General Update/Rumour thread [Urban Ottawa]

[Deez]

A couple of random updates:

Claridge's "Nate's Deli" Property:

From Besserer


Houses to be demolished


Looking West down Besserer towards Galleria


Ismaili Imamat

Can't say that I'm a huge fan of the bleached-white exterior, but the glass looks kinda cool.





Rideau Centre Parking Garage

[Mille Sabords]

Thanks for these Deez. That parking garage is going up pretty fast. As for the Ismaili Imamat I find it a selfish, inward looking and self absorbed type of building. The glass peak is cool from a distance (driving in from Hull) but on the ground it's a fortress of the worst kind.

[ajldub]

Agreed; and white never ages gracefully. Give it a couple of spring runoffs and it will be covered in streaks... Better than nothing, though.

[Davis137]

What was the reasoning for tearing down the parking garage at Rideau? Was it just worn out, or are they going to make it bigger/taller? I liked parking there when it was still there, as it was cheap...

[Kitchissippi]

I wonder why the Ismaili Imamat wasn't required to have stone cladding. I thought all new buildings along Sussex and the rest of Confederation Boulevard had to be covered in stone, which is why the NCC paid extra for the cladding on 700 Sussex because they forgot to stipulate it in the contract with Claridge.

[AuxTown]

$25 Million Set Aside for Library Property: Citizen
Josh Pringle
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The Ottawa Public Library is checking out a downtown location for a new main library.

The Ottawa Citizen reports the library board has approved spending up to $25 million in the 2009 Capital budget for property.

No one will say which location the board has in mind.

The Ottawa Public Library Board is looking at building a new main library with a price tag between $150 million and $200 million

Any guesses???? How about they put it in the podium of the tower at 150 Elgin since that concert hall seems pretty far-fetched at this point.

[cityguy]

^That's a good idea.

[waterloowarrior]

Uniform Urban Developments' project St. George's Yard has site plan approval

[Deez]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Any guesses???? How about they put it in the podium of the tower at 150 Elgin since that concert hall seems pretty far-fetched at this point.

My official guess is that they're going to try and buy Brookfield's land at Kent/Queen/Albert. It seems like Brookfield's had a hard time finding interest in the land and the City may get the feeling they're trying to ditch it.

I can't think of any other site that would be large enough to accomodate a building of the size that's proposed...

[rodionx]

Originally Posted by Deez

My official guess is that they're going to try and buy Brookfield's land at Kent/Queen/Albert. It seems like Brookfield's had a hard time finding interest in the land and the City may get the feeling they're trying to ditch it.

I can't think of any other site that would be large enough to accomodate a building of the size that's proposed...

Hadn't thought of the Brookfield site. Could be. My money is still on the Technical High School site, though. If I recall the Escarpment Plan correctly, they was an option to knock down all but the central part of the school building, as well as build on the parking lot. That freed up quite a bit of land. The graphic showed a bunch of tall condos along Bay, as well as an 'office building.' Change 'office building' to 'central library' and you've got yourself a site.

[m0nkyman]

Originally Posted by rodionx

Hadn't thought of the Brookfield site. Could be. My money is still on the Technical High School site, though. If I recall the Escarpment Plan correctly, they was an option to knock down all but the central part of the school building, as well as build on the parking lot. That freed up quite a bit of land. The graphic showed a bunch of tall condos along Bay, as well as an 'office building.' Change 'office building' to 'central library' and you've got yourself a site.

Tech is too far west for it to be the central branch. I can't see it going any further west than Kent...

[rodionx]

Originally Posted by m0nkyman

Tech is too far west for it to be the central branch. I can't see it going any further west than Kent...

All Jan Harder will say is that it won't be west of Bronson.

Another plus is that Library and Archives Canada would be just up the street, at Bay and Wellington.

[harls]

I hope the Brookfield property gets developed.. but yeah, it's been a while since that lot has been vacant.

What's going on at the Bank of Canada? they're ripping up the sidewalks all around the building.

I've also noticed they've cast the curbs for the sidewalks on Bank street already, between Somerset and Cooper.

[citizen j]

Originally Posted by harls

I hope the Brookfield property gets developed.. but yeah, it's been a while since that lot has been vacant.

What's going on at the Bank of Canada? they're ripping up the sidewalks all around the building.

I've also noticed they've cast the curbs for the sidewalks on Bank street already, between Somerset and Cooper.

Perhaps Harper's planning to lift the building off its current site and relocate it in some yet-to-be-announced city west of Thunder Bay? A final obscene gesture at the capital before the election.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by O-Town Hockey

Any guesses???? How about they put it in the podium of the tower at 150 Elgin since that concert hall seems pretty far-fetched at this point.

If they hadn't set the eastern limit at the Rideau Canal, my guess would've been that the former Police Station site on Waller Street (next to Arts Court) was in the running, since it's a City property.

If they can get the former National Gallery (the Lorne building) on Elgin, and its huge parking lot behind, that would be the prized site for a new central library. Right across the street from Confederation Park to boot.

[Rathgrith]

Originally Posted by ajldub

Agreed; and white never ages gracefully. Give it a couple of spring runoffs and it will be covered in streaks... Better than nothing, though.

I don't think the architects were from a cold country.

[m0nkyman]

Originally Posted by Mille Sabords

If they can get the former National Gallery (the Lorne building) on Elgin, and its huge parking lot behind, that would be the prized site for a new central library. Right across the street from Confederation Park to boot.

That'd be the ideal site.

[Kitchissippi]

After seeing the Ismaili Imamat closely the other day, I think it is one of the ugliest buildings to have recently gone up in Ottawa. It is clumsy and unrefined, and the scale is completely off. When I first saw the renderings, I did not expect it to be so big. If it were 75% of it size and had enough gardens around it, maybe it wouldn't be so horrible. I thought the Saudi embassy was bad before but this one trumps it. I hope they grow vines on it.

[citizen j]

Originally Posted by Mille Sabords

If they can get the former National Gallery (the Lorne building) on Elgin, and its huge parking lot behind, that would be the prized site for a new central library. Right across the street from Confederation Park to boot.

Yes! I agree. I wonder if there would be some imperative to preserve any part of the Lorne Building? The site certainly is optimal, at the end of the bridge. I can't visualize what sits on the other end, though. Is it the parking lot beside Hagen Hall on UofO campus? At some point, that's a hole in the urban fabric that needs to be addressed.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by Kitchissippi

If it were 75% of it size and had enough gardens around it, maybe it wouldn't be so horrible. I hope they grow vines on it.

And that's what's the real issue is, right there. In order to mask ugly architecture, we resort to plants and landscaping, thereby killing the urbanity of an entire street. Plants look good, yes, but are no substitute for a good building that adds life to the street. And unfortunately, we don't even remember what to do with plants so that they participate in constructing the urban décor. No, we try to replicate "the environment" in the middle of the city, sometimes in ways that range from ridiculous to moronic. In the meantime, urbanity dies some more.

If I want to be immersed in vegetation, I'll go to a forest. In the city, I want public space to be produced by good buildings.