Ādisōke [Ottawa's New Central Library] | U/C

[rocketphish]

City eyes 12 potential sites for a new central library

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 13, 2016 | Last Updated: July 13, 2016 9:47 AM EDT

Ottawa’s new central library could be located at one of 12 sites identified by the city’s real estate office.

The Ottawa Public Library released the property list Wednesday, a day after library trustees approved criteria that will be used to judge the best site.

Five of the sites are located in the heart of downtown, blocks from the Parliamentary precinct. Two sites are east of the Rideau Canal. Five sites are west of Bronson Avenue.

The OPL collected eight sites identified during an expressions of interest phase last fall. The city added three other sites not owned by the city after a “technical review,” plus another which the city owns.

The city-owned site at 557 Wellington St. has been billed as the “exemplar” site, just west of Bronson Avenue. It’s a property that could either be used to build a library or sold to fund a library somewhere else.

No properties were added to the list after a public call for additional sites in May, but the library will still accept properties for consideration until July 20.

The OPL is finding sites that would either suit a standalone central library or a joint project with Library and Archives Canada. The OPL doesn’t know yet which way it will go.

So far, the long-listed sites, moving from west to east, are:

• The property south of Scott Street, between City Centre and the Trillium Line, where Trinity Developments is eyeing a new mixed-use complex, possibly spanning the rail line.
• The property on the southwest corner of Albert and Booth streets, right next to the future Pimisi LRT station.
• A chunk of land on the east side of Booth Street, slightly northeast of Pimisi station.
• The property at the southeast corner of Albert and Booth streets, where RendezVous LeBreton Group has suggested a flagship library could be located in its redevelopment of LeBreton Flats.
• The city-owned exemplar site at 557 Wellington St., where the LRT construction site currently is.
• The property between Slater Street and Laurier Avenue, between Bay Street and Bronson Avenue, around the old Ottawa Technical School.
• The property between Albert and Slater at Lyon Street, where a parking lot is.
• The property between Queen and Albert streets at Lyon Street, where Claridge Homes is building a project with a built-in LRT station entrance.
• The property between Queen and Albert streets at Kent Street, where the LRT tunnel construction site is currently.
• The property between Slater and Laurier, on the west side of Bank Street, which is currently dominated by a parking lot.
• The property bounded by Daly, Mackenzie King and Nicholas streets, near the new Arts Court development.
• A property bounded by George, Rideau and Cumberland streets, just west of King Edward Avenue.

The inventory of possible sites is slightly different from the initial scan completed by the OPL just over a year ago.

In the selection criteria approved by trustees Tuesday night, the OPL has indicated a preference of establishing a new central facility in the downtown core, with the area east of the canal holding a higher priority status than the area west of Bronson Avenue.

The ranking process favours sites with good LRT access, after the space requirements are satisfied.

The selection committee will rank all the sites and have a report for the library board in August. The rankings will be secret and the top sites for each a standalone library and joint archive library will move forward to a due diligence phase.

In December, the library board will have a recommended site for both a standalone and joint archive option. Council will need to approve the ultimate location since city money will be funding the project, which could be a public-private partnership.

The OPL wants to start building a new library in 2018 and have it open in 2020.

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[zzptichka]

[rakerman]

They've posted the site list

http://ottawacentrallibrary.ca/updates/twelve-sites-be-evaluated-ottawa-central-library

and the page includes a link to a PDF map

http://ottawacentrallibrary.ca/sites/default/files/20160713FP66RR54D1.pdf

There are five locations between Bronson and Elgin in Centretown, as well as a location next to Nordstrom outside the Rideau Centre, on a lot which is currently empty except for the old City Registry Office.

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by rakerman

They've posted the site list

http://ottawacentrallibrary.ca/updates/twelve-sites-be-evaluated-ottawa-central-library

and the page includes a link to a PDF map

http://ottawacentrallibrary.ca/sites/default/files/20160713FP66RR54D1.pdf

There are five locations between Bronson and Elgin in Centretown, as well as a location next to Nordstrom outside the Rideau Centre, on a lot which is currently empty except for the old City Registry Office.

OOOoo, #3!

[zzptichka]

I'll take #5 or #9

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

OOOoo, #3!

Indeed, although I'd be happy with anything east of Bronson, including the two east of the canal. #2 beside Rideau Centre is very interesting if the site is big enough.

[passwordisnt123]

I'd say 3, 4, 5 or 6 would be the ideal candidates with 7 or 12 being acceptable.

[kevinbottawa]

#2 would be interesting. A central library branch connected to a mall? Has that been done before in another city?

A central library, the art gallery, and uOttawa could make for a nice educational/cultural corridor. With that location they could explore a partnership with uOttawa if the partnership with Library and Archives Canada falls through.

[sestafanos]

1 and 12 are too far out both ways for my liking for "Centretown". 2 is as people mentioned, interesting if the space is good for it. Isn't it already at 3? Having lived near 7 before I like that place because it's full of residents and relatively few activities open beyond 5 pm.

5, 9 and 11 would be perfect if integrated with their LRT stations.

[Harley613]

#2 would be very cool if they built the registry office into the building and made it something special in the library

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Indeed, although I'd be happy with anything east of Bronson, including the two east of the canal. #2 beside Rideau Centre is very interesting if the site is big enough.

#3 is great because it's just south enough on Bank that its not too far from a transit station, and within walking distance to Centretown.

It is the empty lot created by an accidental past explosion of the movie theatre that once filled the gap between buildings and the parking lots in the rear of the row houses in front:

http://urbsite.blogspot.ca/2012/09/bank-and-slater-streets.html

The re-use of the classic ottawa row house would be great, plus there's plenty of room behind in surface parking to build-out the library.

Plus Morguard has already proposed the following podium, they just need a justification to get the tower built and run-around the NIMBY's:

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

#3 is great because it's just south enough on Bank that its not too far from a transit station, and within walking distance to Centretown.

It is the empty lot created by an accidental past explosion of the movie theatre that once filled the gap between buildings and the parking lots in the rear of the row houses in front:

http://urbsite.blogspot.ca/2012/09/bank-and-slater-streets.html

The re-use of the classic ottawa row house would be great, plus there's plenty of room behind in surface parking to build-out the library.

Plus Morguard has already proposed the following podium, they just need a justification to get the tower built and run-around the NIMBY's:

Would a library incorporated into the base of a larger commercial tower be the most likely outcome at site #3?

[1overcosc]

Site #3 is my favourite. Located in a very central location within the downtown area, close to the LRT, and very accessible by all means of transportation.

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Would a library incorporated into the base of a larger commercial tower be the most likely outcome at site #3?

Yes, that would be the outcome. But which of these options is that NOT the outcome? I think it makes sound financial sense to embed the central downtown library into a commercial tower (though I'm not sure about leasing the land or owning the land, maybe someone else can chime in).

The current library is embedded into a commercial tower and seems to be operating just fine.

On another note, it's too bad Somerset House isn't near to Confederation Line... It would make an excellent library for the residents of Centretown, on (in my opinion) the busiest pedestrian intersection in the City.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by kevinbottawa

#2 would be interesting. A central library branch connected to a mall? Has that been done before in another city?

Not quite on the same scale, but the central library in Saint John NB is within/connected to the main downtown mall.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by sestafanos

1 and 12 are too far out both ways for my liking for "Centretown". 2 is as people mentioned, interesting if the space is good for it.

2 has lots of space.... vertically.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

Yes, that would be the outcome. But which of these options is that NOT the outcome? I think it makes sound financial sense to embed the central downtown library into a commercial tower (though I'm not sure about leasing the land or owning the land, maybe someone else can chime in).

The current library is embedded into a commercial tower and seems to be operating just fine.

On another note, it's too bad Somerset House isn't near to Confederation Line... It would make an excellent library for the residents of Centretown, on (in my opinion) the busiest pedestrian intersection in the City.

I wouldn't object to incorporating the library into a commercial project, as long as they learn from the current library and ensure that the new library can be expanded in future, if required.

[AndyZagg]

Anything numbers 8-12 could be gorgeous (+accessible).

[zzptichka]

With ongoing and never-ending downtown population growth I would convert old Main branch into Centretown branch and build new Main branch on Pimisi or Bayview.
Are they considering this option at all?

[rocketphish]

How close should a new central library be to an LRT station?

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: July 14, 2016 | Last Updated: July 14, 2016 5:48 PM EDT



A scorecard will help an evaluation panel decide which property is the most suited for a new central library, but the city will be pressured to make sure the winning site is directly on the $2.1-billion LRT line.

The question facing the library board and council might eventually be, how far away should a new library be from an LRT station?

The Ottawa Public Library has already established that a new facility should be within 400 metres walking distance from an LRT station. All 12 long-listed sites for a central library are in that range.

Property availability, of course, dictates how close the city can get a new library to an LRT station.

If seamless access to an LRT station is most important to the city, the 12-site map would be shrunk to two or three properties. The library’s map has properties with a direct LRT entrance at Pimisi and Lyon stations, with the former being the future LeBreton Flats development by the RendezVous LeBreton group and the latter being a development by Claridge Homes.

Other sites could depend on what arrangements developers could make with the city on creating accesses to LRT stations. For example, the westernmost site owned by Trinity Developments, which is planning a mixed-use complex, is on the other side of Scott Street from where the Bayview LRT and Trillum Line entrances will be. Same could be said for the potential LeBreton Flats sites on the east side of Booth Street.

The importance of LRT access came up this week during a library board meeting on the location criteria.

Coun. Marianne Wilkinson, a library trustee, asked management to assess the properties using the existing ranking for LRT proximity, plus another ranking giving equal weighting to cycling and pedestrian access. Wilkinson’s request came after a small debate about whether it’s more important to have better access by LRT or by bike and foot.

Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, whose ward has 10 of the long-listed sites, is satisfied with the weighting OPL is assigning to LRT access. She doesn’t believe a library needs to be plugged into a station, but she wants it to at least be in short walking distance.

Ottawa native David Gordon, a Queen’s University professor and site evaluation panel member with expertise in urban planning and transit, said a high-quality transit system will bring more people into the area of the new library than walking and cycling would.

A local library branch might give a heavier weighting to bike and pedestrian access, but a flagship library will depend on rapid transit so people from across the city can easily visit the facility, Gordon said. A big reason why Montreal’s central library is so popular is because it has direct access to a metro station, he noted.

Meanwhile, advocates for a true downtown library continue to watch the OPL’s every move on the central library project.

Emilie Taman, a member of Bookmark the Core, said the group is still worried that the city is skewing toward LeBreton Flats and a public-private partnership for a new library.


Central library site screening criteria and weightings

Accessible to people with disabilities: Mandatory requirement (yes or no)
Sufficient site area: 20 points
Allows for innovative architectural design: 5 points
Visibility of the site: 15 points
Accessibility by public transit: 25 points
Accessibility by walking and cycling: 15 points
Proximity to cultural and administrative centre of the city: 20 points

Source: Ottawa Public Library

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