Tenants' reactions mixed over plans for new library
By Patrick Dare, The Ottawa Citizen, June 20, 2009
The march of development downtown for a new Ottawa central library may be inevitable, but it will come at a cost for two old apartment buildings, a bank with deep roots in the community and a funky bakery-restaurant.
Some of the people who live and do business on the block identified as the favoured home of a new library wonder why the city doesn't eye the nearby Ottawa Technical High School site instead. Others are resigned to a deal that will force them to make way for a new landmark.
The city and its library board have identified the small block bounded by Albert, Bay, Lyon and Slater streets as the site of a new central library of 300,000 square feet or more. The proposed development would also include offices, stores at street level and residential development. A city committee unanimously endorsed the $26-million property acquisition for the project and council is to make a final decision on Wednesday. The site is described as the perfect western gateway to Ottawa's downtown, linking LeBreton Flats with the business core, and is ideally situated on the current transitway and a future subway line.
Currently, a parking lot, an old house, a large low-rise office building and two apartment buildings are on the block.
Megan O'Connor, one of the managers at the Scone Witch restaurant -- which bakes fresh scones and serves them with an array of preserves and drinks as good music plays -- says the business's location in an old house along the busy transitway has been "weird but perfect." She says guests from nearby hotels patronize the restaurant, as do office workers and downtown residents. "It worries me to think of moving. My biggest concern is disappointing the customers," she says. "We have a lot of regulars."
The owner of the Scone Witch, Heather Matthews, says the city's news comes after a difficult period for the business, which has been on Albert Street for five years. Ottawa's transit workers were on strike this winter for 53 days, something that cost Matthews about $50,000 and "nearly did us in."
While she likes the Albert Street location and she'd prefer not to move, she would like to get an opportunity to run a restaurant in the new library development if the project does go ahead.
Next door, at one of the two apartment buildings on the block, Desmond Kavanagh says the dream of a big-city library will have a large impact on his life. He first lived in the three-storey brick apartment building in 1962 with his parents. When they were gone, he stayed on in the apartment.
He is quick to admit rent control has protected him over the years, and that he's paying much less than his more recent neighbours. But he says the two buildings owned by Michael Fleming should count for something, when city officials are always talking about the need for affordable housing. He wishes the city had focused on the Ottawa Technical High School site next door, which is already in public hands and also received top marks in the site evaluation.
Karen Rowan, property manager at Fleming Property Management, says she and Fleming were in "total shock" over the library-site announcement. She said there are 28 apartments in the two red-brick buildings, about half of which have been occupied by the same people for more than 20 years. Fleming bought the buildings in 1998.
On Friday, a work crew was doing parging work on the foundation walls of the buildings, which were built in the 1930s. Rowan says brickwork has recently been repointed and hallways have been renovated. The apartments, in the middle range of the rental market, feature hardwood floors, French doors and fireplace mantles. Rowan says it "breaks my heart" to think of the retired tenants, living on fixed incomes, losing their homes and the sturdy brick buildings being torn down for the library project.
The biggest property owner on the block is Alterna Savings, formerly the Civil Service Co-op, which is generally supportive of the city's project. John Lahey, president of Alterna, says his organization got a call a few days before the site selection news was made public. But he says there's been nothing official.
"Our intention is to co-operate," says Lahey. "It would be a good place for the library."
There has been some discussion at the city about a possible partnership with landowners, but Lahey says that wouldn't be practical during a long construction period, since Alterna operates both its head office and a busy branch out of the location.
Irene Kaczmarek, owner of the house that holds the Scone Witch, says she will "go with the crowd" on the block and sell to the city if that's what is wanted. She has owned the old house for 45 years, but is ready to make way for what could be "a beautiful block" in the centre of the city.
"Nothing lasts forever," says Kaczmarek. "Life changes. You sort of go with the flow."
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Yeah, this morning. I literally stopped cold when I saw the headline. I never pick up that 24 Hours paper (even though it's "Freakin' Free" as their ads say) but I ran for a copy. I guess it worked as a media stunt. They must've found some bozo to spew off about something high profile on a slow news day. It's hard to take the guy seriously and, after the bus strike, unions make perfect villains, especially seeing how popular the new central library site has turned out to be in general public opinion.
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