Some neighbours of Lansdowne Park Thursday registered their disappointment with the revised Lansdowne Live proposal unveiled Wednesday.
For Catherine Lindquist, president of the Glebe Business Improvement Area, the most unpleasant surprise was a near-doubling of planned retail space for Lansdowne, which she said equals the total amount of existing retail space in the Glebe and would hurt local businesses.
Lindquist said her members aren’t opposed to a retail component, “if it’s the right kind and it fits with what we’re known for and it’s got some magic to it fine, but this is a mall. This is the equivalent of Carlingwood Mall going in.”
Ann Sharp, an Old Ottawa South resident and owner of the A Rose on Colonel By Bed and Breakfast, fired off an email to councillors:
“Restaurants in the Aberdeen Pavilion? Thousands of square feet of retail space? Condos and residential units? These are embarrassing legacies to leave the generations to come. Of course, what can one expect when only one sole source proposal has been considered, solicited and that from a business consortium most concerned with yet another expensive sport venture that cannot succeed because of proven lack of interest on the part of Ottawa citizens.”
College Councillor Rick Chiarelli, after thanking Sharp for writing, replied: “I think you are dead wrong. What we have NOW, twelve years since the last public design/bid process for Lansdowne, is the real embarrassing legacy.”
Sharp, who said she appreciated councillors taking the time to respond to her concerns, cited the permanent farmers’ market and proposed recreational programs as positive aspects of a plan she still opposes.
“I want my great grandchildren to be proud of what happens there in the next five years,” Sharp said. “The current proposal is about making money, and that’s not good enough for me.”
