Is the National Capital Commission removing the Equestrian Park from the Greenbelt?

  According to a federal law called "The National Capital Act" (1985), the National Capital Commission has the power to give away, sell, lease or transfer any property that is owned by the Crown corporation.
     During the mid 1990's, the NCC planned to remove the Greenbelt Riding School and the Conroy Pit from the Greenbelt.(See: "NCC Revises Master Plan for Greenbelt" by Heather Burke-March 1996.)
     A foundation connected to high-tech entrepreneur Terry Matthews is leasing the 269-acre National Capital Equestrian Park and the 200-acre former Ottawa Municipal Campground, from the NCC.
     According to the document "Submission - 1996 Greenbelt Master Plan Amendment - 401 and 411 Corkstown Road Ottawa- (January 23, 2013):
for 401 Corkstown Road:

• a major renewal and expansion of the equestrian facility,
• the addition of seven full and nine mini sized sports fields as a new complimentary use to the equestrian centre.

for 411 Corkstown Road:

• renewal and addition to the municipal campground site including the Forest School Canada components of the Wesley Clover Foundation Greenbelt Stables Outdoor Recreation and Learning Centre Proposal.

If the City of Ottawa refuses to rezone the properties (from GR - Greenbelt Rural Zone to Commercial), the NCC could appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board.
The Conroy Pit (110 ha.) is an abandoned sand pit, with recreational integration and development potential. (See: "NCC - Greenbelt Master Plan Background"- 1996 -pdf Page 4.)
A real estate company is building two residential developments on Conroy Road in Ottawa:
Hunt Club Estates - located at Conroy and Johnston roads.
Hunt Club Flats - 72 condo units at 3249 Conroy Road.
Thanks to the apathetic or otherwise distracted people of Ottawa, the NCC will eventually sell/ privatize the following properties:

1. Lands east of Conroy Road and south of Hunt Club.
2. Isolated parcel bounded by Highway 416, Richmond and Baseline Roads.
3. Site at southwest corner of West Hunt Club and Woodroffe Avenue.
4. Isolated parcel on west side of 417; open field with scattered shrubs and small trees.
5. The study team was also requested to consider a fifth parcel for other uses, that consists of the lands located at the southeast corner of Carling and Moodie, extending south from Carling to Highway 417 and west from Moodie Drive to the Greenbelt boundary bordering the Crystal Bay Community." (See: "Greenbelt Master Plan Review-Phase 1-Step C-Land Use Concept - January 2012". Page 17 and Page 21.)

 A federal government committee was critical of NCC real estate transactions, and made several recommendations, including:

RECOMMENDATION 1

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.

RECOMMENDATION 2

We recommend that the Treasury Board rescind its 1991 Real Asset Management Funding Strategy as it relates to the National Capital Commission and that monies received by the Commission for the sale of surplus assets be directed to the Consolidated Revenue Fund as these were assets held for all Canadians.

(See: "The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance - Nineteenth Report"; Chairman Lowell Murray, June 13, 2003.)

Vintage political campaign buttons.

Interesting YouTube videos

1.    Zeppelin Bar - During the summer of 1984, my sister performed at the Churchill Arms Motel in Ottawa. She is country-rock singer, guitarist and songwriter.

Led Zeppelin were the headliners at a 1970 concert in Ottawa. The group was booked at an upscale hotel, either the Chateau Laurier or the Skyline. However, Led Zeppelin stayed at the  Churchill Arms. Before the motel was demolished, the bar was sold to someone who was remodeling his basement.

2..   Snow Music: "Color/Dance" by George Winston-A drive through the Central Experimental Farm.
3.    MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL - "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - the video was taped at Expo '67.
4.    CBC Archives: John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet Trudeau.
5.    Princess Diana in Ottawa, Canada - I was there, see the photos I took of Princess Diana, which are posted on my November 2012 blog.
7.    Movin' In (From Montreal by Train) - by Stompin Tom Connors (from 1973.) - CN Rail is "North America's Railroad" now, a global entity.American Bill Gates owns 12% of CN Rail, valued at $4.7 billion dollars.
8.     We become our own wolves - Music provided by Canadian independent artist Rae Spoon. Corrections Canada shut down the Isabel McNeil half-way house for women in Kingston, Ontario, which is across the street from Kingston Penitentiary. A tunnel connects the Prison for Women to Kingston Penitentiary.
9.    GARDENCITY LANDS by SAFEDRIVERMAN - is a rap song about land that was owned by the Canadian Coast Guard in Richmond, British Columbia.
10.   This Land is Your Land "Canada" by The Travellers - "This Land: The Travellers Centennial Album" (1967) features songs that were composed by American and Canadian writers:
     Early Morning Rain by Gordon Lightfoot.
     This Land is Your Land by Woody Guthrie.
     What Did You Learn in School  by Tom Paxton.
     Where Have the Buffalo Gone by Buffy Sainte-Marie.
11. 140+ Year Old Limestone Buildings in Stonewall- (Manitoba) - many of Kingston, Ontario's endangered landmarks were constructed with limestone--the Kingston Penitentiary, Prison for Women and the Rockwood Asylum.





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Downsview Park is saving Canada's military and aviation history.

 Downsview Park, a federal Crown corporation, was proud of Downsview Park's history, and the cluster of historic aviation buildings that inhabit that space:
     "De Havilland Aircraft of Canada began operations in Downsview in 1929. With the onset of the Second World War, de Havilland manufactured aircraft for the RCAF and British Commonwealth Air Training Plan."
     INTO SPACE - In 1960, de Havilland's guided missile engineers and scientists constructed and tested Canada's first space aircraft, the Alouette 1 satellite, and developed its unique STEM antenna." (From: Our History/Downsview Park.)
The Billy Bishop Airport Terminal, a National Historic Site of Canada, was recently transferred from the Toronto City Airport to Downsview Park, near the aviation buildings:

The Billy Bishop Airport Terminal Building.

 Downsview Park made every attempt to save the vintage buildings and re purpose them:
                                                        THE PARK
     "The Cultural Commons is a 9.1 hectare (22.5 acre) area containing a number of small historic aviation buildings. These will be renovated and complemented with new infill buildings to create a pedestrian-scale village setting. Outdoor courtyards and public squares may feature the display of aircraft and a sequence of interpretive areas will describe the rich history of Downsview and its origins as a centre of aviation manufacturing and design innovation." (From: "Sustainable Community Development Guideline - Downsview Park - December 2007" Page 15.)

The City of Toronto is trying to save the built heritage at Downsview. Most of the Downsview Park buildings are still standing, while the DND Buildings are being demolished; Buildings 55 and 58 are gone, and the 25 acre William Baker Park (former military housing) will be converted into a 3,200 unit  residential complex. (This document is from the "Downsview Area Secondary Plan - Heritage Building Conservation Review -E.R.A. Architects Inc." page 15.)

A 1969 image of the de Havilland Building, from "Canadian Armed Forces Review", a magazine created and edited by my father George Shaw.

In 2007 Downsview Park owned 23 buildings. According to the Directory of Federal Real Property, the Crown corporation now owns 13 buildings.

     THIRTEEN BUILDINGS CURRENTLY OWNED BY PARC DOWNSVIEW PARK INC.

1.  Plant 3 - 35 Carl Hall Road.
2. Building 100 - 70 Canuck Avenue.
3. Fire Hall - 10 Carl Hall Road.
4. Central Heating Plant #1 - 15 Carl Hall Road.
5. Supply Depot #1 - 40 Carl Hall Road.
6. Old fire hall - 55 Carl Hall Road.
7. Cultural Commons - 60 Carl Hall Road, Bldg. 38/39.
8. Plant 1 - 65 Carl Hall Road. (Note: Plant 1 is the de Havilland Aircraft Building, the former home of the Canadian Air and Space Museum, and a former Recognized Federal Heritage Building, see document below- savecfbrockcliffe.)
9. Plant 2 - 75 Carl Hall Road.
10. Sports Pavillion - 79 Carl Hall Road.
11. Veterinary hospital and industrial space - 60 Carl Hall Road - Units 4-5.
12. Park Maintenance Shop - 60 Carl Hall Road, Unit 3.
13. Helicopter Hangar - 60 Carl Hall Road, Unit 1.

De Havilland buildings 1, 55, 58 and 2 were designated "Recognized Federal Heritage Buildings" by the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office of Canada.

The Federal Heritage Building Review Office of Canada conducted a study of all the buildings at Parc Downsview Park. FHBRO wanted to see the eighteen buildings, on the above list, preserved. (Document mailed to me by FHBRO.)

Buildings 38, 39 and 41, which are included on the list of heritage buildings at Downsview Park that should be preserved, see the above list.

Building 55, a former aircraft maintenance hangar, was demolished in March of 2010.

                                       

                          

Colour slides that were purchased from the USSR Pavilion at Expo '67. The first three photos show the interior of Yasnaya Polyana, "Bright Glade", the home of Leo Tolstoy.

Yasnaya Polyana near the Voronka River.

 

The Ostankino Palace in Moscow, a Neoclassical building.

The Hermitage State Museum in Leningrad, USSR; now Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The Rideau Centre shopping mall in Ottawa was Crown property.

 

A February 26, 1975 Ottawa Citizen article about  the  proposed construction of the Rideau Centre .