New Tunney’s plan revealed
Kitchissippi councillor pleased with changes to address local concerns
GEORGE DARK
Planning consultant
The federal government’s latest vision for Tunney’s Pasture features more residential units and changes in planned green space that could assuage nearby residents’ concerns about their community’s future.
Fifteen months after presenting two options for the campus west of downtown, the government unveiled a single “preferred development option” Wednesday night; a vision for the next quarter-century of development at Tunney’s Pasture.
The new vision calls for more than 500,000 square metres of office space, including the 270,000 square metres that exist.
It includes 3,400 to 3,700 residential units, more than double the previous proposals, and 8,500 square metres of commercial space.
There are plans for several mixed-use buildings, which can be for office or residential space or both. The old plan’s green space is reconfigured to provide better access to the Ottawa River for residents coming from the south. The planned LRT stop will be surrounded by an urban plaza where people can gather.
In August 2012, the senior minister for Ottawa, John Baird, presented two federal concepts for Tunney’s Pasture. On Wednesday, the government returned with a single vision after consulting local community members, the city, the NCC and others.
Nepean-Carleton MP and Minister of State Pierre Poilievre announced the new vision at the campus’s Jean Talon building.
“As Minister Baird said 15 months ago, Tunney’s Pasture is both an important asset to the government of Canada and a vital part of Ottawa’s landscape, so it is crucial that we get it right,” he told a small gathering.
“I think it’s going to be a wonderful, green environment where people can live, work and raise a family,” he later told reporters.
“We want healthy, happy public servants who can contribute to the work of the government and this will provide a long-term location for that to occur.”
Kitchissippi Coun. Katherine Hobbs was “really pleased” with the new vision, saying it addresses many concerns expressed about the previous plans.
“When we saw this the last time, I wasn’t happy with a lot of the things that were in the plan,” she said. “What they came back with was really good answers to a lot of those problems. The community had a lot of concerns and they really listened to us.”
Those concerns included the west side of Parkdale Avenue, which included 1,000 housing units in highrises. Residents were worried about congestion and the creation of a “canyon” effect with the tall buildings across the street, Hobbs said.
In the new plan, the buildings are shorter and set back from the road, with green space in front.
‘The devil’s always in the details, but I think this is a very good start. I can really see how this plan can be integrated into our community design plan.’
The proposed community space around the LRT station is critical, Hobbs said. And green corridors on Tunney’s Pasture Driveway and Sir Frederick Banting Driveway provide better access to the river.
Planners from HOK Canada, the architecture and design firm behind the plans, were on hand to answer questions from attendees. Members of the public have until Dec. 20 to submit feedback on the latest vision. After that, the master plan will be finalized and go to the NCC for approval, likely in the late spring or early summer next year, said Daniel Champagne, a director general at Public Works and Government Services Canada.
Two sets of urban planners have been working on separate visions for the campus — a group working for the city, led by Toronto-based Urban Strategies, released a proposal earlier this month that includes a community centre and a sports field on the west side of the complex, meant to serve nearby Mechanicsville.
It’s part of a larger “community design plan” for Scott Street, which runs just south of Tunney’s Pasture, and the neighbourhoods nearby. Urban Strategies aims to knit the 49-hectare complex into its surroundings, gradually doing away with the 1950s-style layout of offices amid lawns and big parking lots.
Earlier concepts by HOK Canada included more offices filling in Tunney’s Pasture’s open spaces and residential development around the edges.
A question heading into Wednesday’s unveiling was whether Urban Strategies and HOK had found a way to put their ideas together.
The immediate answer seemed to be yes. Urban Strategies’ George Dark said that the federal government’s plan has done a good job integrating with the community design plan.
“The devil’s always in the details, but I think this is a very good start,” Dark said. “I can really see how this plan can be integrated into our community design plan.”
The community design plan is still in draft form and has yet to be approved by city council. Hobbs said council will likely vote on it in the new year.