Residents are invited to attend information sessions this week to review plans for new north-side stands at TD place along with a new event centre at Lansdowne.
The City of Ottawa is looking to move forward with the $419 million project this year, which includes a new 5,500-seat event centre to replace the Arena at TD Place and building a new north-side stands for the football stadium. Under the partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, the city would cover the cost of building the new arena and stadium stands.
“We don’t really have a lot of downtown facilities like this. I don’t want to go to the retail centre, I have no interest in going to a shopping mall, so this is kind of a nice little break to get away,” said Ottawa resident Victoria Fisher.
The city has released new renderings of the event centre and north-side stands.
“The proposed designs…showcase exciting upgrades, including innovative architecture, improved energy efficiency with LEED certification, and enhanced accessible seating,” the city says.
The images show the outside of the football stadium and the north-side stands. There’s no roof on the new north-side stands to cover fans from the weather.
“The only thing I can see a problem with is the snowfall like this year winter we’ve had drastic snowfall, but maybe they would have something to counteract it,” said another resident Johnatan Amarica.
But councillor Shawn Menard says that isn’t the only problem.
“It’s not really a great plan for sports fans,” he said. “There’s no route for the north side stands, ticket prices are expected to go up.”
He’s not a fan of the plan, pointing to a lack of transportation options, the timeline and price tag.
“We’re looking at probably 7-10 years of construction here. There’s a lot of financial concerns with this plan and taxpayers are paying for it,” Menard said. “We need to just invest a little bit in renovation and accessibility, improve the transportation to the site, bring in the canal in terms of connectivity.”
An in-person meeting will be held inside Gate 2 at the Arena at TD Place on Wednesday, Jan. 15 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
A virtual public meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. You can register here: register here.
City staff will present a report to council by the end of 2025 on the construction bid price, air right bid price, legal agreements, and any required funding strategy amendments prior to construction.
Last June, a report from the auditor general warned construction cost estimates could be understated by $73.4 million for the new stadium and north-side stands, while costs for the new parking structure could be underestimated by $2.7 million.
With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle
