this.

I agree that people won't go far out of their way to just walk on Sparks if it isn't a destination in its own right, but I think that people will make their way via Sparks to somewhere else if it's convenient and pleasant. As anyone standing at the Château Laurier will notice, a disproportionate number of people walk on the north side of Wellington despite the fact that almost all of those people have both their origin and destination on the south side (Rideau Centre and Downtown). I strongly suspect it has to do with the unpleasantness of the Col.By/Mackenzie on-ramp underpass.

Also, on the north side, you don't have intersections to cross. You can bruise along for more than a kilometre without ever having to wait for a light to change or traffic to clear.

Instant change is rare in city-building, but I truly believe that the day we do away with that one on-ramp, we will see an immediate and significant jump in foot traffic on Sparks. It certainly won't fix all of the street's problems, but it's the one thing which we need to fix before we can start on anything else.

Or maybe I'm just crazy :P

I'm all in favour of getting rid of that life-killing, vile on-ramp, put it won't affect Sparks Street foot traffic all that much: Confederation Square is still not that inviting a space, and will be even less so if the powers that be go ahead with the job, whose purpose is unclear, of "opening" it up even further. If anything, it needs to be further enclosed to make it a human place.

[Uhuniau]

The idea of additional subways is probably not in the cards for a very very long time, but a modern streetcar in exclusive lanes will still provide better than current bus service.

This is the key: exclusive lanes.

But the city won't do that on the Rideau-Montreal axis. Drivers are politically more important than an obviously lower-economic-class and captive transit market on that corridor.

[Aylmer]

Shade can be generated by buildings and street furniture. I'm not sure trees offer much of a respite from wind, and in any event, again that's a job for buildings to do.


Not with a south-west orientation, it can't; the July sun pounds the pavement from 10 to 5pm. There are actually bylaws in place to protect the noon-hour sun on Sparks (have you ever wondered why there's a hole in the RBC building?).

As for the wind, a straight row of buildings doesn't break up the wind; it channels it into a tunnel. Mature trees are quite effective at breaking up wind tunnels, even in winter.


Also, on the north side, you don't have intersections to cross. You can bruise along for more than a kilometre without ever having to wait for a light to change or traffic to clear.

Well, actually there are actually fewer crossings:
-North side: Rideau, Sussex, Mackenzie, the two vehicle accesses for the Chateau Laurier (though the traffic volumes are low enough that we can discount them) and back across Wellington.
-South side: Sussex, Elgin, Elgin.

If you're going to Bank, then you might have one additional crossing, but it's a lot easier to cross the one/two lanes of slow traffic on Metcalfe and O'Connor at Sparks (as evidenced by the constant flow of jay-walking that takes place there) than it is to cross 4-5 lanes of fast traffic on Wellington (as evidenced by the total lack of jay-walkers).
Not to mention that it's a shorter distance on the south side unless you're heading to Wellington itself. There are other reasons to choose Wellington (there's a nice view of the locks), but an on-ramp-less south side would be faster and more comfortable, without a doubt.


I'm all in favour of getting rid of that life-killing, vile on-ramp, put it won't affect Sparks Street foot traffic all that much: Confederation Square is still not that inviting a space, and will be even less so if the powers that be go ahead with the job, whose purpose is unclear, of "opening" it up even further. If anything, it needs to be further enclosed to make it a human place

I agree that it was a grievous mistake to place the monument there, but there's nothing which will get done about that now. However, the square is very easy to walk across. Working as a guide there during the summer, I spent hours there and I never saw anything to make me think people were walking around it to avoid walking through it. It could do with more shade (it gets all kinds of hot on sunny days there), but it's a perfectly fine space to walk across, if somewhat dull.

It's also worth remembering that, dull as it may be, the north side of Wellington is dull, longer and requires more crossings. I don't think your arguments hold water.

[rocketphish]

Sparks Street Mall needs a double life, not death, says its former boss

David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 21, 2016 | Last Updated: March 21, 2016 6:08 PM EDT

The problem with Sparks Street is that it has one mode and it needs two, says the guy who spent two years trying to revive it.

Les Gagne was the executive director at the Sparks Street merchants’ association, the “business improvement area,” until late 2014, when the board abruptly told him he wasn’t any more. He is not ready, as I am, to give up on Sparks as a pedestrian mall.

Gagne’s departure from the mall job was sudden. He’d been on an annual contract but was working without one while he and the mall board negotiated a new one. They decided to go a different way, he says.

“I feel for the place, because I still believe,” Gagne says.

By day, Sparks Street has remnants of the retail life that once sustained it, before department stores moved to malls and lots of other shopping went online or to box stores. But successful pedestrian areas the world over have one identity by day and a different one by night.

“During the day, they cater to one audience. And then at 4, 5, 6 o’clock, those businesses change over and they cater to a whole different market,” he says. Quick lunch spots become swankier dinner destinations become clubs. The newish Bier Markt is that kind of place.

Sparks serves the daytime crowd of public servants and political staffers, and that’s fine, he says. But new businesses should have it written into their leases that they keep long hours and open on holidays, Gagne believes. Dentists and opticians should be on second floors or inside larger buildings so they don’t create dead spots outside business hours. This’ll take co-operation from Public Works, the major landlord.

At night, Sparks could open to light traffic. One lane, perhaps, plus one of parking. Taxis and pick-ups and drop-offs make night spots more appealing, especially in winter. By day, it could have a no-cars rule enforced by retractable or removable bollards. The city would have to be in on this.

It would take a lot of co-operating and it’s all understandably a difficult pitch to businesses that have historically done OK with just the daytime customers. Right now they’re just trying to hang on. Sparks is suffering through years of renovations and repairs that should have been done a bit at a time over decades.

“That has probably been the biggest challenge that Sparks Street has had to deal with, just because of so many buildings that have been let go for so long,” Gagné says.

That was the first problem he had to face when the merchants’ association hired him in 2012. An emergency, actually. That’s where the ribs and poutine cookoffs came from, along with the car show, a New Year’s Eve party, a silly-walk contest thing, inventing a tradition of getting “nipped in” by drinking whisky and kissing a stuffed beaver.

“The only alternative to make people want to come down to Sparks Street so we don’t fall off the radar is to have major events,” Gagne says. “We knew that that was at least going to keep us in the minds of people while all this major construction (was going on).”

A poutine festival? Sure, it’s a bit downmarket, a celebration of junk food. But a uniquely Canadian junk food, served in late April when it’s probably still chilly, to people on foot. Local chefs threw their hats in. And it brought in about 50,000 people over three days.

“If people are coming because of that, then who am I to argue? I’m just going to build on that,” Gagne says.

Gagne is proud that the Sparks Street merchants’ group has 17,000 Facebook followers, more than three times as many as those in the ByWard Market or Bank Street. People are interested.

More than a year gone from the job, Gagne still brims with ideas: Gateway arches, pointers into the pedestrian mall from Wellington and Queen streets, a digital display, dragons and a koi pond to attract Chinese tourists from the Hill. If there’s no theme here, that’s the point, he says: “(Sparks) was a one-horse wonder. And when that horse died, people said, well, now what?” If Sparks’s identity is “a place where something’s always going on,” you have more options.

Perhaps it is a foolishness. But if it is, it’s a noble one.

dreevely@postmedia.com
twitter.com/davidreevely

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-sparks-street-mall-needs-a-double-life-not-death-says-its-former-boss

[Uhuniau]

Not with a south-west orientation, it can't; the July sun pounds the pavement from 10 to 5pm. There are actually bylaws in place to protect the noon-hour sun on Sparks (have you ever wondered why there's a hole in the RBC building?).

That's utter dumbth.

As for the wind, a straight row of buildings doesn't break up the wind; it channels it into a tunnel. Mature trees are quite effective at breaking up wind tunnels, even in winter.

I have never noticed Sparks to be any more wind-tunnelly than any other Ottawa street, and I never understood Ottawan's obsession with finding "wind tunnels" everywhere.

I have yet to find a street in Ottawa that is windy for any other reason than that it's windy out.

Well, actually there are actually fewer crossings:
-North side: Rideau, Sussex, Mackenzie, the two vehicle accesses for the Chateau Laurier (though the traffic volumes are low enough that we can discount them) and back across Wellington.
-South side: Sussex, Elgin, Elgin.


I am talking about the full length. When I walk from downtown to the market area, I (and many others) prefer the uninteruppted north side of Wellington to the south side or any other street south of it like Sparks or Queen.

It's also worth remembering that, dull as it may be, the north side of Wellington is dull, longer and requires more crossings. I don't think your arguments hold water.

I don't know what north side of Wellington you are looking at.

Wellington Street, in downtown Ottawa, Canada? Between Bank and Mackenzie there are no public streets to cross, just the little-used vehicular entrances to Parliament Hill.

Source: me, who has walked this street literally thousands of times. Or you can use Google Maps.

[Kitchissippi]

When I walk from downtown to the market area, I (and many others) prefer the uninteruppted north side of Wellington to the south side or any other street south of it like Sparks or Queen.

Oh, so you prefer the sunny side of street amidst the majesty of Confederation Boulevard. I sense a delicate little cherub struggling to break free from crust of curmudgeondom.

[Aylmer]

Well, I don't know what more to tell you, Uhuniau. I spend 6-7 hours almost every day from the end of April until the beginning of September standing at various intersections on Wellington and Sparks, observing the ebb and flow of people through the downtown, what people avoid, the way the wind blows people's umbrellas away, the places where the sun gets so hot that the soles of my shoes start to stick to the pavement. I'm certain that you've walked by there 'a thousand times', but have you ever really stopped to observe it, to watch it for hours?

I have a valid perspective on this issue - probably one which not a lot of people have the time nor the excuse to acquire. I don't appreciate you being so flippant or dismissive just because you insist on being abrasive and contrarian. I appreciate a good argument just as much as the next guy and I enjoy intelligent disagreements, but just saying "that's dumb" isn't intelligent or pleasant.

There are most certainly holes in my reasoning, but I wish you could find it in you to be more constructive in your posts.

[Uhuniau]

Oh, so you prefer the sunny side of street amidst the majesty of Confederation Boulevard. I sense a delicate little cherub struggling to break free from crust of curmudgeondom.

Except for a few weeks either side of the summer solstice, I rarely leave work to begin that walk before the sun is below 10 degrees high in the sky. Usually, and often even in high astronomical summer, it has already set.

Otherwise, yes, I prefer shady sides of streets, and do not understand Ottawa's fetishisation of sun-bleached streets. And I'm quite comfortable in my curmudgeon-crust, thanks! :)

[rocketphish]

Sparks Street Mall authority mocked over T-shirt snafu

Aedan Helmer, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: April 17, 2016 | Last Updated: April 17, 2016 7:13 PM EDT

It’s being called “the street that fun forgot.”

The Sparks Street Business Improvement Area is being pilloried on social media after shutting down an impromptu free T-shirt giveaway on the pedestrian mall late last week.

Artist Andrew King, who has amassed a considerable local following on social media, announced the giveaway on Twitter after designing a “party shirt” and inviting the first 50 people down to Sparks Street to snag the free swag.

“We did it Ottawa! We survived another winter … it’s now sunny and warm so let’s party!” read Friday’s announcement.

Within a minute of arriving on Sparks Street, though, King claims he was approached by a BIA staffer who told him he would have to move along, since he hadn’t requested or acquired the proper permission from authorities.

The BIA represents merchants along the street, which for years has struggled to maintain its identity as a shopping district, and to attract patrons outside of regular weekday office hours.

According to a statement released by the BIA on Saturday, King “was informed that he required permission from the Sparks Street Mall Authority prior to (distributing free shirts).”

The BIA said it contacted the City of Ottawa “seeking clarification” on the bylaws that define Sparks Street, but did not provide an update on what clarification, if any, it had received.

As widely reported by various media who covered Friday’s imbroglio, no such bylaw exists.

“If we are in the wrong, we will make it right,” the statement continued.

As the story circulated, the BIA was inundated with sarcastic comments on social media.

When one Twitter user asked what authority the BIA invoked in asking King to relocate, they responded, “We manage the pedestrian mall which includes managing people distributing (items).”

Several people staged a small demonstration on the street Saturday holding placards calling the BIA “FunKillers.”

Others mocked the press release itself, which contained several grammatical errors, including misspelling its own street names.

The press release twice refers to Sparks Street as “Spark Street” and indicates King was asked to move his giveaway to “O’Conner St.”

The BIA office overlooks the intersection of Sparks and O’Connor.

Others still pointed out the irony of some curious passages contained within the statement itself.

In describing the emerging patios, planters, street furniture and the future festivals planned for the street, the BIA stated: “We want to have fun, support community causes and highlight the great gifts our city has to offer. Sometimes you miss the opportunities that are right in front of you.”

King, for his part, was taking the high road, taking to Twitter to thank people for their encouragement and support.

King said he was contacted by the BIA “in a very positive manner, they reached out with some very encouraging steps forward … I hope we can work toward recognizing the grandeur and history that street deserves. Ottawa has strongly shown they want that … In the meantime, let’s just chill and enjoy the great weather we have been given in Ottawa. I assure you goods things are ahead!”

ahelmer@postmedia.com
twitter.com/helmera

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/sparks-street-mall-authority-mocked-over-t-shirt-snafu

[Jamaican-Phoenix]

This city, I swear to god...

[rocketphish]

'Ridiculous' t-shirt fiasco to spark change, artist says
Instead of being mad, local artist Andrew King hopes his t-shirt kerfuffle on Sparks Street can be channeled into real change.

By: Emma Jackson Metro Published on Sun Apr 17 2016

Local artist Andrew King says “good things are ahead” on Sparks Street after he was kicked out of the pedestrian mall for handing out free t-shirts.

The move caused a bit of a backlash on Friday: some accused Sparks of being “the street that fun forgot,” while others actually protested the decision Saturday with handmade signs and the hashtag #funkillers.

While King called the situation “ridiculous,” he’s hoping the outcry can be channelled into real change on the historic street.

“What this shows is people love Sparks Street and they want to see something fun and exciting there,” King said.

Instead of being mad, he’s working with Sparks Street BIA events co-ordinator Kevin McHale on a new project.

Neither of them would confirm what exactly that might be, or when we’ll see it.

“We’re just going to jam on some ideas,” King said.

The drama began around noon on Friday, when King showed up outside the Sparks Street Winners to hand out 50 handmade Ottawa 2017 t-shirts.

“It was just meant to be a fun thing to get people in the mood to party,” King said. “This was just a spontaneous thing on a beautiful day.”

But fun wasn’t really in the cards, as McHale confronted King almost immediately because he hadn’t cleared his plans with the BIA in advance.

“I have to apply the same rules (to everyone),” said McHale, who said he has to make sure the pedestrian mall doesn’t get too crowded. “Most of the time we say yes.”

Still, McHale said the BIA can do a better job communicating those rules, and he’s asked city bylaw whether or not the BIA was wrong to make King leave.

Meanwhile, King is planning to second run of the shirts – the first 50 were gone in minutes once he relocated - while he laughs off the “hilarious” fiasco.

“This is so Ottawa,” he said.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/2016/04/17/tshirt-fiasco-ends-in-true-ottawa-fashion.html

[rocketphish]

Sparks Street wrong to stop free shirt giveaway, bylaw says
Sparks Street official told local artist Andrew King to move because he hadn't sought pre-approval

CBC News Posted: Apr 18, 2016 11:40 AM ET Last Updated: Apr 18, 2016 11:40 AM ET

There is no bylaw in Ottawa that forces someone to notify Sparks Street in order to give away free T-shirts — unless they use a booth — but street officials seem to have misread the rules.

Ottawa artist Andrew King announced on Twitter that he'd be on Sparks Street giving away "Ottawa 2017" T-shirts from a duffel bag at noon last Friday.

But before King could begin handing out the shirts, Sparks Street official Kevin McHale asked him to move off the street because he hadn't sought prior approval.

On Monday, McHale explained to Robyn Bresnahan, host of CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning, that he likes to know about everything that's happening on Sparks Street, including construction projects and events.

He said he did not know about the T-shirt giveaway before spotting King on Friday.

"I would have loved to partner up on something like that. I hadn't even noticed it on social media," McHale said, adding that Friday was chaotic on Sparks Street because many restaurants chose that day to set up their patios for the summer.

McHale's intervention fuelled a backlash on social media, and even spawned a small protest on Saturday.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgLROpFUkAAN6lZ.jpg

Sparks Street wrote a letter (http://twitter.com/SparksStreet/status/721404734217687040/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) in response to the backlash and distributed it on social media. The letter admitted McHale would have to review the bylaw to ensure he understood it correctly.

CBC News contacted the city to obtain the pertinent bylaw, the "Use and Care of Roads By-law — 2003-498." The bylaw reads:

"Handing out items for free is allowed as long as the person does not encumber the roadway and doesn't set up any sort of stand (or even a box or two) on the street to conduct the distribution from. People can hand items out for free from a backpack or a hand held bag. And because the items are free. No licensing requirement exists."

As it turns out, Sparks Street had no right to stop King from giving away the Ottawa 2017 T-shirts on the street.

CBC RADIO INTERVIEW (https://soundcloud.com/cbcottawa1/spark-street-mall-authority-not-bia-shooed-free-t-shirt-sale-away)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/sparks-street-mall-tshirt-giveaway-andrew-king-1.3540580

[mykl]

I know Andrew King, and he couldn't be a kinder person. I'm sad this happened to him. What an embarrassment. I just hate Sparks Street so much!

[Kitchissippi]

The cause of Sparks Street's problems:
McHale, who said he has to make sure the pedestrian mall doesn’t get too crowded

[canabiz]

Solid crowd on Sparks Street tonight for Ribfest although not as busy as I was expecting. We had Camp 31 food and wandered around after, most of the restaurants with patio is packed so that's a good sign.

It will be nice to see all the construction done.

[rocketphish]

City wants to tweak Sparks Street oversight, pursue public realm plan

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: June 30, 2016 | Last Updated: June 30, 2016 7:21 AM EDT

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2015/05/sparks-street-at-lunch-hour-1-08-p-m-on-monday-april-201.jpg?quality=55&strip=all&w=700

The complicated oversight structure for Ottawa’s historic pedestrian mall won’t be streamlined in a proposed tweak to the governance of Sparks Street, but at least the city wants to get moving on a plan to improve the commercial strip.

Sparks Street is managed by a Sparks Street Mall “authority” and a “Business Improvement Area” group.

The authority, which is in charge of all aspects of Sparks Street, from program permits to where to put benches, dates back 51 years. The 33-year-old BIA pays for maintenance and beautification over and above what the city covers. Each group charges a levy to its members — property owners and tenants.

For the past two years, they have been working as one entity, even though each is governed by a separate bylaw. They couldn’t agree on terms to formalize a merger last year.

When the city checked in with them, the federal reps pointed out the overlap between the two oversight groups for Sparks Street. Private property owners expressed concern about the idea of axing the mall authority, fearing Sparks Street would become lost under the sole oversight of City Hall.

Council directed staff to have a governance review done a year ago. A report on the review was published this week ahead of a finance and economic development committee meeting Tuesday.

After taking another run at the complicated governance regime of Sparks Street, the city has decided to keep two separate groups in charge of the strip.

The difference will be a scaled-down authority board consisting of the city manager or designate, the head of city planning, a senior rep from the National Capital Commission, a senior rep from Public Services and Procurement Canada, someone from the BIA, a rep from the authority membership, and the area councillor.

Once they nail down their mandate as a new authority, the city’s planning department will begin crafting a public realm plan, including ways to accommodate cyclists, delivery trucks and new infrastructure. The city will also explore public-private partnerships for programming.

It’s the next in a long string of game plans as the city, federal government and the private sector sort out the future of Sparks Street.

The private sector owns most of the buildings on the south side of the street. The federal government owns buildings on the north side. The City of Ottawa owns the street itself.

Kevin McHale, program co-ordinator for the Sparks Street BIA, credited the city for the latest governance review and its interest in developing a new public realm plan.

“From a municipal standpoint I think there’s a refocus on the business core, clearly with the two LRT stations that are going to be in there and the redo on Queen Street,” McHale said Wednesday.

In the finger-pointing over how Sparks Street functions — and fingers are usually pointed at everyone, from the city to the NCC to the BIA — the average person doesn’t care about the governance structure, McHale said.

“We do the best we can with it. There’s a lot of struggles that we face,” McHale said. “I think that’s what we can get out of this. We can say, stop blaming with each other.”

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/city-wants-to-tweak-sparks-street-oversight-pursue-public-realm-plan

[rocketphish]

Popular bear sculpture moving to new Sparks Street home

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: September 21, 2016 | Last Updated: September 21, 2016 5:32 PM EDT

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/ottawa-08-18-07-the-sculptures-are-by-bruce-garner-the.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=600

By the end of this month, Ottawa’s most famous bear will have a prominent new home. And as a bonus, the mother grizzly will be reunited with her cub and three tasty salmon.

The bear in question is the four-metre-tall bronze sculpture by the late Bruce Garner, called Territorial Prerogative, that has graced the Sparks Street Mall’s Elgin Street entrance since 1990.

Between Sept. 27 and 29, it will be relocated to the corner of Sparks and Metcalfe streets to make way for a $4.2-million monument commemorating Lord Stanley of Preston’s gift of the Stanley Cup in 1892.

When it was announced in 2013 that the Lord Stanley’s Gift Monument would displace Garner’s popular sculpture, the artist’s widow, Tamaya Garner, was enraged. But Garner said Wednesday she’s content with the new location. “I think Bruce would be quite happy with it,” she said. “The current location always presented problems with the sculpture getting hit by garbage or delivery trucks.”

At the new location, the sculpture will sit on a proper base that she designed, which should help to protect it.

Also, Garner will re-install the cub and the salmon, which were part of Bruce Garner’s original design. They were removed a few years ago to protect them from damage due to weather, equipment and vehicles.

The bear’s relocation will allow for preparation of the site for the Stanley Cup monument, which will be unveiled in December 2017 — the 125th anniversary of Lord Stanley’s gift. It is expected to become a prominent new landmark in the city.

Members of the public are invited to attend Thursday’s unveiling of the eight competing monument designs from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Canada Council for the Arts Âjagemô Gallery at 150 Elgin St.

The designs will also be posted on the public art competition website, lordstanleysgift.com. People can share their views until Oct. 7. The winning design will be announced on Oct. 25.

dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/popular-bear-sculpture-moving-to-new-sparks-street-home

[movebyleap]

Why is the city so obsessed with moving that bear?

Why not put the Stanley Cup monument in the other location?

Everyone loves that bear there. It's one of the few attractive sculptures in this town. Please leave the bear alone!!

[kwoldtimer]

I've hated that bear statue since it was first installed. Hope the new location is obscure.

[Kitchissippi]

Why is the city so obsessed with moving that bear?

Why not put the Stanley Cup monument in the other location?

They picked that spot because the Cup was announced by Lord Stanley at the Russell House hotel which used to stand at the corner of Sparks and Elgin.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Russell_House_ca1893.jpg

[J.OT13]

I've hated that bear statue since it was first installed. Hope the new location is obscure.

Second that. A bunch of statues and art works seem no more than clutter.

Looking forward to seeing a proper monument to our Stanley Cup on that site.

[rocketphish]

There's a lot of cup in finalists' designs for Stanley Cup monument

Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: September 22, 2016 | Last Updated: September 22, 2016 8:26 PM EDT

Based on eight finalist designs unveiled Thursday, the new Ottawa monument commemorating Lord Stanley of Preston’s gift of the Stanley Cup in 1892 is certain to include a representation of … the Stanley Cup.

Who knew?

All eight designs feature a literal or stylized image of the storied cup, awarded to the team that wins the NHL playoffs each year.

Three include virtual replicas of the cup, albeit super-sized versions. Three others offer stylized representations, some barely recognizable.

Another, submitted by Toronto’s Ja Architectural Studio and New York’s Sebastian Errazuriz Studio, is a towering monolith with an elongated cut-out of the cup in its centre.

Yet another, submitted by Intégral Jean Beaudoin and Novalux Multimedia of Montreal, consists of two curved walls, reminiscent of Toronto’s city hall.

The curved walls are inscribed with the names of Stanley Cup winners, meant to evoke the cup’s ever-expanding lower section.

The monument will be erected at the Elgin Street entrance to the Sparks Street Mall. To be unveiled in December 2017, it will celebrate the 125th anniversary of Lord Stanley’s gift, the 100th anniversary of the NHL, the 150th anniversary of Confederation and the 25th anniversary of the Ottawa Senators.

All eight designs feature a literal or stylized image of the storied cup, awarded to the team that wins the National Hockey League’s seemingly endless playoffs.

The cash budget for the memorial is about $2.8 million, according to George Hunter, president of Lord Stanley’s Gift Memorial Monument Inc., the non-profit charitable organization that is sponsoring the monument.

The Department of Canadian Heritage is contributing about $2.15 million of that, with the NHL and the Ottawa Senators each putting in $250,000 and the City of Ottawa supplying the land and a $50,000 contribution.

In addition, volunteers, board members and other supporters are providing about $1.3 million in work in kind, Hunter said, including $250,000 in services from the Senators.

Hunter said a media report Thursday that potential corporate donors backed off because they couldn’t get their names on the monument was “totally incorrect. That never was the case.”

He said there was discussion with Canadian Heritage at one point about whether such recognition for corporate sponsors — normally verboten on federal monuments — might be possible.

“What we were saying to them was it would make some sense if there was some ability to recognize corporate and other sponsors,” Hunter said. “But that was a very preliminary discussion. We certainly hadn’t talked to any potential donors at that point.”

While there was interest from some corporations in participating, they eventually declined. “It was more the timing of the thing,” Hunter said. “It had nothing to do with any demand that we recognize people, or our refusal to do it.”

Models of the finalist designs, chosen from among 40 entries by a jury, will remain on display Friday in the Âjagema Gallery at the Canada Council for the Arts, 150 Elgin St. They can also be viewed on the competition website, lordstanleysgift.com (http://lordstanleysgift.com).

Members of the public are invited to email comments to hello@lordstanleysgift.com until Oct. 7. The winning design will be announced on Oct. 25.


Here is a brief description of all eight finalist design:

Coupland/Leinster/Mills

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all&h=480

The design presents a stylized, elongated cup tilted on a 45-degree angle. Through the use of a visual trick called foreshortening, viewers will be able to find a “sweet spot” that allows the image to be seen as the classic current cup.

Covit/Nguyen/Norr

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september4.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

The design is centred on a large chaliced form, monumental in scale, that evokes the original cup. It sits on a granite surface with rounded corners that resembles a rink. Thirty-nine black granite disks, each engraved with the name of a Stanley Cup finalist team, are scattered across the rink.

Intégral Jean Beaudoin + Novalux

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september6.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

Described as a Nordic fountain by its Montreal creators, the curved transparent walls of the monument are embedded with the names of every cup champion and will be able to accommodate future champions to the year 2109. “Water clouds” will be used to freshen and clear the walls in the summer and to create an ice film in winter.

Ja Architecture and Sebastian Errazuriz studios

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september5.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

The designers describe their work as an “Arch of Light” — a new and contemporary Arc de Triomphe around a silhouette of the modern cup. As sunlight passes through the silhouette, it will create an outline in light of the cup on the monument’s floor, slowly shifting into position to align with an outline of the cup cut.

Trutiak/Pellettier/vanderGaast

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september3.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

A 20-foot-tall stylized depiction of the cup, with a larger-than-life sculpture of Lord Stanley holding his original cup in his hands. A young boy and girl face off in front of him.

North Design Office et al

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september7.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

A 6.1-metre-tall stylized cup, made of polished stainless steel, with nine visible bands of varying size, representing the cup’s physical growth over the years and its current nine-part configuration of engraved segments.

SPMB/1×1 Architecture

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september2.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

The monument consists of 15 large hands hoisting a six-metre-long cup. The illuminated words of Lord Stanley announcing his gift of the cup appear on the sides of the cup, in both official languages. The names of all Stanley Cup winners are engraved on an adjacent black granite surface called the “Field of Champions.”

Studio West et al

http://wpmedia.ottawacitizen.com/2016/09/photos-are-under-embargo-until-5pm-est-thursday-september1.jpeg?w=640&quality=55&strip=all

Lord Stanley, depicted in bronze, hold a replica of his original cup in his right hand. A larger-than-life depiction of the modern cup is embedded in a nearby wall, just above a three-dimensional relief of cheering fans. Visitors will be able to position themselves in front of the cup so they appear to be holding it aloft in photographs.

dbutler@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ButlerDon

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/theres-a-lot-of-cup-in-finalists-designs-for-stanley-cup-monument

[acottawa]

Covit/Nguyen/Norr

It actually resembles the Cup Lord Stanley donated and it gives kids something to climb on.

[mykl]

2 or 3 please.

[kwoldtimer]

Covit/Nguyen/Norr

It actually resembles the Cup Lord Stanley donated and it gives kids something to climb on.

That would be my choice.

[citydwlr]

That would be my choice.

Agreed, mine too.

I really like what they did with the lighting, and the white "rink" underlay. I didn't care for it at first, but seeing the additional photos on the Lord Stanley's Gift (http://lordstanleysgift.com/finalists/covitnguyennorr/) website pushed it to the top for me.

[zzptichka]

#2 looks really great. Wonder if they could recreate that shadow pattern with some artificial lighting during night time.

[lrt's friend]

#7 - A realistic depiction of the Stanley Cup will gain a lot attention from visitors. It is the dream of so many Canadians, to raise the cup (hence the hands) and here visitors can hold it. As one of the pictures shows, a photo opportunity. I remember the people lining up to have their picture taken at the Maurice Richard monument in Hull one Canada Day. This will be a draw.

The ones that are very abstract or require lighting at a certain angle, most people will simply not get most of the time. That is #4 and #6.

#3 - I would like it better if the image of the cup could be incorporated somehow, for example, having the stylized cup from #2 suspended above

[zzptichka]

Can we add a poll to the first post somehow?

[YOWflier]

#2 or #7.

[Catenary]

#4 and # 6 don't makes much sense, but none of them are hideous, which I guess is a good thing.

[bikegypsy]

Covit/Nguyen/Norr

[gjhall]

Covit/Nguyen/Norr is the clear winner.

[eltodesukane]

z

[zzptichka]

But people could climb and fall and sue the city. Nope, can't have that. Let's go with one of those awesome and unique statues instead.

[McC]

Ja Architecture and Sebastian Errazuriz studios' looks like a cenotaph, across from THE Cenotaph, what a tonedeaf and utterly inappropriate proposal.

Trutiak/Pellettier/vanderGaast has someone whose name sounds like Tretiak, which is a PLUS, unfortunately it is so clumsily and hideously literal that it should also be dropped immediately.

Covit/Nguyen/Norr; and Intégral Jean Beaudoin + Novalux are clearly a cut above and merit further attention and refinement.

Can't really see Coupland's from that angle, but at first glance, it and the rest seem pretty "meh."

[movebyleap]

#2 hands down.

(I'll still miss the bear!)

[McC]

Don't fear: the bear will be back and better than ever (reunited with her cub and more salmon to eat) a block further west!

[TransitZilla]

Covit/Nguyen/Norr; and Intégral Jean Beaudoin + Novalux are clearly a cut above and merit further attention and refinement.


Agreed.

[Uhuniau]

The North Design Office giant MJ vaper is an intriguing concept. :)