Big changes on the horizon.

"New Civic Hospital location, the story behind the story." The Glebe Report, October 14, 2022. "...The development will result in an additional 3,000 vehicles seven days a week on Prince of Wales Drive and Carling Avenue. It will significantly compromise the public's access to and enjoyment of Commissioners Park and Dow's Lake..." (Prince of Wales is being widened to accommodate emergency and commercial vehicles including suppliers. A few months ago the federal government saved the Dominion Observatory campus, Google: "Parks Canada News Release, Ottawa, January 15, 2025." The Civic wanted to demolish the South Azimuth in order to widen Maple Drive. Birch Drive has been cordoned off, and the vacant William Saunders Building is in the path of destruction.)

Reposting---A Botanical Garden project in the year 2001:

A 2001 Ottawa Citizen article.

Noteworthy information:

• "The proposed botanical garden on the east side of Prince of Wales Drive would surround but not swallow the arboretum that is a haven for nature lovers. A first, $10 million dollar phase of the proposal from the Ottawa Botanical Garden Society is being studied by an advisory council appointed by Agriculture Canada." "Later stages are expected to include a conservatory with nine greenhouses with sales to the public, a butterfly house, washrooms and small cafes. The non-profit society would charge admission to the butterfly house and garden though not to the arboretum." (From an Ottawa Citizen article by Carolynne Wheeler, August 3, 2021.)
• The society wanted to charge $10 to $15 dollars for access to buildings south of the arboretum.
• Phase 1 would fence off about 108 acres now designated for research.
•  The telescope was removed from the Dominion Observatory in 1970 and relocated to a museum. 

Ottawa's Dominion Observatory discovered Planet X.

Civic Hospital Boundaries - Located on the northeast portion of the CEF. The parcel is bounded by:

• Carling Avenue
• Maple and Birch Drives
• Prince of Wales Drive
• Queen Juliana Park
• The Central Experimental Farm Pathway

Meets criteria for future expansion. (From: The New Civic Campus: A 21st Century Hospital in the Heart of Canada's Capital, April 2016.)

The Central Experimental Farm, Site No. 11, the Sir John Carling location

• On this site we have at least 24 buildings including Buildings 1 to 9, the Natural Resources Campus (including the Dominion Observatory.)
• Number 20, the K.W. Neatby Building and the Oilseed Research Centre.
• Extensive demolition or relocation of buildings is required for the new build to proceed. (From: The New Civic Campus: A 21st Century Hospital in the Heart of Canada's Capital---April 2016, page 10/76.)

Changes to the Rideau Canal.

 Designations may be removed:

• UNESCO World Heritage Site
• National Historic Site of Canada
• National Interest Land Mass
• Canadian Heritage River

Opportunities

• Lansdowne Park redevelopment and future Fifth Avenue pedestrian bridge
• Preston Street intensification at Dow's Lake
• Future University LRT station
• Build on existing temporary use pilot projects by the NCC
• Attract new users who will enhance appreciation of Canal and heritage appreciation
• Create strategic partnerships

Challenges

• Multi-jurisdictional policies and management
• Restrictive zoning and heritage designations
• Limited utility and servicing connections

Land Use and Built Form

• Offer a variety of land uses that enhance areas surrounding the Canal.
• Buildings adjacent to the Canal and parkways should be at a height that is appropriate to the neighbourhood character and context. (Adjacent parkways include the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales, now owned by the City of Ottawa.)
• Create interesting and unique building designs that contribute to the visual integrity of the Canal. (The buildings and loss of trees will compromise the visual integrity.)
• Infill projects should be a tool to improve, rather than capitalize on the Canal's value. (Note: "Infill is the rededication of land in an urban environment, usually open space for new construction." Wikipedia.)
• Promote temporary land uses at key activity points along the Rideau Canal.
• Integrate traditional mainstreets to provide a range of land uses for the Canal Corridor.
• Enhance streets parallel to parkways with direct Canal frontage, to include uses and building forms similar to traditional mainstreets.
• Ensure cohesive relationships between the Lansdowne Park redevelopment, the Glebe and the Rideau Canal. (Information is from "Animating the Rideau Canal", December of 2013, page 1 and page 3 of 5 pages.)

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A United Nations agency called UNESCO sent a letter to the federal government regarding inappropriate development adjacent to the Rideau Canal. (During the year 2019). Google: "Save Our Rideau". The UNESCO letter of concern is on page 5 out of 16 pages.

A wonderful, 4-hour documentary that was produced by TV Ontario.

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"Urban lands are inherited---representing a legacy to be passed to future generations." (from "Capital Urban Lands Plan" page 35/123.)