Sparks Street

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

Funny you should mention the Mayans. They had an exhibit on them at the History Museum for all of 2015! Currently, the special exhibit is on Napoleon and Paris.

The War Museum has a very international focus in its permanent exhibits.

The Nature Museum has a worldwide focus.


So I would contest your affirmation.

Yes, museums sometimes get travelling exhibits unrelated (or barely related) to their permanent collection (such as the Star Trek exhibit at the aviation museum). It doesn't mean it makes sense to name institutions after their temporary exhibits. The permanent collection of the history museum (at least what they display, maybe there is international stuff in storage) has only exhibits related to Canada, the war museum has only exhibits related to Canada (including wars Canada fought in other countries) and when I was last at the nature museum a few months ago I did not see any exhibits on a topic unrelated to Canada, except maybe the bugs. You would certainly not find a stuffed elephant or kangaroo.

[Buggys]

For the hospital itself, without considering other factors, there is no question that across the street is the best location.

However, for the Federal government, sites that will fit what the hospital says are its essential needs (acreage & proximity to downtown), must be balanced with sites that are essential for non-hospital mandates. Therefore, the NCC analysis naturally found that Experimental Farm field research areas are off limits.

So the hospital shouldn't get the site across the street (it's favourite site), just as other occupied properties right next to the current Civic aren't forced to give themselves up to the hospital.

The hospital should be grateful for getting a different site that will also meet their needs, also pretty much for free.

[Richard Eade]

Folks, I'll remind you that this thread is the SPARKS STREET thread and should be dedicated to talk directly about Sparks Street.

[citydwlr]

Workers are installing a new monument to mark the Stanley Cup's 125th anniversary on Sparks St. near Elgin St.

[Source]

* I'm hoping this isn't the "final" version of that bowl... The construction of it looks kinda shoddy...

[AndyMEng]

Originally Posted by citydwlr

[Source]

* I'm hoping this isn't the "final" version of that bowl... The construction of it looks kinda shoddy...

Looks like the prototype version for confirmation at the site. Note that the crappy pavers are still in place and not ready for the final product.

Also, this is made out of steel studs bent into place... I sure hope this isn't final, lol

Also, if this was final, it would be the fastest monument every produced and installed...

[citydwlr]

Originally Posted by AndyMEng

Looks like the prototype version for confirmation at the site. Note that the crappy pavers are still in place and not ready for the final product.

Also, this is made out of steel studs bent into place... I sure hope this isn't final, lol

Also, if this was final, it would be the fastest monument every produced and installed...

Phew! You were correct; looks like it's just a mockup they are using to test scale, among other things. The video below indicates that it will be removed tomorrow.

Video: http://www.ottawasun.com/videos/5285482512001

[rocketphish]

City believes there's 'new hope' for Sparks Street as it looks for design consultant

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: September 15, 2017 | Last Updated: September 15, 2017 1:20 PM EDT

A “living statue” exhibition on Sparks Street this weekend might be the perfect event for a tourist strip that has stood still for years.

But the business authority and the city want to focus on the living part, or the “glimmer of hope” that Mayor Jim Watson described on Friday as the pedestrian mall celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In a joint project with the federal government, the city published a request for proposals to hire a consultant for a public realm design study on Sparks Street.

Sparks Street now has the close attention of the big bosses at city hall, with Watson putting the city on notice that he’ll be “quite hands-on” when it comes revitalization initiatives, possibly to the point of micromanaging.

“I want to see this place animated all of the time,” Watson said. “You look at some of the success of the BuskerFest, PoutineFest and RibFest, it packs people in here, but we need something in between those festivals to keep it exciting.”

Watson already has some small ideas, like paying student musicians to play on each block of Sparks Street next summer.

Something, he said, to keep the energy up while people shop or go for dinner.

Sparks is close to Watson’s heart since he was on the street’s board of management before he entered politics.

A Sparks Street revitalization has been perpetually in motion, slowed partly because the city and feds have different responsibilities (the feds own many buildings, while the city owns the street) and politicians come and go.

A couple of years ago the National Capital Commission expressed interest in leading a visioning exercise for Sparks Street, even though the agency doesn’t actually own much there. Still, people have just assumed that the NCC has a big role on Sparks Street.

City officials say now is the time to focus on Sparks Street with two LRT stations opening a block away in 2018 and Ashcroft building a luxury condo complex on land between Sparks and Queen streets.

The lack of people living on and around Sparks Street has always been the biggest problem standing in the way of revitalization.

“We’re looking at how do we get people down here. What does it take?” Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said.

McKenney said Sparks Street is usually an afterthought for people who live in her downtown ward.

“The residents don’t think of Sparks as their street,” McKenney said. “They don’t think of it as part of their neighbourhood because it’s removed and nobody lives here.”

There seems to be more activity on Sparks Street in recent years, with the addition of popular restaurants that are pulling customers to the pedestrian mall on nights and weekends when the downtown is void of office workers.

Tony Kano, the chair of the Sparks Street BIA, said the organization has been focused on events that bring people to Sparks Street during the traditionally quiet hours.

Kano finally sees momentum on Sparks Street with all stakeholders, including governments and the private sector, keeping their focus on improving the strip.

“It’s serious right now. It looks serious. We have yet to see, but I hope it’s going to be a sign of good things to happen,” Kano said.

Watson said it shouldn’t require a pile of government cash to transform Sparks Street.

“You need to have a better mix of stores and you need some animation on the street,” Watson said. “I don’t think that takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of imagination.”

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ign-consultant

[OTSkyline]

I agree the biggest problem with Sparks is that nobody lives there. Most people who live in "downtown" or "Centretown" don't feel like walking through 3-4 blocks of desert office space to get to Sparks street for dinner or whatnot. For these people, walking somewhere along Bank St or Elgin is much more convenient.

Our "CBD" Elgin - Wellington - Lyon - Gloucester, was poorly planned and is not "mixed use" enough... There needs to be a good mix between residential, commercial and office to make sure the area is self-sustainable and "lively" for more than 7am-3pm.

[lrt's friend]

Too many buildings were constructed that were inward looking. I walk down Sparks and the lack of street front businesses affect the viability of the whole street. The CBC building is a perfect example. What was formerly street front retail, is now inward facing offices. There are countless examples all along the street.

[mykl]

The pathetic state of the street itself has to be considered. It's a disaster of different patches. Especially when they start filling holes in paving stones with messy asphalt, its just not a visually appealing place to be.

I don't think paying students to play music is going to do enough to change to street, especially since there are already musicians throughout the market and sometimes on Wellington. I also question the reality of this proposal after the city refused to pay the artists at Shipping Container Disaster Zone in the market. #ottawa2017

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I agree the biggest problem with Sparks is that nobody lives there. Most people who live in "downtown" or "Centretown" don't feel like walking through 3-4 blocks of desert office space to get to Sparks street for dinner or whatnot. For these people, walking somewhere along Bank St or Elgin is much more convenient.

Our "CBD" Elgin - Wellington - Lyon - Gloucester, was poorly planned and is not "mixed use" enough... There needs to be a good mix between residential, commercial and office to make sure the area is self-sustainable and "lively" for more than 7am-3pm.

Tis pretty much ever thus with CBDs in North America. And, to be fair, there are now more people living within a few blocks of Sparks (say, south to Laurier) than there have been for a very long time.

The real problem is that the CBD, like the rest of the city, like most North American cities, is TOO planned. There is too much regimentation of uses, too many rules to stifle mixed uses and human spontaneity.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Too many buildings were constructed that were inward looking. I walk down Sparks and the lack of street front businesses affect the viability of the whole street. The CBC building is a perfect example. What was formerly street front retail, is now inward facing offices. There are countless examples all along the street.

The CBC was a terrible bait-and-switch. It was originally supposed to have been more transparent and outward-facing.

Any sign of life yet in the retail property on the ground floor of Wellington Building?

[Vixx]

The new luxury condo built between Queens and Sparks will help a bit but it's so hard to make Sparks an attractive area to be when few people live on the street or in the immediate vicinity. And as you guys pointed out, the inward facing stature of many buildings and businesses there helps create a lack of street presence, especially after 4pm.

I personally don't think Sparks will ever become the tourist mecca and pedestrian dream we all want. The Byward market and Elgin street have such a strong pull on Ottawans and out-of-towners that getting people to head to Sparks seem counterintuitive, unless there's something really unique that will draw people. This summer a friend told myself and some other friends that there was an event on Sparks on a Friday night and we should head there instead of the market. We did, and there were so few people at that event it was embarrassing, so we headed to the market. It was a Friday night, a supposed "event" being held and it felt like a ghost town on Sparks.

We shouldn't be pouring loads of money into revitalizing the street because its not a dump; many jobs are located there and the architecture is nice, however we need to be realistic about how effective efforts will be in encouraging people to be there at all times of the day.

[lrt's friend]

Sparks Street is important to the city. It is the centre of the CBD, adjacent to Parliament, to the subway and it is going to be the connector to Lebreton and Zibi. It is shocking what we have done. Be it the failure of 1965 to 1975 plans to build an underground city, construction of blank walls facing the street during the same time frame, the sucking action that took place when the Rideau Centre opened in 1983 and how we have obstructed people from coming downtown all around the same time period. More local residents will help, no doubt about it, but downtown should be an attraction from all across the city. We have made it very difficult for people to come downtown. Sorry, but the Confederation Line is not really the answer because the Transitways already facilitated easy access in those directions. Historically, the draw to Sparks Street was from the south and from the west, which points to the need of a Bank Street subway and even that needs to be more than Billings Bridge. We need to make the great hinterland to the south to have easy access. That of course is not on anybody's radar and is likely not to be built for at least 50 years. There is also need of one or more major attractions on or adjacent to Sparks Street. I have long advocated for a Casino west of Bank Street to create foot traffic on a particularly dead part of the street. Some, anything that bring people there from morning to evening. With one or more major attractions, other businesses will follow.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I agree the biggest problem with Sparks is that nobody lives there. Most people who live in "downtown" or "Centretown" don't feel like walking through 3-4 blocks of desert office space to get to Sparks street for dinner or whatnot. For these people, walking somewhere along Bank St or Elgin is much more convenient.

Our "CBD" Elgin - Wellington - Lyon - Gloucester, was poorly planned and is not "mixed use" enough... There needs to be a good mix between residential, commercial and office to make sure the area is self-sustainable and "lively" for more than 7am-3pm.

Lots of streets are vibrant without depending on people living on them and I don't think it would be possible to support a pedestrian street with dozens of shops with local traffic.

[kevinbottawa]

I don't think Sparks Street can be sustained by just putting on events but I have to admit there were a lot of people on Sparks today for the living statues event and Kontinuum also had people on Sparks Street late at night. But looking around today, the mix of stores is sad. In my opinion, that's the biggest draw back. There's nothing there that makes it a destination. A permanent attraction that gets people excited, like Kontinuum, would help.

[rocketphish]

Stanley Cup monument to be officialy unveiled Saturday
Monument honours the man who named hockey's greatest prize.

By: Ryan Tumilty, Metro
Published on Wed Oct 25 2017



You won’t be able to lift this one above your head regardless of how good a skater you are, but the Lord Stanley Memorial Monument in downtown Ottawa will open this weekend.

The monument, designed last year by a Montreal-based team called Covit/Nguyen/NORR, is a tribute to Lord Frederick Stanley, one of the original inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the creator of the iconic Stanley Cup.

The unveiling ceremony, set to begin at 6 p.m., will include appearances by Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Lanny McDonald, and Mayor Jim Watson.

The structure< which is largely complete, sits on a small rink, embedded with stainless steel lines reminiscent of skate marks. There will also be 39 granite discs engraved with the names of the Stanley Cup winners from 1893 to 2017.

"I think this going to be, pardon me, a monumental contribution to the city because I know Ottawa residents understand they are, in many ways, trustees for Canadians. I think this monument reaches out to our history and our soul as a country and the role of hockey in it," said George Hunter, president of the Lord Stanley Memorial Monument Inc., the non-profit organization formed in 2010 to create the monument and donate it to the City of Ottawa.

The city donated the land for the monument, with other major partners including the government of Canada, the National Hockey League and the Ottawa Senators. The whole project had a budget of $4.2 million.

"It's not a conventional monument in any way. It's wonderfully located," said Hunter.

The monument has been installed at the corner of Elgin and Sparks Streets, which is not only in an area with heavy foot traffic, but it is also steps away from where Lord Stanley of Preston gifted the Stanley Cup on March 18, 1892.

The unveiling is part of the 2017 celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary, but also the 100th anniversary of the National Hockey League and the 25th anniversary of the Ottawa Senators.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/ottawa/...-saturday.html

[ars]

Walked by the Stanley Cup memorial today:

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by ars

Walked by the Stanley Cup memorial today:

Is the real Stanley Cup in that case in your photo?

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

Too many buildings were constructed that were inward looking. I walk down Sparks and the lack of street front businesses affect the viability of the whole street. The CBC building is a perfect example. What was formerly street front retail, is now inward facing offices. There are countless examples all along the street.

And the CBC was a bait-and-switch. It was originally supposed to have been more outward-facing.

It doesn't help that almost every vestige of commerce has been driven out by Public Works and the NCC, including some of the best commercial built heritage in the city. I still hate what happened to the Bank of Montreal, even if SJAM is a lovely place to attend a schmoozy reception.