Hit pause on LeBreton library, councillor urges
The city should closely watch what’s happening with the implosion of the RendezVous LeBreton proposal for LeBreton Flats to decide whether it should continue planning a super library in the area, a city councillor says.
A joint facility for the Ottawa Public Library and Library and Archives Canada will be built on LeBreton Flats at 555 Albert St., a city-owned property just west of Bronson Avenue. The city chose the property after a site-selection study by a consultant, and recently named architects for the $192.2-million project.
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, who represents LeBreton Flats, was the lone opponent to the site in a council vote in 2017. She has maintained that a new main library should be located in the downtown core. McKenney said the recent revelation about the struggle inside the RendezVous partnership, and the possibility that the land won’t be developed any time soon, should resonate at city hall when it comes to the future of the library project.
“The city’s got to think about whether their rationale for the location still stands,” McKenney said. “It was predicated on population growth in LeBreton Flats that doesn’t look nearly as imminent as it did a few days ago.”
The consultant, Deloitte, recognized the LeBreton redevelopment
in its December 2016 site-selection scoring. The winning site won a perfect score for one criterion called, “Existing or planned future development in the surrounding areas will be complementary in terms of character and image of the facility.”
“With RendezVous LeBreton’s plan for the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats, expected development in the surrounding areas of (the winning site) would significantly enhance the neighbourhood character and be complementary and compatible with the function, services and image of the new library facility,” the Deloitte study says.
In weighing the “proximity to existing or planned cultural, commercial, residential and institutional facilities that are complementary in terms of function and use,” Deloitte scored the winning site 85 per cent, one of the highest of the shortlisted sites for that criterion, in part thanks to “the expected development in LeBreton Flats and surrounding areas.”
The city said the fate of the National Capital Commission’s process for LeBreton Flats isn’t directly linked to the future of the super library.
“The new Ottawa Public Library-Library and Archives Canada joint facility is not part of the RendezVous LeBreton Flats redevelopment,” Alain Gonthier, director of infrastructure services, said in an email relayed by communications officer Carly Wolff. “The site evaluation recognized that LeBreton Flats would eventually be redeveloped, but was not specific to any proponent. The implementation of the OPL-LAC joint facility is not impacted by the outcome of the RendezVous bid.”
RendezVous was referenced in the selection of the best library site, but the site wasn’t dependent on RendezVous, the city said.