capitaldensity
Dec 1, 2007, 12:07 AM
News Story
Business eyes Government Conference Centre for hub
By Roman Zakaluzny, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Fri, Nov 30, 2007 4:00 PM EST
Ottawa's proposed "Innovation Hub" would be just across the street from the prime minister's office, and right in the heart of downtown, if proponents have their way.
Chris Henderson, chair of The Ottawa Partnership (TOP) and chair of the steering committee examining the innovation hub project, gave an update on the hub's progress at a meeting of TOP Friday at city hall.
Rather than building a new, "architecturally significant" structure from scratch, the hub's steering committee has been eyeing the mostly vacant Government of Canada Conference Centre at the corner of Wellington and Rideau streets at the end of the Rideau Canal as its possible new home.
"That's a preference," Mr. Henderson told the OBJ , "(but) it's a high preference.
"If someone said where else could it be, I don't have an answer. It's special to the world."
The Government of Canada Conference Centre was originally opened in 1912 as Ottawa's main railway station by the Grand Trunk Railway, but the committee hopes it will become the new home of the proposed Innovation Hub being touted as Ottawa's commercialization centre.
OCRI CEO Jeffrey Dale, who also sits on the steering committee, said the hub has moved on to "phase two" of its plans. The committee recently visited the similar MaRS facility in Toronto, and believes that a minimum of 120,000 square feet of space is required to make a hub viable in town.
The committee also hoped to emulate what MaRS has done in Toronto by having a few blocks around it zoned as a "discovery district."
"They identified a 10-block district that came along with zoning," said Mr. Dale, where surrounding businesses, associations and services specialized in research and commercialization. "We're very intrigued by that concept, (and) we can create an innovation precinct."
Many ideas have been thrown out for future uses of the government conference centre, ranging from a sports hall of fame to an aquarium to returning it to its origins as a train station, at least for an expanded O-Train network. No agreement has ever been reached.
Mr. Dale also announced that the steering committee has recruited a number of new members, including Graham Bird, who helped the Congress Centre come up with its new expansion plans, plans which were approved for millions of dollars in additional funding recently by all three levels of government.
"We still have a tonne of work to do to secure (the conference centre), which is why we brought Graham Bird on board to help us," said Mr. Dale. "He is a former developer, a former city councillor. He's got a great history with P3s (public-private partnerships), and was instrumental with the Congress Centre."
Also on the steering committee: Peter Becke, formerly with Nortel and an independent businessman, now with Venture Hills, an investment firm; David Watters, a former assistant deputy minister at Finance Canada, now with consultants Global Advantage; Jim Roach, former CEO of Tundra Semiconductor and president of CMC Electronics; Steve West, president of MDS Nordion; Eli Fathi, president of Orbit IQ; Don Hewson of Hewson Bridge Smith, and representatives of the city and the province and others.
It is estimated that the conference centre requires a minimum of $36 million just to bring the facility up to code, and most of that money will have to come from the private sector, Mr. Henderson said.
Mr. Henderson added that he's met with Mayor Larry O'Brien, who was on board with their plans.
"We need a central site for it. (Mr. O'Brien) understands it needs to be downtown," said Mr. Henderson, adding hub proponents now needed help from Ottawa's upper tiers of business people to help make it happen.
The men hoped to have architectural plans completed to know final costs of renovating the conference centre by the end of January. Responses as to whether the conference centre was a possible location should be known by the late spring or the early summer of 2008, they said.
Business eyes Government Conference Centre for hub
By Roman Zakaluzny, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Fri, Nov 30, 2007 4:00 PM EST
Ottawa's proposed "Innovation Hub" would be just across the street from the prime minister's office, and right in the heart of downtown, if proponents have their way.
Chris Henderson, chair of The Ottawa Partnership (TOP) and chair of the steering committee examining the innovation hub project, gave an update on the hub's progress at a meeting of TOP Friday at city hall.
Rather than building a new, "architecturally significant" structure from scratch, the hub's steering committee has been eyeing the mostly vacant Government of Canada Conference Centre at the corner of Wellington and Rideau streets at the end of the Rideau Canal as its possible new home.
"That's a preference," Mr. Henderson told the OBJ , "(but) it's a high preference.
"If someone said where else could it be, I don't have an answer. It's special to the world."
The Government of Canada Conference Centre was originally opened in 1912 as Ottawa's main railway station by the Grand Trunk Railway, but the committee hopes it will become the new home of the proposed Innovation Hub being touted as Ottawa's commercialization centre.
OCRI CEO Jeffrey Dale, who also sits on the steering committee, said the hub has moved on to "phase two" of its plans. The committee recently visited the similar MaRS facility in Toronto, and believes that a minimum of 120,000 square feet of space is required to make a hub viable in town.
The committee also hoped to emulate what MaRS has done in Toronto by having a few blocks around it zoned as a "discovery district."
"They identified a 10-block district that came along with zoning," said Mr. Dale, where surrounding businesses, associations and services specialized in research and commercialization. "We're very intrigued by that concept, (and) we can create an innovation precinct."
Many ideas have been thrown out for future uses of the government conference centre, ranging from a sports hall of fame to an aquarium to returning it to its origins as a train station, at least for an expanded O-Train network. No agreement has ever been reached.
Mr. Dale also announced that the steering committee has recruited a number of new members, including Graham Bird, who helped the Congress Centre come up with its new expansion plans, plans which were approved for millions of dollars in additional funding recently by all three levels of government.
"We still have a tonne of work to do to secure (the conference centre), which is why we brought Graham Bird on board to help us," said Mr. Dale. "He is a former developer, a former city councillor. He's got a great history with P3s (public-private partnerships), and was instrumental with the Congress Centre."
Also on the steering committee: Peter Becke, formerly with Nortel and an independent businessman, now with Venture Hills, an investment firm; David Watters, a former assistant deputy minister at Finance Canada, now with consultants Global Advantage; Jim Roach, former CEO of Tundra Semiconductor and president of CMC Electronics; Steve West, president of MDS Nordion; Eli Fathi, president of Orbit IQ; Don Hewson of Hewson Bridge Smith, and representatives of the city and the province and others.
It is estimated that the conference centre requires a minimum of $36 million just to bring the facility up to code, and most of that money will have to come from the private sector, Mr. Henderson said.
Mr. Henderson added that he's met with Mayor Larry O'Brien, who was on board with their plans.
"We need a central site for it. (Mr. O'Brien) understands it needs to be downtown," said Mr. Henderson, adding hub proponents now needed help from Ottawa's upper tiers of business people to help make it happen.
The men hoped to have architectural plans completed to know final costs of renovating the conference centre by the end of January. Responses as to whether the conference centre was a possible location should be known by the late spring or the early summer of 2008, they said.