Could a $300-million national aquatics centre spur development on the Hurdman Station lands?
Peter Lawrence has pulled together a team of supporters for the National Aquatics Complex and has been having talks with the NCC.
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jan 07, 2022 • 31 minutes ago • 4 minute read
A major recreation complex with a focus on water sports could anchor future development on government-controlled land around a transit hub outside of downtown.
The project has been largely flying under the radar, but Peter Lawrence has pulled together a team of supporters to plan what they’re calling the National Aquatics Complex and he’s been having conversations with the National Capital Commission about land near Hurdman Station.
Lawrence, a professional engineer, moved to Canada from England in 1962 for research and development and he couldn’t believe there was no water polo being played in Ottawa — a staggering discovery for a self-described water polo fanatic. He rounded up 24 guys at the research lab where he was working and they rented the old Plant pool.
Today he’s 85 years old and retired from playing and coaching water polo two years ago.
In 2017, Lawrence started devising a scheme to establish a new facility to accommodate water polo. He quickly learned that diving, synchronized swimming and other water sports had the same problem with a lack of decent facilities.
“There’s no pool in Ottawa now that FINA will support and make credible for meets and for international and Olympic meetings,” Lawrence said.
“Ottawa is devoid of facilities that are modern, that are big and that can accommodate all of the requirements of the participants.”
FINA is the international federation for water sports recognized by the Olympics.
The City of Ottawa also knows it needs a new aquatic facility for competition and, separate from the National Aquatics Complex project, issued a request for information in November to see if any groups were interested in the development opportunity.
For Lawrence, what started as a vision to establish a purpose-built facility for water polo has grown to become an effort to create a major aquatics-centred recreation complex.
He’s been fielding calls from non-aquatic sport organizations about beefing up the offerings.
“Tennis wants in. Basketball wants in. Volleyball wants in. Pickleball wants in,” Lawrence said.
The preliminary plan includes a gymnasium and running track. Adding more sports could increase the revenue potential for the facility to help pay operational costs, which are still under study. Lawrence says he’s also interested in having a hotel at the site to accommodate world-class events.
Lawrence was very comfortable with starting an organization from the ground up. Decades ago, he switched form pure engineering to starting his own businesses and working in business financing.
On the aquatics project, Lawrence has helped recruit members to be governors, directors and advisors, including former national athletes.
Lawrence says it’s an economic development opportunity for the city if it can attract major aquatics events. It can’t do that today with what was the city’s premier aquatics facility, the nearly 50-year-old Nepean Sportsplex, which, according to Lawrence, isn’t endorsed by FINA as a suitable competition venue.
The high-level estimate for the project is between $250 million and $300 million.
Lawrence says it will likely require involvement from government, but he doesn’t believe it will be a public-private partnership (P3) project. For now, the project is trying to draw seed funding to hire business and facility planners
Lawrence signed a memorandum of understanding with the NCC last year regarding 29 acres of land between the Hurdman LRT station and the Rideau River.
For a major sports facility, the site is an easy choice, with good proximity to Highway 417, decent access to the airport via Riverside Drive and right on the LRT line. The Via Rail station is one LRT stop to the east and the downtown core is a short train ride to the west.
NCC spokesperson Sophie Boudreau says the agency is working with the aquatic complex project, but they haven’t agreed on a land lease.
The memorandum of understanding is a framework on the prerequisites the project must meet before there can be a lease, but the NCC didn’t provide additional details.
There was also no information about whether the NCC was undertaking new planning work involving the Hurdman lands.
Lawrence says it’s too early to nail down a lease for the land since the project is working through the planning process.
The Hurdman lands, similar to LeBreton Flats, are unique for their central location and public ownership. With the LRT station anchoring the site, the lands are eyed for a major mixed-use infill community along the Rideau River, within three kilometres of downtown.
It’s complicated, of course.
The NCC and the City of Ottawa own various parts of the land and the federal agency has focused its development efforts on LeBreton Flats. On top of that, much of the land near Hurdman is a former landfill and there’s a large wooded area along the river. Any major future development would likely require pedestrian bridges to connect the land with neighbouring communities such as Old Ottawa East and Sandy Hill.
The city has a 2014 transit-orientated development plan for 68 hectares of land at Hurdman Station, complete with renderings of how a new community would be knit into the transit hub.
Lawrence is focused on the aquatics complex. Athletes in the capital region are hungry for an elite aquatics complex, he said.
“The facilities are atrocious,” Lawrence said, describing how many athletes need to train in Toronto because of the lack of facilities in Ottawa.
“The whole facility shortage here is curtailing the opportunity for athletes to achieve Olympic levels.”
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