Downtown Ottawa Revitalization Initiatives

[skyscraperaccount]

Another Sparks St redesign. Yippee!

[J.OT13]

Watson had already completed a Sparks rebuild plan. It was put on pause while the STO figured our where it would but its tram. This is Sutcliffe reinventing the wheel again.

Bayview Yards would be a good opportunity for a Sensplex to replace Tom Brown. It could have a direct link to the Sens NHL arena.

[lrt's friend]

The whole area west of Bay Street including Zibi, Lebreton and Bayview, is totally pedestrian unfriendly and will likely remain so for years to come. Construction zones, poor connectivity, traffic sewers and wastelands. The new downtown???

[J.OT13]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The whole area west of Bay Street including Zibi, Lebreton and Bayview, is totally pedestrian unfriendly and will likely remain so for years to come. Construction zones, poor connectivity, traffic sewers and wastelands. The new downtown???

The KZM and Albert in the LeBreton area could both benefit from major road diets.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by skyscraperaccount

Another Sparks St redesign. Yippee!

Sparks could really use some new pavers though. Lots of asphalt patch work and whatnot. Given the scale of the street I would like to see something much larger then the 6x6 or 8x8 thats there. That muddy pink color also looks like some basic brick you would have installed in your front walkway 30/40 years ago.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

The whole area west of Bay Street including Zibi, Lebreton and Bayview, is totally pedestrian unfriendly and will likely remain so for years to come. Construction zones, poor connectivity, traffic sewers and wastelands. The new downtown???

It sounds like you haven't been in that area in a while. I walk through there every day, and the improvements over the past few years have been dramatic. Every major E-W street on the west side of downtown has been improved from a pedestrian standpoint - Albert, Slater, Laurier (Queen was already pedestrian friendly). The intersections of those streets at Bronson are signficantly improved, and that will be extended west to Booth as soon as the new Library, which has solid streetfront presence incidentally, is open. Lebreton has a new MUP that opened last year.

Albert/Scott from Booth to Bayview has a ways to go as Lebreton gets built out, but the doom and gloom isn't really warranted.

[ponyboycurtis]

Originally Posted by phil235

It sounds like you haven't been in that area in a while. I walk through there every day, and the improvements over the past few years have been dramatic. Every major E-W street on the west side of downtown has been improved from a pedestrian standpoint - Albert, Slater, Laurier (Queen was already pedestrian friendly). The intersections of those streets at Bronson are signficantly improved, and that will be extended west to Booth as soon as the new Library, which has solid streetfront presence incidentally, is open. Lebreton has a new MUP that opened last year.

Albert/Scott from Booth to Bayview has a ways to go as Lebreton gets built out, but the doom and gloom isn't really warranted.

I'm with Phil on this one. I'm not going to complain about construction when the construction is improving the sidewalks and adding cycle lanes etc.

[golfguy9]

RE: Bayview Yards - can we please incentivize business to set up inside the greenbelt.

Imagine how alive the core of our city would be if the Kanata tech park was built at Lebreton back in the day.

[NOWINYOW]

For years Ottawa City Council has used"Sparks Street Revitalization" as a distraction when other more urgent issues have come to a stalemate.

Seeing as nothing will actually get done aside from studies and discussions, I'll throw my idea into the hat.

A Gondola starting in LeBreton Flats, then flying up over sparks street with a station stop at Bank, then carry on with a second stop at Elgin, stopping again atop the Rideau Centre. From there, head north over Sussex with a stop at the National Gallery, then across the River to the Museum of Civilization, carry on west along the north side of the river with a second stop in Gatineau before crossing the river and ending up back in Lebreton flats.

Crazy idea, but it will ensure years of discussions and studies while conveniently distracting from real problems.

[lrt's friend]

Originally Posted by phil235

It sounds like you haven't been in that area in a while. I walk through there every day, and the improvements over the past few years have been dramatic. Every major E-W street on the west side of downtown has been improved from a pedestrian standpoint - Albert, Slater, Laurier (Queen was already pedestrian friendly). The intersections of those streets at Bronson are signficantly improved, and that will be extended west to Booth as soon as the new Library, which has solid streetfront presence incidentally, is open. Lebreton has a new MUP that opened last year.

Albert/Scott from Booth to Bayview has a ways to go as Lebreton gets built out, but the doom and gloom isn't really warranted.

It is still disappointing. When I naturally come to Bayview on the train, it is a wasteland all the way over to Booth. Maybe, a little better on the downtown side, but when I suggested Zibi for the meet up. there is still nothing there. We have public buildings and national monuments but it is still not really a draw. It would be so nice to have some sort of nice walk way or MUP with a bit of landscaping and benches coming from Bayview even if only temporary, until the arena is built in 10 or 20 years.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

It is still disappointing. When I naturally come to Bayview on the train, it is a wasteland all the way over to Booth. Maybe, a little better on the downtown side, but when I suggested Zibi for the meet up. there is still nothing there. We have public buildings and national monuments but it is still not really a draw. It would be so nice to have some sort of nice walk way or MUP with a bit of landscaping and benches coming from Bayview even if only temporary, until the arena is built in 10 or 20 years.

But there is a MUP from Bayview that takes you along the tracks all the way to Commissioners. Granted there’s construction on the other side of the tracks, but it’s quite a nice walk.

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by phil235

It sounds like you haven't been in that area in a while. I walk through there every day, and the improvements over the past few years have been dramatic. Every major E-W street on the west side of downtown has been improved from a pedestrian standpoint - Albert, Slater, Laurier (Queen was already pedestrian friendly). The intersections of those streets at Bronson are signficantly improved, and that will be extended west to Booth as soon as the new Library, which has solid streetfront presence incidentally, is open. Lebreton has a new MUP that opened last year.

Albert/Scott from Booth to Bayview has a ways to go as Lebreton gets built out, but the doom and gloom isn't really warranted.

Pedestrian friendly isn’t just about sidewalks (although that is part of it). There is a dead zone, hardly any pedestrians, hardly any eyes on the street, hardly any businesses. Maybe the library will change that a little.

[zzptichka]

West of Bronson is terrible for sure, but the Albert between Bay and Bronson is pretty nice actually.

[phil235]

Originally Posted by acottawa

Pedestrian friendly isn’t just about sidewalks (although that is part of it). There is a dead zone, hardly any pedestrians, hardly any eyes on the street, hardly any businesses. Maybe the library will change that a little.

Where is this dead zone of which you speak? There are literally thousands of apartments on the blocks west of Lyon that we are talking about, a lot more under construction along with a super busy new grocery store. It may have been a dead zone 10 years ago, but it definitely isn’t now.

The library will have an impact, but the bigger change has been the new residential units and conversions.

[ponyboycurtis]

Zibi and the lookouts at Chaudiere power dam was absolutely popping yesterday. Good to see that more and more people are becoming aware of this place. I remember being there 3? maybe 4 years ago when the water was so high the Eddy bridge was closed and every single gate was open on the dam. You could feel the ground trembling. Hardly a soul in sight.

Granted yesterday was a beautiful afternoon but definitely an uptick in people coming to walk around and hangout. We just need a few more reasons to be there aside from a quick walk and a view.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by ponyboycurtis

I remember being there 3? maybe 4 years ago when the water was so high the Eddy bridge was closed and every single gate was open on the dam. You could feel the ground trembling. Hardly a soul in sight.

The ground is jiggling again right now. Not as jiggly as during the Big One, but you can feel the vibration as you approach. It's worth the walk.

[J.OT13]

‘Landmark’ project in Centretown and large spa in Kanata get go-ahead from city council

Marissa Galko, OBJ
April 22, 2026

==SNIP==

Council also approved the city staff’s Downtown Revitalization Framework and Action Plan, which is designed to advance downtown revitalization goals.

The plan was approved by the finance and corporate services committee two weeks ago. Measures include a concept for the redevelopment of municipal properties such as Bayview Yards and implementing incentive programs for office-to-residential conversion projects.

In a conversation with OBJ last week, Sheilagh Doherty, director of economic development at the city, said the framework builds on priorities established by council and is complementary to the Ottawa Board of Trade’s Downtown Ottawa Action Agenda, which was released in 2024 with the goal to revitalize the core by 2034.

https://obj.ca/landmark-project-centretown-spa-kanata-go-city-council/

[rocketphish]

Do you mean that there was a first one?

Mathieu Grondin and nightlife office start work on second nightlife strategy

By Marissa Galko, OBJ
May 7, 2026

While the city’s first nightlife strategy reflected post-pandemic Ottawa, the next iteration will be more attuned to a city that is increasingly accepting and aware of the importance of a nightlife economy. Nightlife commissioner Mathieu Grondin told OBJ this week that last year’s biggest win was changing the attitude toward nightlife in Ottawa.

“I think the greatest success is that we are starting to shift the narrative and address those challenges we had when it came to the city’s branding. Just last week there was an article in the National Post about a survey showing Ottawa was voted the best place for gen Z to live in Canada. We’ve seen visitation to the ByWard Market go up. This is really good news,” he said.

Grondin said his favorite project from 2025 was Metcalfe Plaza, an open-air social hub at 151 Metcalfe St. near Gloucester Street.

“We didn’t have those placemaking projects with an outdoor venue and socializing hub. It really hit the nail (on the head). When it opened, it was a sellout almost every night, with a lineup of 100 people trying to get in.” Now, Grondin and his team at the nightlife office will turn their attention to crafting the next nightlife strategy.

“We need to keep developing new nightlife initiatives. I’m lucky this year that we have a bit of funding from the municipal council, an envelope of $150,000 to support nightlife initiatives … Over time, if we look at continuous improvement, we will always need to revisit our regulatory framework, our bylaw framework and try to make those fit to today’s reality,” he said.

Since the first strategy was based on a post-pandemic Ottawa, it needs to be refreshed to better reflect today’s context.

“Now it’s time to revisit the strategy. We’ll be doing an economic impact assessment to scope out the socioeconomic impact of nightwork outside of the traditional nightlife sectors,” Grondin said, including people who work in health care, transportation, cleaning and logistics.

The refreshed strategy will also continue to focus on new nightlife projects, while helping to remove red tape for businesses and organizations. The nightlife office will spend part of the year consulting with businesses, city departments, workers and community partners to better understand what the strategy should focus on. “We have a list of businesses, groups and industry organizations that we work with, many of them on the nightlife council. But we’re also aiming to chat with individual businesses, venues and event organizers. We’ll be reaching out to ask them to participate in group interviews,” Grondin said, adding that a survey for the public will be available on the city’s website next week.

Since the first strategy was created before the nightlife office was actually formed, creating the next one will allow him to reflect what he’s heard since he assumed his role in June 2024. “This is the big difference now. The first plan was to create a nightlife office. Now it’s really our chance to own that next strategy. “It takes time,” Grondin said of crafting the next strategy. “It takes time to do the economic impact assessment, to do all of these one-hour interviews with different groups. We are working with an external consultant to do this and we’ll be working with another external consultant in the last part of the year to actually draft the strategy, which should be presented to council in Q1 of 2027.”

Recipients of Nightlife Tourism Development Fund

On Thursday, Ottawa Tourism announced the 10 recipients of the Nightlife Tourism Development Fund, which is a $215,000 investment to help animate nightlife in the city.

The projects are a spectrasonic concert series at the new History Ottawa venue; Latin Sparks Festival; Fiesta Cubana Fest’s closing night concert; the Richmond Estate Winery concert series; Ottawa Boat Cruise Nightlife Series; Punk and Grunge Festival “Capital Punishment”; LOL Ottawa Comedy Festival in the ByWard Market; After Taste: Wellington West; AfroFestival Ottawa; and the Ottawa Christmas Market New Year’s Eve Bash.

Grondin said the recipient projects align with where Ottawa’s nightlife is going.

“Creating a dedicated funding stream for nightlife activities was one of the first discussions I had with (Ottawa Tourism) when I took on this position. I thought it was something that we could do to help support the ecosystem. It’s really innovative because they’re the first (destination marketing organization) in Canada to create such a funding stream for nightlife. “They have the power to shift the narrative and what the ecosystem looks like, while bringing back some of that vibrancy to the city.”

https://obj.ca/mathieu-grondin-nightlife-office-start-work-nightlife-strat/

[CastlesintheSky]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Do you mean that there was a first one?

It's pitiful what little this nightlife initiative has done, however with such tiny budgets I'm not sure what they were hoping to accomplish. If you want a vibrant nightlife such as Montreal, they are going to need to a budget more than $200k. That amount doesn't go very far in the year 2026. Also, when you're paying the nightlife mayor so much to start, might as well go all in on the budget too.