Sports Infrastructure

[rocketphish]

New Senators rink to be built in Bayshore

By David Reevely, OTTAWA CITIZEN January 6, 2014

OTTAWA — Bayshore is the next neighbourhood to get a new ice rink funded by the Ottawa Senators, the team’s foundation and Coun. Mark Taylor are to announce Tuesday.

The project is part of a long-term deal between the hockey team and the city, which began with the “Rink of Dreams” on the north lawn of City Hall downtown. The Senators are also paying for new outdoor rinks — not refrigerated, like the one at City Hall, but with better skating surfaces and higher-quality boards than a typical neighbourhood puddle rink — in up to 20 of the needier neighbourhoods in Ottawa Gatineau as a way of commemorating the team’s 20-year anniversary.

The first to open was in Jules Morin Park in Lowertown, a year ago. Each rink is to cost about $250,000; the city is contributing $200,000 to the program’s management costs.

The new rink in Bayshore Park is part of an attempt to revitalize the whole west-side community, where the rental housing is dominated by Ferguslea Properties. The company is contributing to other park improvements. “Along with the rink upgrades there are plans to upgrade the current field house and add an outdoor stage to the area,” said an invitation to the official announcement, from Taylor’s office.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/sports/...746/story.html

[DEWLine]

Does anyone know of the odds of anything being built for curlers in Orléans?

[rocketphish]

City sports facilities get $8M in upgrades if Ottawa hosts Games

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 5, 2016 | Last Updated: December 5, 2016 4:41 PM EST

Improvements to city recreation facilities worth $8 million hinge on the City of Ottawa winning the hosting duties for the 2021 Canada Summer Games.

If the city wants to hold the national championships, some facilities should receive priority treatment and get $8-million worth of upgrades, the city says.

The proposed spending is detailed in a report for the finance and economic development committee, which meets Tuesday.

Most the money would be spent on the Nepean Sportsplex, particularly on the pools. The facelift there would cost about $5.8 million.

The Terry Fox Athletics Facility at Mooney’s Bay would be up for a $1-million upgrade.

Ball diamonds at Carlington Park would see improvements totalling $715,000. About half of the spending would be for lighting and a scoreboard on the main field.

Ball diamond upgrades at Walter Baker Park would cost $377,000.

It’s possible one of those facilities would be renamed to include the words “Canada Games,” since that’s one of the rules of the Games; that is, a facility in the host city receiving a big renovation for the event must carry the name forever. I’m guessing Nepean Sportsplex would be the prime candidate.

Other facilities not run by the city could also get $6 million from other levels of government to pay for upgrades if Ottawa secures the Games.

Hosting the Games in Ottawa would cost $43 million. The city would be on the hook for $10.5 million after subtracting the money from the feds, province and the Games organization.

If the city wins, it would assume all the financial risk. City staff seem confident there won’t be a deficit since the last 12 Games broke even or ended with a surplus. The economic impact could be worth three times the investment of all funding sources.

The sports facility upgrades would be a legacy of the Games, but the city has to win the hosting rights first. The Niagara Region, Sudbury and Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge/Guelph are also vying for the event. Bid proposals are due Jan. 31.

The Games will announce the 2021 host in March or April 2017.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...wa-hosts-games

[rocketphish]

City might tear out new turf at Minto Field

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: February 6, 2017 | Last Updated: February 6, 2017 6:53 PM EST

The City of Ottawa might rip out the new artificial turf at the Nepean Sportsplex and put in a sole-sourced playing surface safe for all sports, including football.

The city installed the new turf at Minto Field in 2015 at a cost of $1.3 million, replacing the punishing Astroturf.

But minor football teams watched kids suffer major abrasions from the new turf, prompting one prominent football club, the Myers Riders, to stop playing at Minto Field as a safety precaution. The city tried changing the granular mix in the turf last year, but it still wasn’t up to snuff for football.

Field hockey clubs became the main users of Minto Field, but even those teams watched players get injured from the surface.

Dan Chenier, the city’s general manager of parks and recreation, said the city might have to pay $500,000 for new turf. Everything under the turf, such as the irrigation, concrete pad and underpadding, would remain. Only the carpet would be changed, Chenier said.

Next week, the city is inviting local sports teams to test a turf product from Nexxfield, a company based in Montreal. If the teams like the sample turf, there’s a good chance Minto Field will undergo another transformation in the summer.

Because artificial turf is specialized, the city might have to use that one and only supplier, rather than holding a contract competition, Chenier said. The city could have a competitive tender for the installation of new turf, he noted.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli said the extra cost to taxpayers would be mitigated if the city can use the current turf somewhere else, but the main focus for the city is on the young players.

“What we want to have is something that is usable and absolutely safe for the kids,” Egli said Monday.

Egli acknowledged, “We didn’t get it right.”

The city’s contract documents for Minto Field, obtained by the Citizen through access to information, make it clear that the city was looking for a “national” level field hockey surface. The tender mentions that other sport uses would typically include football, soccer and lacrosse, but the city was looking for a high-level field hockey surface.

The turf installed at Minto Field is called Xtreme Turf SD 18 made by Act Global. The product information included in the winning bid to the city says the turf is designed for field hockey.

However, the city thought it had a solution for both field hockey and football. After all, it’s not easy to find a high-level field hockey turf, which requires a good roll factor, that’s also suitable for tackle football.

The city doesn’t have much of a guide for the design of football turf, except for player experience. Football Canada says there are no standards for turf quality in its rule book.

It isn’t the contractor’s fault that the turf hasn’t worked out.

“This is exactly what we paid for,” Chenier said.

Scott Boxall, president of the Myers Riders football club, said players are anxious use their home field again and he’s anticipating the turf replacement will happen. Teams have been playing home games outside their own territory.

“We do appreciate (the city) understanding that there was a mistake made and they’re rectifying it,” Boxall said. “We know it’s not just for us but we are very thankful they’re going to be changing the turf back to something that is more multipurpose.”

Sandeep Chopra, director of player development for the Nepean Nighthawks field hockey club, said replacing the turf would be a good idea for all sports. The field hockey club was opposed to the existing turf because it’s old technology that isn’t suitable for multiple sports, Chopra said.

Chopra said people unfairly criticized the field hockey club for the city’s turf selection.

“We continue to take it on the chin from the football groups and everyone else in the city,” Chopra said, noting that the club wants what’s best for all users of Minto Field.

“At this point we want this thing to settle down,” Chopra said. “We want football to be back there because we’re all part of the same community.”

If the city decides to change the turf, the work would likely happen in July or August before the start of the football season.

Meanwhile, the city’s pursuit of the field at the old Confederation High School continues. The city is negotiating with the National Capital Commission with hopes of getting a five-year lease to use the field as a practice field, with a possibility of scoring a long-term lease. The field, which has been eyed as a backup solution for football because of the Minto Field problems, is next to the Nepean Sportsplex.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...at-minto-field

[J.OT13]

I assume this is NCC business.

Ski trail along the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.


https://twitter.com/SJAMWinterTrail/...04069628751872

Another urban ski trail in Ottawa along the Rideau River, from Donald Street near Vanier to Hospital Link Road nearly 3 kilometers south past Hurdman Station.


https://twitter.com/MathieuFleury/st...00766269698048

[Kitchissippi]

ski trail grooming along the river is not NCC. The SJAM winter trail is a volunteer / crowdfunding effort.

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

ski trail grooming along the river is not NCC. The SJAM winter trail is a volunteer / crowdfunding effort.

Thanks for the clarification.

[TransitZilla]

^ The one passing by Hurdman looks pretty awesome. Will need to check that one out this winter.

[Tortuga]

This year they've connected the SJAM winter trail to Bayview station. I was there yesterday and I saw people get off the train, put on their skis/snowshoes, and head right off onto the trail. Pretty cool!

https://www.facebook.com/SJAM.Winter...27839947284811

[zzptichka]

We have the following volunteer-groomed public ski trails that I know of:

1) SJAM Winter Trail: https://twitter.com/SJAMWinterTrail
2) Britannia Winter Trail: https://twitter.com/BritanniaTrail
3) Ski Heritage East Trail: https://twitter.com/SkiheritageEast
4) Rideau Winter Trail: https://twitter.com/RideauWinter
5) Ottawa West Winter Trail: https://twitter.com/OWWinterTrail

Pretty amazing how they all popped up in the last couple of years.

[J.OT13]

That's pretty cool. Are these kinds of urban ski trails common in other cities?

[rocketphish]

Winter trail renamed Kichi Sibi, ditching Sir John A. moniker
"It is a community trail and I want to make the trail a place that everyone feels comfortable coming to."

Blair Crawford, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Oct 14, 2021 • 26 minutes ago • 3 minute read



Ottawa’s SJAM Winter Trail has a new name.

In a quiet ceremony Thursday afternoon near Remic Rapids that included a smudge of buffalo sage offered by Algonquin elder and Ottawa’s Poet Laureate, Albert Dumont, the popular trail was renamed the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail.

“Groomer Dave” Adams, who established the winter trail alongside the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway in 2015, said the idea to rename it crystallized last spring after the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, was instrumental in establishing Canada’s residential school system.

Since then, statues of Macdonald have been toppled and removed and there has been public pressure to strip his name from schools, parks and roadways. In June, three Ottawa city councillors wrote a letter urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to rename the parkway and an online petition to change the name has garnered thousands of signatures.

“I started thinking, ‘Maybe it’s time for me to be proactive about this and show some solidarity,'” said Adams, who brought the issue to the board of Dovercourt Recreation Association, which supports the winter trail.

“They said, ‘Dave, this is the right thing to do.’ It is a community trail and I want to make the trail a place that everyone feels comfortable coming to. And having a name that people find offensive is against what I’m trying to accomplish.”

Dumont says he bristles whenever he sees Macdonald’s name.

“Canada’s first prime minister thought fitting to round up by force the most innocent and the most pure human beings — children — and bring them to a place where they could be destroyed emotionally and destroyed spiritually,” Dumont said. “That wasn’t right.”

“I’m a man who gets a lot of emotional and spiritual benefits from walking on a trail, no matter what time of year,” Dumont said. “A trail is good for human beings. It really is medicine, but, when it’s called the Sir John A. Macdonald Trail, I don’t get those benefits. I don’t think I’d get the emotional and spiritual benefits on a trail that’s named for that guy.”

Kichi Sibi is the traditional Algonquin name for the Ottawa River and translates as Great River, Dumont said.

“It provided everything. There were all kinds of food sources there — ducks, fish, muskrats. And it provided passage for everyone from the very old to the very young.”

Adams also unveiled a new logo for the trail, created by graphic designer Glen Gobuyan. The stylized design evokes an image of snow on evergreen branches and the low winter sun, he explained.

“It reminds us to make the most of the sunshine on a short winter day,” Gobuyan said.

The Kichi Sibi Winter Trail features 16 kilometres of groomed pathways for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, walking and winter biking. It stretches from the Canadian War Museum to Westboro Beach. Last February, the trail was attracting more than 1,300 visits a day, and it has inspired other community-led winter pathways in Britannia, Kanata, Orléans and along the Rideau River.

Meanwhile, National Capital Commission board members were briefed last week on a potential name change for the Sir John A. Macdonald parkway, which until 2012 was known as the Ottawa River Parkway.

“In the spirit of reconciliation, we intend to engage with our Algonquin partners over the fall and winter months,” the NCC said in an emailed statement Thursday. More information on a new name will be available “in due course,” the NCC said.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...john-a-moniker

[J.OT13]

Seems the City was looking at building a pool worthy of competitions, separate from the one proposed for Hurdman. Hoping the City and Hurdman group join forces to build... at Hurdman... for better access to VIA, the Universities and more people in general. Riverside South would be a less than ideal location.

New aquatic centre a chance for Ottawa to make a splash, advocates say
Would support athletes and attract major events, advocates say

Matthew Kupfer · CBC News · Posted: Jan 10, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 11 hours ago



The City of Ottawa acknowledges its lone Olympic-sized, 50-metre swimming pool at the Nepean Sportsplex, seen here in 2017, has fallen behind the standards for international competition. That's why it's now seeking partners for a new aquatic facility. (Kate Porter/CBC)

Competitive swimmers in Ottawa haven't been able to get home-pool advantage in a major competition for years.

If a big meet is held at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, for instance, their southern Ontario rivals will know how the pool works and will have a routine and a home-cooked meal ahead of a race that could be decided by milliseconds.

That's why a planned aquatic sport centre for Ottawa with one or two Olympic-sized 50-metre pools is being heralded as a welcome investment.

"It's definitely something that would be nice to have. [You'd] get to sleep in your own bed and then race your best race the next morning," said Alexandre Perreault, who competes with the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Swim Club and is a former member of the national team.

The city is looking for partners for the aquatic centre project, with the aim of hosting large competitions within the next 10 years.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Jan. 14, less than one week away.

The local aquatic sports community has been calling for an upgrade to the city's existing pools for some time, as Ottawa's only Olympic-sized 50-metre pool, located at the Nepean Sportsplex, has fallen behind international standards after almost 50 years of operation.

That's disqualified the nation's capital from hosting major competitions.

"[A new centre] would give the younger generation in Ottawa an opportunity to have access to a better pool, better starting blocks, better air quality," Perreault said.

Demand on pools 'just huge'

There's impatience for the project to get off the ground after Canada's recent high-profile successes, said Marcia Morris, president of the Ottawa Sport Council.

"Swimming, because of what's happening in the Olympics, is just becoming more and more popular. And the demand on our pools is just huge," she said.

Hosting competitions also attracts tourism dollars, Morris said. While the new facility should be able to accommodate an event like the Canada Games, she said it also needs to provide opportunities to local athletes.

Along with encouraging athletes and drawing visitors to the city, an aquatic facility will also provide an opportunity to address the city's overbooked swimming classes, said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, the city's sports commissioner.

Fleury said the city has set aside money for the construction of an Olympic-sized pool and has the expertise to run the facility, but other elements — and the funding needed to build them — will be part of the proposal process.

"It can't just be a local pool, it can't just be a hosting pool," said Fleury.

"I think to get the projects that everyone wants — the local swimmers want and the hosting potential of that facility — we need to bring partners together."

Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and the RA Centre have all expressed some interest in an aquatic sports complex in the past, the councillor said.

So has Peter Lawrence, a longtime leader in the water polo community who's been working with various partners for almost half a decade to establish what he calls a "world-class" national aquatic complex in the capital region.

Their group's project is even more ambitious than what the city's laid out, as it may include a third Olympic-sized pool, a dedicated diving tank and even courts for basketball and pickleball.

The estimated cost would be $300 million, and Lawrence said his group has designs on it being located on the federally-owned Hurdman lands. He said while the community would have access to the 24-hour facility, it's also meant to retain athletes who've had to move or commute to Toronto to pursue their careers.

"We can't have that. We're destroying the potential for Ottawa's high performance community. We really must provide facilities," he said.

The city's document for the new aquatic centre doesn't lay out a specific location, although it does note a parcel has been identified in Riverside South for some kind of recreation centre.

It also says the project should be developed close to either LRT or bus rapid transit.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...plex-1.6306572

[SL123]

oh you know damn well its gonna be in riverside south. the suburbs always get the new infrastructures

[RegionalRoad31]

Reading this had me thinking of small ways the city could improve sports infrastructure. I always thought a simple outdoor basketball court at Bayview station would be a great addition. Year ago I was shooting hoops at a small court in Berlin feet away from the metro. It was packed with pickup games, and made for a really fun environment. Always wondered why we don't do really simple things like this. Relatively cheap to install, easy to remove if something else comes along. At the juncture of two transit lines. It wouldn't have to be a draw, but it would provide easily accessible recreation to anyone who lived on the line.

[AuxTown]

Originally Posted by RegionalRoad31

Reading this had me thinking of small ways the city could improve sports infrastructure. I always thought a simple outdoor basketball court at Bayview station would be a great addition. Year ago I was shooting hoops at a small court in Berlin feet away from the metro. It was packed with pickup games, and made for a really fun environment. Always wondered why we don't do really simple things like this. Relatively cheap to install, easy to remove if something else comes along. At the juncture of two transit lines. It wouldn't have to be a draw, but it would provide easily accessible recreation to anyone who lived on the line.

A sweet outdoor basketball court that easily converts to an outdoor rink in the Winter. Same stuff they built in all the surburban parks in the 1970s!

[J.OT13]

There's a whole lot of potential under rail viaducts, or in the case of Bayview, the retaining wall of elevated rails.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by AuxTown

A sweet outdoor basketball court that easily converts to an outdoor rink in the Winter. Same stuff they built in all the surburban parks in the 1970s!

This kind of thing is a great idea. I have always wondered why the city doesn't squeeze sports infrastructure into smaller spaces in urban areas. Basketball courts, tennis courts and rinks (particularly refrigerated ones) in the central city are constantly busy, so the demand is clearly there. I'd also like to see them be creative with urban sized soccer fields that are available for public use.

[DTcrawler]

When I lived in London, UK I used to play soccer on a small pitch perched on top of a 40 storey tower. Open to the public with a dedicated elevator. Netting all around to prevent accidents. I was always amazed with what they were able to accomplish under serious space constraints. Not that Ottawa has a shortage of space to begin with, but if we adopted that kind of mentality, the possibilities would be endless. It comes down to differences in vision. London has a can-do attitude, while Ottawa is much too "safe".

[silvergate]

Originally Posted by DTcrawler

When I lived in London, UK I used to play soccer on a small pitch perched on top of a 40 storey tower. Open to the public with a dedicated elevator. Netting all around to prevent accidents. I was always amazed with what they were able to accomplish under serious space constraints. Not that Ottawa has a shortage of space to begin with, but if we adopted that kind of mentality, the possibilities would be endless. It comes down to differences in vision. London has a can-do attitude, while Ottawa is much too "safe".

It's a question of pressure. London is an extremely populous metro with limited room to grow and add amenities. Ottawa is a sprawling mid-sized city that hasn't had to confront this issue yet. That said, these are the kinds of projects that could get done given community campaigns (the soccer field, not a massive athletic complex)