New Lansdowne Park shows what happens when we dare to 'think big'
Joanne Chianello, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: August 15, 2014, Last Updated: August 15, 2014 6:31 PM EDT
It’s the one part of the Lansdowne Park redevelopment plan that surely we can all love: the 18-acre urban park.
First conceived of as a way to make the massive Lansdowne project more palatable to critics who rightly pointed out there wasn’t enough being kept public in this key public asset, the park, with its proximity to the Rideau Canal and its promising programming, is set to become one of the more beloved spaces in the capital.
What was once a sea of asphalt is now a welcoming mix of basketball courts, a heritage-apple orchard, a skating rink, a “Great Lawn” that can be used for picnics or frisbee (or could hold 17,000 for a special event), a skatepark and playground.
“I’ve already been told by some of the kids this is the coolest equipment,” Mayor Jim Watson said.
There are a few temporary amusement rides for tomorrow’s public celebration, which everyone should attend. After all, it’s residents who are footing the $42.5-million bill for the giant park. That hefty amount includes moving and restoring the now-beautiful Horticulture Building, which is surely a highlight of the urban park.
“I am convinced the Horticulture Building will become the same kind of icon,” said Coun. Peter Hume, comparing the newly restored building to the Aberdeen Pavilion, a heritage-designated building that Hume and Watson fought to save more than 20 years ago. It was also Hume who led the fight to do something special with the public space instead of something, in the councillor’s words, “pedantic.”
And the urban park certainly has the potential to be special. It goes to show what we can do when we’re willing to spend money on public space, to hold international competitions for design, to fuss over the details.
“I remember a day-long meeting on the value of pavement,” said Hume.
“This process was unique,” said the councillor. “We should replicate it again. We need to think big.”
Perhaps appropriately for such a significant day, history loomed large at Friday’s the official opening.
Descendants of Thomas Ahearn — who, among other things, gave Ottawa electric light, streetcars and telephones — had a de-facto family reunion for the unveiling of a rebuilt monument that was originally installed at Lansdowne in 1949.
“It took a little event like this to bring us all together,” said Thomas Ahearn, the great-grandson of the original and one of many distant cousins who gathered in Ottawa from as far as Victoria.
But it’s what we can do with the park in the future ahead that’s most important now.
Not all of the park is quite ready yet — the berm, topped with an installation that will use thousands of LED lights to project art into the park, as well as the major water feature, won’t be completed until later this year — but for the most part the infrastructure looks great.
It’s what we do with it that might matter most, what will actually make the park a thriving, living centre of the city.
Watson pointed out that some Winterlude events will be held at Lansdowne next year. Festivals have expressed interest in Lansdowne, the city’s parks and recreation department is putting together programming for the site for next year — everything from soccer camps in the summer and outdoor skating lessons in the winter — and the Ottawa Farmers’ Market returns to its original home next year.
There’s still little word on what will be happening in the Horticulture Building and Aberdeen Pavilion.
And that’s fine for now — it’s early days yet in the life of the urban park. But for our massive public investment in the park to be truly valuable, we need to continue to develop the park as our city grows and changes. I already like the idea of having a permanent old-fashioned carousel in the park, instead of the one just set up for Saturday’s big bash. Perhaps over the years, we’ll want to add more to the children’s playground.
We always need to be thinking creatively about how we can improve the city. But for this weekend, at least, we should enjoy the cotton candy, ferris wheel and all the trappings of the old-fashioned fair that will mark the arrival of more park land than Lansdowne has ever known.
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). The wall fronting Holmwood is at least 50% glass - I didn't expect that, but I thought it was a nice touch. 
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