Greenbelt farm may become a sound stage
The last farm scientists were laid off 20 years ago and their equipment sold at auction. Now artists may move into a former Agriculture Canada lab in the Greenbelt to build a “creative hub.”
The National Capital Commission wants to turn an abandoned building across from the Nepean Sportsplex into a sound stage where television or film crews could shoot indoor scenes. There’s outdoor space available, too — a total of 9.6 hectares in the sprawling former research farm (822 hectares) that closed in 1998.
The building being considered is one of a couple of dozen former farm buildings in a central cluster. Some are rented to Bell Canada, Ritchie’s Feed and Seed and other tenants. Some are empty.
Now the Ottawa Film Office and a private firm called TriBro Studios have suggested that the building would make a dandy sound stage, likely after renovation.
But there’s a master plan for the Greenbelt, and it does not allow sound stages. The NCC wants to amend the plan. This involves asking the public what it thinks, so there will be an open house on Sept. 5, from 5 to 7 p.m. The site is at 1740 Woodroffe Ave.
Mayor Jim Watson is in favour. He writes in a letter to councillors: “Ottawa is home to several award-winning film, television and animation companies. These companies provide hundreds of skilled jobs to Ottawa residents and contribute over $100 million to our economy annually ...
“The proposed sound stage campus and creative hub will create approximately 500 full-time jobs during construction. It will generate approximately $40 million in new economic activity and in excess of 500 new full-time jobs within its first few years of operation.”
The ghosts of research are still apparent at the site, with photos of lab workers on the wall, and everything designed to keep germs out. There are no windows.
This centre once claimed to be the most sophisticated food research lab in Canada. The Centre for Food and Animal Research led Canadian research into food safety, the behaviour of livestock, and ways to raise farm animals without heavy doses of antibiotics.
It also fought salmonella, looked for ways to keep toxic moulds out of food, and preserved frozen embryos and sperm cells of breeds of farm animals that have nearly disappeared. It was a high-security place: There were some buildings that people couldn’t even enter without taking two showers to get rid of germs that might interfere with research — for instance, using virus-free chickens.
But federal budget cuts in the 1990s spelled the end of the farm. Its staff was cut from 900 to 300, and finally dismissed altogether — bought out or sent to other centres.
Auctioneers sold off the last bits of equipment — welding equipment, beakers, pressure gauges and more — in 1998.
Today the potential sound stage smells of mildew, paint is stained or peeling, and the bare concrete with blood-like rust stains looks like a horror movie set just waiting for someone to go down and check the basement.
There were also some odd noises during a media tour Tuesday. It was probably just the wind.