Honouring the Dominion Observatory, Experimental Farm and Rideau Canal.

The Dominion Observatory, Ottawa in a Canada Post ad, MSN Internet News, October 31, 2021.

Sir Sandford Fleming at the Canadian Pacific Railway's "Last Spike". Sir Fleming 'designed Canada's first postage stamp and championed the idea of standard time'.

Plaques in front of the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa that memorialize Sir Sandford Fleming and William Frederick King:

Isabella Preston's crabapple trees and many other plant specimens are located along Prince of Wales Drive, in the Arboretum and Ornamental Gardens. The crabapple trees may be chopped down when Prince of Wales Drive is turned into a trucking route.

The Rideau Canal Winterlude image is from Narcity.

A stirling silver coin celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Tulip Festival.

The United Nations will strip the designation "UNESCO World Heritage Site" from the Rideau Canal if a hospital is built near Dow's Lake.

Agriculture Canada plans to demolish the Red Barn at the Brandon, Manitoba Research Farm.

The Red Barn.The photo is from the Manitoba Cooperator.

Greenbelt land that the people of Canada may lose.

The Capital has identified thousands of acres of Greenbelt land that may be surplus to the needs of the NCC. "The City of Ottawa has identified more than 13,700 acres of the Greenbelt...that could be developed..." (From: "Ottawa Greenbelt Development Under Review"--June 17, 2008.) I believe that the following properties are on their radar:

1.) Commissioners Park on the corner of Carling Avenue and Preston Street;( "Other properties found in the Greenbelt are Commissioners Park, where there is a display of over 100,000 tulips." MP Steven Blaney, House of Commons, September 16, 2009.)

2.) The Greenbelt Research Farm in Nepean, Ontario:

 

A 1958 Cabinet of Canada document. The Greenbelt Research Farm was an annex to the Experimental Farm on Carling Avenue. During the year 1998 the Greenbelt Farm was transferred from Agriculture Canada to the National Capital Commission for $1 dollar. The property is a National Interest Land Mass and cannot be sold or subdivided. The Experimental Farm on Carling is also a National Interest Land Mass and a National Historic Site of Canada. 

3.)Mer Bleue - "Protect the Greenbelt from devastating development." CPAWS-Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Ottawa Valley Chapter:

"As the population in the National Capital Region continues to grow, the City of Ottawa has identified a need for new transportation infrastructure to support the growing communities south of Orleans. Their preferred option is to extend Brian Coburn Boulevard across the Greenbelt to connect with the existing highway south of the intersection of Highway 174 and Blair Road."

" The proposed high speed, multi-lane highway will have a devastating impact on the ecological integrity of the Greenbelt and should not be built in the area being advanced by the City of Ottawa.The new highway will sever all natural linkages between Mer Bleue, Greens Creek and the Ottawa River, and will adversely impact Mer Bleue Bog-an internationally recognized wetland and the most biodiverse area in eastern Ontario."

"Other options do exist, including expanding the proposed LRT network farther into Orleans, or improving the design of existing infrastructure such as Innes Road, which already crosses the Greenbelt."

By mistake, the City of Ottawa included Mile Circle and the Aviation Museum land, Rockcliffe, in their Neighbourhood Official Plan.

"Confirmation of Mile Circle and Aviation Area Lands to be Preserved from Development." June 19, 2021. During the mid-1980's the Mile Circle was a focus of controversy because the National Capital Commission wanted to create an Embassy Row. 

Is Commissioners Park being replaced.

Commissioners Park is a 22-acre property located at Carling Avenue and Preston Street in Ottawa:

H.R.H. Princess Margriet viewing the tulips at Commissioners Park.The photo is from Canada.ca.

A proposal has been put forward by the City to rename Fairmont Park, 265 Fairmont Avenue, Princess Margriet Park. The landscape is near the current Civic Hospital and will feature many tulips.

Experimental Farm Ottawa.

A mega-hospital will be located within 150 metres of the following buildings:Classified Federal Heritage Buildings. The Dominion Observatory, South Azimuth and Photo Equatorial building.

Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings. Arc Biotech, William Saunders, Main Greenhouse Range, Nutrition building, Seismology Survey, Observatory House, Geophysical Laboratory, Machine Shop, Heritage House, Horticulture Building/Botanical Laboratory.

The affect on several landmarks and landscapes of blasting, light pollution, increase in traffic, etc.

Queen Elizabeth Driveway Cultural Landscape. "The portion of the landscape that is impacted by the proposed development is the section south of Preston Street along Prince of Wales Drive through the Central Experimental Farm to the traffic circle."

Dominion Observatory Complex. 

• Consideration of how lighting and new construction may impact the use of the Observatory for its intended function in the future.
• The interface between the complex and the surface parking to the east should be better screened with vegetation to mitigate the impact on the complex and its relationship to the farm.
• Consideration of the impacts should go beyond the potential physical impacts on the South Azimuth building as a result of emergency vehicles using Maple Drive and consideration of how the isolation of this resource from the rest of its context and the farm will impact its cultural heritage value.

The City received comments related to heritage issues from the public which could be categorized as follows:

• Impact on the Dominion Observatory-particularly regarding the sight lines from the 40 cm (16 inch) refractor telescope, impacts from additional lighting and concerns with the physical impacts on the South Azimuth building.
• General construction impacts on nearby heritage buildings.
• Protection of the pastoral and rural character of Maple Drive within the CEF.
• Protection of edge conditions related to the CEF and the Hospital site, such as the proposed central utility plant of the hospital and buffering to the CEF.
• Concerns with traffic volumes, including ambulance usage on internal roads to the CEF and adverse impacts to the character of the farm.
• Concerns with the changes to conditions along Prince of Wales Drive as it impacts edge conditions of the CEF. (Note: As a result of comments received from Heritage Staff, the NCC and the public the CHIS was revised and resubmitted on July 23, 2021.)

From: The Joint Meeting of Planning Committee and Built Heritage Sub-Committee/ October 1, 2021. Subject: Heritage Considerations. Master Site Plan Control, Ottawa Hospital, 930 Carling Avenue and 520 Preston Street.

Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev and federal Minister of Agriculture Eugene Whelan. The William Saunders building can be seen in the background. Mr. Whelan was a Trudeau government minister of agriculture from 1972 until 1984, and he said the Experimental Farm would be encroached upon "over my dead body."

H.R.H. Princess Anne and Minister Whelan visit the Experimental Farm on July 5,1982.

As I have mentioned before, plans were underway during the mid-1990's to demolish 50 buildings on the property and sell the land to developers.(Google:"The fight for the Farm goes on",Heritage Ottawa newsletter, Spring 1997.)

The new hospital will not be located beside a National Historic Site of Canada, it will be inside a National Historic Site. I cannot imagine a medical facility being constructed on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City; Fort Henry in Kingston Ontario and Vancouver's Stanley Park.

The Rideau Canal buffer zone.

According to Senate Bill S-203, new construction is banned within 500 metres of the Rideau Canal. However, the City of Ottawa Official Plan states that the Rideau Canal buffer zone is far less:

"The City will conserve the natural environment, cultural heritage, scenic quality, and recreational potential of the Ottawa River, Rideau River and Rideau Canal by:

1.) Reviewing development applications adjacent to those rivers and canal to ensure that the visual quality of the waterway as well as natural and cultural features are evaluated."

"In this respect, a cultural heritage impact statement, as described in Section 4.6.1, will be required for any development application under the Planning Act within 30 metres of the Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage Site and its landscaped buffer in the urban area, which will be reviewed in consultation with Parks Canada and the National Capital Commission." (From: The Joint Meeting of Planning Committee and Built Heritage Sub-Committee, October 1, 2021. Subject: Heritage Considerations, Master Site Plan Control, Ottawa Hospital, 930 Carling Avenue and 520 Preston Street, page 9.)

Senate Bill S-209 was introduced in the year 2019 by Senator Serge Joyal.

"One of Canada's greatest treasures."

 "Paris has L'Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, London has Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, Washington has the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, and the Smithsonian Institution and Ottawa has...a farm."

"Yes, Canada is the only country in the world to have a working farm at the heart of its capital city, mere minutes away from Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court, the Canadian War Museum, the National Gallery of Canada, among other more traditional attractions...A sprawling Victorian farm that has been surrounded by a capital is one of Canada's greatest treasures." ("atlasobscura.com/places/central-experimental-farm"---the search engine is www.bing.com).

The Dominion Observatory.

The Observatory Campus will not be preserved when a medical centre is built on the Farm:

1.) The campus was part of a land agreement between the Ottawa Hospital Corporation and the government of Canada. However "...the boundaries of Site 11 were modified to exclude existing buildings including the Dominion Observatory, creating an irregularly shaped parcel." (From: NCC Federal Site Review for the New Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital, November 2016, page 24/256.) 

But the corporation does not want irregularly shaped parcels of land. Functional Operational Hospital Interests: Parcel shape-An irregular parcel shape "would require fundamental modifications. Rating-very poor." (NCC Federal Site Review...page 45/256.)

2.) The South Azimuth is facing demolition because Maple Drive has to be widened to provide an emergency vehicle route.

3.) Designation as a Classified Federal Heritage Building means nothing. The Gonzales Observatory at 302 Denison Road in Victoria BC was a classified property but it was sold off. "The building was given federal heritage protection in the 1980's, with the highest rating of classified federal heritage building. After a land use study of Gonzales in 1987 the federal Public Works department announced a plan to sell off most of the land to the north of the observatory for housing development and to sell the building itself and the land immediately surrounding it to the City of Victoria for $1."

"Both the Victoria and Oak Bay councils joined the Gonzales Hill Preservation Society in opposing this plan; a very important aspect of the protest was that the area provided habitat for quail and other birds, as well as some rare plant species. Eventually the entire property was sold to the Capital Regional District for $35,000 dollars and Gonzales Hill became a regional park." (Victoria Heritage Foundation.)

4.) A City of Ottawa politician is hoping that the Civic will preserve the property. But the medical centre recently demolished the Sir John Carling cafeteria annex that was designed by renowned Canadian architect Hart Massey. Why is the city involved in this (mis)adventure anyway, this is government of Canada property that is owned by the people of this country, and part of a major tourist venue. The federal Heritage Department is abdicating its responsibility to protect the Experimental Farm and the Rideau Canal. The government should be a gatekeeper, and not collaberating with entities that are ruining irreplaceable landmarks and landscapes- including 680 trees.

Amendments to the National Capital Act will save "Canada's Farm."

Much of this information has previously been documented on my blog savecfbrockcliffe:

The Moffat Farm was an 84-acre Veteran's Affairs property located near Mooney's Bay. Moffat Farm and the Experimental Farm were protected forever by the designation National Interest Land Mass.

1.)The Hon. Senator Noel Kinsella, May 8, 2002: " Honourable senators, I would like to make a few remarks with reference to this material now before the Senate. The matter relates to the National Capital Act, which created the National Capital Commission."

"It seems to me, we require a provision for a recall mechanism. Section 10 (2) of the act, which gives the power to the National Capital Commission to sell lands in trust could be amended by Parliament to provide for a review mechanism by Parliament or a parliamentary committee upon receipt, for example, of 1,000 signatures from any part of Canada."

"As well, the section of the act that gives authority of the Cabinet to overturn any decision by the NCC to not sell land should also apply to any decision to sell land."

2.)The Hon. Senator Anne Cools: A comment after the Moffat Farm, 1709 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa was sold: "The public fears that many other parklands, like the Experimental Farm and the Arboretum are on the National Capital Commission's list for sale." April 23, 2002.

3.)"The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance-Nineteenth Report" Chairman Lowell Murray, June 13, 2003. Recommendation-"We recommend that the National Capital Commission develop a meaningful public consultation process which would apply to either the disposal or change of use of property held by the Commission."

A recent motion to amend the National Capital Act:  Senate Bill S-203 was introduced by the Hon. Senator Serge Joyal. 

Petitions - Opposition to the relocation of the Civic Hospital:

1.)Reimagine Ottawa - As of October 14, 2021 at 12:00 pm, the petition had 5,398 signatures.

2.) Protection of the Central Experimental Farm as a research facility and a national historic site of Canada. The petition was sent to the Auditor General of Canada.

3.)Save Ottawa's Precious Urban Green Space - Change.org. "Ottawa is about to lose part of a National Heritage site and a big chunk of its precious green space. The Ottawa Hospital's new Civic Campus is slated to be built on the former Sir John Carling site of the Central Experimental Farm. Situated by beautiful Dow's Lake, the green space is enjoyed by thousands of Ottawans, Canadians and tourists each year. We have to preserve this green space for many reasons. This is our Hyde Park, our Central Park. Once it has been paved over and built on we will never get it back."

4.)Preserve the Ottawa Experimental Farm green spaces. "The Central Experimental Farm is a 1,000 acre gem in the heart of Ottawa. Vision and commitment are required to maintain this unique green space as the pressures to utilize this valuable land for commercial and institutional development arise. The current proposal to utilize 60 acres of the Farm for the Civic Hospital is short-sighted. The hospital is required, but there are numerous alternate sites more appropriate for a large institution and the accompanying towers and parking lots."

"Instead, lets think bike paths, botanical gardens, research lands, strolling areas, fish ponds and family spaces, and leave Ottawa's housing and institutional needs to the many other land areas more suited to that kind of development. Please sign the petition today so the National Capital Commission and the Canadian Heritage Minister know that we want this special space to be preserved." Comments: "The Central Experimental Farm is a national treasure that belongs to the entire country, not just one city as its personal property to be paved over. Tell the Ottawa hospital to leave this green land alone; we'll need it one day and once it's paved over it's gone forever." "...Leave this beautiful life giving small piece of paradise alone..."

Streets that will be negatively impacted. Maple Drive, Birch Drive, the NCC Driveway, Winding Lane and Prince of Wales Drive.

The plan to demolish 50 heritage buildings and sell the land to developers. Google: "The Fight for the Farm Goes On", Heritage Ottawa newsletter, Spring 1997.

Groups that are trying to save the National Historic Site:

1.) Friends of the Central Experimental Farm.

2.) Protect the Farm-Home|Facebook.

3.) We Stand With Trees.

4.) The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. "Preservation of the Dominion Observatory-A Proposal" RASC.

5.) Save the Central Experimental Farm-Greenspace Alliance of Canada's Capital.

6.) Saving the Central Experimental Farm-Heritage Ottawa.

7.) Save the Farm-Protest to save our greenspace.- Ecology Ottawa.

8.) The National Trust for Canada.

9.) Ontario Chapter|Sierra Club of Canada.

10.) COALITION TO SAVE THE CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL FARM.

11.) Glebe Community Association. RE: Proposal to remove 680 trees at the new campus of The Ottawa Hospital.

12.) Dalhousie Community Association."New hospital site creates serious concerns for West Centretown". (Centretown Buzz, August 19, 2021.) The Dalhousie Community Association includes the Chinatown and Little Italy neighbourhoods.

13.) National Farmers Union of Ontario.

14.) Glebe Annex Community Association.

15.) Champlain Park Community Association.

16.) Botanica Residents Association.

The video "Ottawa prepares to hand over historic federal farmland to corporate developers" can be seen on Vimeo:

The photograph is from the video.

 "(Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid) Laurier's advocation reinforced the idea that this Observatory was to be considered an arm of the parliamentary precinct...It was recognized as a national achievement." (Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, page 10/67 and page 14/67.) All of the trees that separate the Observatory campus from Queen Juliana Park will be clear cut when a parking garage is built. 

"The Improvement and Beautification of Ottawa."

 House of Commons Ottawa April 26, 1928. Member of Parliament George Taylor MacNutt (Colchester, Nova Scotia): "...It is my desire to have for the Canadian people beauty and culture...Ottawa is very well supplied with parks and driveways, and besides it has a glorified farm not far away that serves as a park and a very beautiful one at that."

MP Abraham Albert Heaps (North Winnipeg, Manitoba) Labour: "...With regard to what my hon. friend the mover of the amendment (Miss Macphail) has just said, I would point out to her and to the house, that with respect to large, open spaces in the centre of cities, it is an experience the world over that those who benefit most in the end are those who, unfortunately, are in limited circumstances and who as a consequence are precluded from having the enjoyment of homes and grounds such as those more well-to-do are able to afford. They are the ones who perhaps more than others derive the major benefit of the large parks in the great cities."

" At the rate at which development is taking place in Ottawa, I am confident that it will not be long before this city will become congested in the matter of population, and I do not hesitate to say that the ones who more than any others will appreciate what this parliament is doing day-to-day are the mothers of little children who will find it possible to enjoy advantages for their families in this way of which otherwise they would have been deprived."

Capital parkland that the people of Canada are losing. Lazy Bay Commons in the Mechanicsville neighbourhoood; Queen Juliana in Little Italy; part of the Arboretum and the Ornamental Gardens when Prince of Wales Drive is widened,

National Historic Sites in Canada's Capital - March of 2004.

Aberdeen Pavilion - built in 1898.

My Dad is walking by the Aberdeen Pavilion during the 1940's.

Beechwood Cemetery.

Billings House.

Central Chambers. 

Central Experimental Farm - The lumber baron J.R. Booth donated 400 acres of his own land to the Dominion Experimental Farm.

Chateau Laurier - constructed between 1908 and 1912,

Confederation Square - Central Chambers, Chateau Laurier, Connaught Restaurant/Bell Block, East Block, former Langevin Block, National Arts Centre, Ottawa Postal Station "B"/Central Post Office, Union Station - Grand Trunk railway station/Government Conference Centre.

Connaught Building - Tudor Revival - 1913-1916.

Earnscliffe - Longtime Ottawa home of Sir John A. Macdonald, Prime Minister of Canada.

Former Dominion Archives Building/Canadian War Museum.

Former Geological Survey of Canada Building.

Former Ottawa Teachers' College, built in 1875.

Former Langevin Block - 1883-1889.

Laurentian Club/John Booth Residence - 1909.

Laurier House - Home of Prime Ministers Sir Wilfrid Laurier and William Lyon Mackenzie King-built in 1878.

Maplelawn & Gardens - Thomas Cole and Rochester House, 1831-1834.

Notre-Dame Roman Catholic Basilica - 1841-1853.

Parliament Buildings-Seat of Canadian government, Gothic Revival complex. Centre Block, East Block, Library, Public Grounds, West Block.

Rideau Hall and Landscaped Grounds - Residence of the Governor General of Canada. British Natural Style, begun in 1838.

Royal Canadian Mint - Gothic Revival, 1905-1908.

Victoria Memorial Museum - Castellated Gothic Revival, 1905-1911.

Ottawa/Kingston - Rideau Canal. Operational Canal; 202 km route, forty-five locks.

Navy Private is still Ordnance and Admiralty Land.

Navy Private is one minute away from the Dow's Lake parking lot. The Rideau Canal has a 30-metre (98 foot) buffer zone that cannot be intruded upon by construction of a provincial hospital (for example) ever since the waterway was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

"The Department of National Defence has maintained its presence at the northeast corner of the CEF (Central Experimental Farm) since the Second World War. HMCS Carleton now functions as a naval reserve unit in the building adjacent to Dow's Lake. The property is the last remaining land from the British Ordnance reserve of the mid-1800's." (From: CEF National Historic Site Management Plan (5 of 20.) Ordnance and Admiralty land is reserved for the defence of Canada.

House of Commons Ottawa. December 21, 1963. Parliament Hill. "Notes on civil law respecting their ownership, management and control and the rights therein of Federal and Provincial Crown Parliamentary and Judicial authorities. Legal Title With the exception of the years 1802-1823, Parliament Hill has been owned by the Crown - successively by the Crown Imperial, the Crown Provincial and the Crown Federal. Since 1823 the Crown has always held these lands for public purposes-either of defence or generally."

"In 1823 the Earl of Dalhousie, the Governor, purchased the Hill from Hugh Fraser on behalf of the British Crown and by letter, entrusted its control and management to Colonel John By with instructions that the Hill, together with Major Hill and Nepean Point, be reserved for military purposes. About 1857 the British Crown transferred the Ordnance (or military) land-these including the Hill, together with the Rideau Canal land, to the Government of Upper Canada."
 

The Ordnance and Admiralty Lands Act - RS 1927. Military Properties in Canada Transferred to the Government of the Late Province of Canada---(Locations in the Capital). Rideau and Ottawa Canals, City of Ottawa Barracks, Blockhouses and Adjuncts of the Canals.

Major's Hill Park was an Ordnance property: House of Commons Ottawa, July 6, 1908. Grand Trunk Railway Hotel Site. Member of Parliament Haughton Lennox: "...You are practically giving the company the use of a large park which is the most beautiful in the city of Ottawa. It is idle to talk of $100,000 dollars for so many feet of property. I get angry when I talk about this. I get so indignant at this proposal that I find it hard to keep my temper. But if we are going to dispose of this property I would point out that there are special provisions that have to be met before we sell ordnance land."

The historic significance of the Farm.

 "The Capital contains examples of cultural landscapes designated to be of national historic significance. For example: the Central Experimental Farm, Rideau Hall Estate, Parliament Hill, and the Rideau Canal National Historic Site of Canada. All four have been the subject of recent planning exercises using variations on a cultural landscapes approach." (page 18/96). 

Rideau Canal National Historic Site-( views of the Federal site should not be blocked by any buildings including including a provincial medical centre and high rise condominiums---savecfbrockcliffe.) "The draft Rideau Canal National Historic Site Plan (2002) puts new emphasis on the cultural landscapes of the canal corridor, with particular attention to the historic landscape features that define them. These features include the lock station landscape patterns, the views to and from the canal corridor, the rural landscapes that are representative of the settlement patterns that followed the building of the canal, and adjacent landscapes such as the Central Experimental Farm arboretum and the shoreline urban lands within the Ottawa portion of the canal."

"Definition and Assessment of cultural landscapes of heritage value on NCC lands" page 39/86.

"Tulip fest moves off NCC lands."

"The Canadian Tulip Festival will not be holding their festival programming at Major's Hill Park and Commissioner's Park for their 60th annual Tulip Festival because organizers say the rising costs to clean up the parks are too much....One million tulips will decorate the two NCC parks, but all programming and events associated with the Tulip Festival will be scattered around the city." (Google: Ottawa South EMC by Metroland Ottawa, March 15, 2012.)

"Capital Parks are parklands tied to a significant natural or built feature or historical event which makes it a major contributor to the Capital's image. Capital Parks serve as stages for events and activities of Capital significance. Capital Parks also accomodate national monuments, commemorations and interpretive installations. Capital Parks in the Urban Lands Study area include Brebeuf Park, Commissioner's Park, Hog's Back Park, Leamy Lake, Rockcliffe Park and Vincent Massey Park.

Capital Parks in the Core Area include Confederation, Jacques-Cartier, Major's Hill, Rideau Falls and LeBreton Flats Park."(From: "Capital Urban Lands Master Plan",pages 101 and 102 of 123 pages.)

House of Commons Ottawa November 25, 1968. Topic: National Capital Commission. MP Walter Gilbert Dinsdale(Brandon-Souris, Manitoba). Progressive Conservative: "A moment ago my hon. friend from Ottawa West said that many parks in our capital city proper are paid for by the good citizens of this country from British Columbia to Newfoundland."

" A substantial part of the upkeep of course is paid for by the citizens of this country...I think the hon. member will argue that the national capital parkways, the experimental farm and many other specialized and beautiful park areas are supported by the people of Canada through public funds expended by the National Capital Commission whose estimates we are now discussing."

Level of activity that has occurred or is planned near the Farm.

1.)  855 Carling Avenue - 350 units.

2.)  285 Loretta Street - 140 units.

3.)  100 Champagne Avenue - 140 units.

4.)  Soho Champagne - 430 units.

5.)  Student Envie - 101 Champagne, the former Humane Society property. 140 units. The Dog Park Condos. The City of Ottawa promised that the land would be an extension of Ev Tremblay Park. 

6.)  845 Carling Avenue - 1,123 units.

7.) 93-105 Norman Street - 117 units. Nearby residents appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board but lost, read the Eric Darwin article.

8.)  Soho Italia - 254 units.

9.)  Claridge Icon - 320 units.

10.) 70 Beech Street - 40 units.

11.) Gladstone and Loretta - 745 units.

12.) Gladstone Village - 1,132 units, the former DND Plouffe Park Armoury. Is the medical centre being given the land beneath the RCN Curling Club at Dow's Lake? The RCN Curling Club is facing a hefty increase in rent and may have to move.

13.) Nuovo - 144 units.

14.) The former Natural Resources Campus. (The Energy, Mines and Resources property. During the early 1980's I bought a couple of maps there.)  - 1, 140 units.

15.)  Adelaide - 355 units.

16.)  Rochester Heights - 767 units.

17.)  Gladstone and Rochester - 384 units.

18.)  811 Gladstone - 140.

New---Bronson and Carling.

New--- 829 Carling at Preston (the former CIBC Bank.)-60 storeys, the tallest building in Ottawa.

The red areas are "Dedicated to automobiles."

 The map is from Reimagine Ottawa, October 2, 2021.

 Many of the 680 Experimental Farm trees are being clear cut for parking lots: in the buffer zone between the Observatory campus and Queen Juliana Park; adjacent to the DARA Tennis Club; and the Dow's Lake/Rideau Canal UNESCO World Heritage site.

From the Reimagine Ottawa Facebook page.

Agriculture Canada employees were forced to dig up the Historic Hedge Collection located next to the DARA Tennis Club. It must have been a heartbreaking event. I am calling on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson to place a moratorium on any further destruction of trees on the Experimental Farm. (Agriculture Canada photo.)

Regulations that may save Experimental Farm.

"No new buildings or significant hard landscape features should interrupt the predominance of the soft landscape and pastoral quality of this zone." 

Entry Zone features:

• Expansive lawn areas with mature specimen trees and curving paths.
• Long, framed vistas and varied, dramatic topography.
• Overlooks to Dow's Lake and the Rideau Canal. (Google: "CEF National Historic Site Management Plan-Part 18-20". A report that was prepared by the Federal Department of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada.)

"No future road widenings should be permitted within the CEF....The environmental resources of this zone, including wetland, woodland, and grassland subzones as identified in the City of Ottawa Natural Open Space (NOSS) report should be protected and enhanced."

A recent City of Ottawa zoning by law pertaining to the property

 L3 Central Experimental Farm (Section 177). Purpose of the Zone - The purpose of the L3-CEF Zone is to:

1.)  allow a range of uses on land designated as Agricultural Research Area in the Official Plan that will help to support and conserve the cultural, scientific and historical value of the Central Experimental Farm for present and for future generations.

PERMITTED USES  

agricultural use.

environmental preserve and education area.

experimental farm and ancillary offices.

museum limited to agricultural museum.

on-farm diversified use, limited to a place of assembly.

park limited to agricultural research.

research and development centre.

urban agriculture.

As I have mentioned before, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada executives wanted to convert the Sir John Carling Building annex into a visitor's centre and a museum. An inobtrusive building could have been constructed for that purpose.I can envision a brand-new tourism centre, where visitors could be given maps detailing where the greenhouses, barns, Arboretum, ornamental gardens, Fletcher Wildlife Gardens and other landmarks are located.

 Many Canadians are unaware of the fact that astonomers at the Ottawa Observatory found Planet X. I can imagine Comic-Con conventions where astronauts recount their adventures in space, and people dress up in futuristic costumes. Do not let the Civic Hospital block the entrance to Maple Drive and make it impossible for people to visit the Dominion Observatory. The grounds at the Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles, California are totally accessible to the public.

Reinstate the telescope and give future generations the opportunity to discover our wondrous universe.

The former Gonzales Astrophysical Observatory at 302 Denison Road, Victoria, British Columbia. The Government of Canada privatized the landmark and sold it for $35,000 dollars.

Saving the trees. 

Farm land south of Carling Avenue, and the Arboretum are protected landscapes.

City of Ottawa Department of Urban Planning and Public Works-June 4, 1999.

Definitions  NOSS-Natural and Open Spaces.

ESA's-Environmentally Sensitive Areas.

Protection Areas-All currently designated within the Greenway System (Waterway Corridor, Linkage, Major Open Space, Agricultural Area), but not designated as Environmentally Sensitive Area. Based on NOSS recommendation, these protection areas qualify as Environmentally Sensitive Areas:

EW-tp9 - Portion of Mud Lake/ Brittania Woods (#0101).

Pinecrest Woods (#0202).

Dechenes Rapids (#0401).

Hampton Woods (#0703).

Chaudiere Rapids (#0901).

EW-tp9  Portion of Lemieux Island (#0902).

Arboretum (#1101).

Central Experimental Farm Woods (#1102).

Prince of Wales Woods (#1201).

Victoria Island Woods (#1301).

Brown's Inlet (#1601).

Patterson's Creek (#1602) 

Rockcliffe Park Woods  (#2203).

Leopold Woodlot ( #2701).

Riverside Woods (#2703).

CNR Line (#2901).

Portions of Sawmill Creek (#3102).

RA Centre Woods (#3103).

Rideau River Park Woods (#3201).

Jim Durrell Arena Woods (#3402).

Coronation Park Woods (#360)

Ramsey Creek Woods (#4201). (Google: ASC1999-PW-ENV-0004-City of Ottawa).

The Prince of Wales Drive and Maple Drive entrances to the hospital will be restricted to emergency vehicles.

Carling and Maple Drive (not shown, on the right). Trees between Queen Juliana Park and the Observatory campus are being chopped down.

"The Arboretum near Dow's Lake covers an area of approximately 14.3 hectares or 35 acres. This area is part of the Greenway System Corridor and includes several woodland areas, two watercourses referred to as the Rideau Canal Tributaries, a wetland near the Canal, and several gardens including the Fletcher Wildlife Garden."

" The Carling Area south of Carling Avenue includes an area of approximately 5.26 hectares. This area is classified as Open Space with views of significant features. The area consists of a manicured lawn with mature trees along the west boundary." (CEF National Historic Site Management Plan).