Heritage protection sought for Lansdowne's Coliseum
Ottawa's Heritage advisory committee is turning its attention to yet another building at risk in the plans to redevelop Lansdowne Park, asking city staff to look into whether the venerable Coliseum Building deserves protection.
Heritage advocates aren't giving the Coliseum much chance of surviving plans from Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to turn Lansdowne into a mix of condominiums, retail stores and public squares, saying much of their focus has been on protecting the Aberdeen Building and Horticulture Building.
The building, with its pockmarked red brick facade and peeling paint, has attracted little debate so far in the ongoing battle over the redevelopment of Lansdowne.
Instead, much of this year's debate has focused on the status of the Horticulture Building, which developers plan to move next to the Aberdeen Pavilion within Lansdowne's new urban park. Heritage advocates are fighting to keep the building where it is, and have asked Ontario Minister of Culture Michael Chan to intervene on their behalf.
But local resident Jean-Claude Dubé, a member of Heritage Ottawa and Friends of Lansdowne Park, sent a letter to the city's Built Heritage Advisory Committee providing some of the building's background and asking them to investigate whether it should be given heritage status.
Rich political history
Heritage Ottawa president David Fleming said he supports the move, saying the Coliseum is also a building of historical significance, having held political conventions that crowned prominent leaders such as John Diefenbaker, Lester B. Pearson and Tommy Douglas.
"It really functioned as the convention centre or the conference centre of Ottawa," said Fleming. "There was a number of political conventions, every time there was a political leadership convention for whatever party, they would hold it there."
The first building at the site of the Coliseum was built in 1903 as a show building for fat stock and poultry. But it was a snake bitten building. In both 1904 and 1905 its roof collapsed under the heavy weight of snow. Later it was expanded to include an auditorium called Howick Hall, but in 1914 the boiler in the basement exploded during the Ottawa Winter Fair, killing 3 men, injuring 20 people and killing 20 horse and hundreds of poultry, according to the city's website. A huge hole was also blown through the roof.
In 1926 the building was expanded and refurbished, keeping Howick Hall but replacing much of the remainder of the building. This refurbishing also brought a new fronting to the building on Bank Street that stands today.
The prominence of the Coliseum waned, however, after the Civic Centre was built in 1967. Most people today know 1015 Bank Street as the Ottawa 67's ticket office, while the exhibition hall behind hosts trade shows, and in the winter, indoor soccer.
While the city's Built Heritage Advisory Committee has asked city staff to verify some of Dubé's research and look into the building's history to determine whether it deserves heritage status. Ottawa city council would ultimately make the decision as to whether to bestow heritage status.
Doucet says special status unlikely
City councillor and mayoral candidate Clive Doucet, a long-time critic of the Lansdowne Park redevelopment process, said any talk of special status for the Coliseum Building is strictly hypothetical.
"So the first step for me is you've got to find a way to get the developers out of the park and get them building a shopping mall on their own land, not on public land, and then you can have reasonable discussions about [whether] you want to save a lovely but decrepit old building," said Doucet.
The plan to redevelop Lansdowne is a public-private partnership between the city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG). Under it, the city will renovate the football stadium and hockey arena, while the sport and entertainment group would try to bring a Canadian Football League team to Ottawa, and build shops, restaurants and condos on the site.
Council approved OSEG's plans for the redevelopment on June 28, though there are a number of outstanding issues, including zoning, site plan amendments and potential challenges to the plan.