6 ways the city of Ottawa is reconnecting with its river
Don Butler, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 19, 2016 | Last Updated: August 19, 2016 10:30 AM EDT
LeBreton Flats
Since its proposal was rated highest in a competition earlier this year, Eugene Melnyk’s RendezVous LeBreton team has been trying to negotiate a development agreement with the NCC. If its plan proceeds, 7,000 people will call LeBreton Flats home — as many as lived there in the early 1900s — by the time the final phase is complete, two decades from now. Another 12,000 could work there.
While a “major event centre” is the centrepiece of the RendezVous plan, other elements would connect to and expand existing federal park space along the river. The result would be a continuous public realm from the Nepean Bay inlet, where a boardwalk would extend over the water, along a heritage aqueduct lined with cafés and shops to the Fleet Street Pumping Station tailrace, then out to and along the river.
Further west, in the final-phase Bayview neighbourhood, the Place de la Gare boardwalk would connect pedestrians to the Ottawa River pathway system and a new “Waterfront Promenade.”
Zibi
The $1.2-billion development spans 37 acres near Chaudière Falls. When completed around 2025, there will be 1,200 condo apartments, retail and office space and new parkland on two Ottawa River islands and the Gatineau waterfront.
There will be public access to the water everywhere except where four preserved heritage buildings are tight to the waterline. “Other than those, the entire waterfront is publicly accessible,” says Jeff Westeinde, executive chairman of the Windmill Development Group. As part of the development, the east and west ends of Chaudière Island will become “sunrise and sunset” parks.
“We hope to create something like a Granville Island in Vancouver, plus a really interesting mix of arts, culture, industry as well as tourism and entertainment,” Westeinde says. “We have the opportunity to do that for Ottawa.”
Sir John A. Macdonald Linear Park
While it could take as long as two decades to fully develop the nine-kilometre riverfront park between LeBreton Flats and the Mud Lake Conservation Area, the NCC plans to create four “animation nodes” in the short-to-medium term.
At two connected nodes, called Westboro Beach and Atlantis, there will be improvements to the facilities at the beach, offering such things as a rental and repair shop for kayaks, skis, snowshoes and bicycles, as well as a small restaurant. The adjacent Atlantis site could be transformed into a conservation centre.
At another node, Rochester Field, the NCC aims to create safe and enhanced access across the parkway to the river and a new shoreline lookout. Up to two-thirds of Rochester Field could be made available for development. The rest will be parkland that will include a central water feature and a history loop with public art and interpretation.
The other short-to-medium-term node would be the Deschênes area. The NCC is planning a pricey boardwalk, partly over the water, that would include a viewing tower, lookout and public art. In the longer term, the NCC wants other animation nodes at Remic Rapids, near Parkdale Avenue and around the Champlain Bridge. An equivalent, yet-unnamed linear park is also in the works for the Quebec shore of the river.
Chaudière Falls
Ottawa Hydro is spending $150 million to build a new 29-megawatt hydroelectric generating facility below grade at Chaudière Falls. It will feature three viewing platforms atop the generating station and a new bridge for pedestrians and cyclists across the intake channel.
Once the station opens in 2017, people will be able to walk or bike to view the falls, long hidden from public sight. Hydro also wants an interpretive centre highlighting green energy and the historical significance of the site for indigenous peoples, says president and CEO Bryce Conrad.
“We recognize that we’re the custodians of this asset in the near future, and we recognize it as being a responsibility,” Conrad says. “Part of that responsibility is to honour and remember the aboriginal heritage that’s down there, as well as to open up this facility and this area for the citizens of Gatineau and Ottawa so they can actually see this magnificent space and magnificent vista.”
Richmond Landing and the pulp mill ruins
The NCC has already begun to improve access to Richmond Landing — the site of a small settlement in 1808, even before the founding of Bytown — and the nearby Bronson Pulp Mill ruins, just west of the Mill Street Brew Pub. The first phase of the project is underway, and at least some elements will be finished in time for the 2017 sesquicentennial.
Bridges will connect Richmond Landing, Victoria Island and Amelia Island to provide access for pedestrians and cyclists. The NCC will also provide universally accessible routes from Wellington Street at the Portage Bridge to Richmond Landing and the pulp mill ruins.
Interpretive elements in the area — which the NCC calls one of the capital’s hidden treasures — will also highlight the aboriginal and natural heritage of the islands, recognize the area’s military past and showcase the manufacturing and power generation industries that helped build Ottawa. The goal, according to NCC officials, is to create a site of national significance.
North shore park improvements
The NCC plans to improve existing riverfront parks in Gatineau, including Jacques Cartier Park, and add new parkland and connections on all federally owned land bordering the river shore in downtown Gatineau, including both mouths of Brewery Creek. The intent is to make the shoreline more accessible and increase the appeal of the riverfront parks.
Among other things, the plan will transform an existing parking area near the Kruger plant into a shoreline park, develop a boat launch for non-motorized watercraft, create a recreational pathway around Ile-de-Hull and develop Scott Point as a panoramic lookout. A draft implementation plan should be completed this summer, with public consultations in the fall and final approval in January by the NCC’s board of directors.
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