Melnyk floats new arena idea — for Kanata
Did Eugene Melnyk just kill — once and for all — the idea of a downtown arena?
Hard to know. The Ottawa Senators owner gave a wide-ranging interview to a financial newspaper a few days ago, dropping some delicious bits of information.
The team apparently has a 112page plan to win the Stanley Cup within four years, is configuring a pandemic seating arrangement at Canadian Tire Centre for a maximum of 6,000 fans and is eyeing an NHL start in February, not Jan. 1 as expected.
But there was another revelation — dropped casually into the story — that could have a monumental impact on the city.
From his home office in Barbados, Melnyk reportedly said he “hopes” to build a new arena in five years and is looking at land in Kanata very close to the existing rink, which opened in 1996 and is part of land holdings in excess of 75 acres (30 hectares).
Neither, he added, would he be counting on any government money to build the arena, which would probably cost in excess of $400 million.
Is this not big news? A downtown arena on LeBreton Flats is one of Ottawa's last, great, unfinished acts of city building, and now we are led to believe, thanks to an out-of-town newspaper, that it's probably never going to happen?
We won't attempt to retell the story of the Flats here. Our collective state of mind is fragile enough these days without reliving an epic horror show that began in the 1960s and isn't nearly over.
(Honestly, it is the story that a generation of reporters, at least professionally, has taken to their graves, as in “always something going on, nothing ever actually happening.”)
The National Capital Commission spent more than four years soliciting, then honing, those two elaborate plans that had an NHLsized arena between two LRT stations on the Flats — plus loads of bells and whistles.
It looked, for a change, like Ottawa was planning something correctly: a centrally-located entertainment hub overlooking the river, surrounded by shops, tucked into a densely-built res
idential neighbourhood, next to a national museum, beautifully served by rapid transit.
It would put us in the same league as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton — cities that invigorated themselves by maximizing the value of the “public realm” — the right big space in the right big place.
As we bitterly remember, it all fell apart late in 2018, dissolving into threats and tears, like a too-long toddler birthday party in which the pińata-whacking got out of hand.
In any event — my God, where was I? — the NCC took a deep breath, brought in a new chief executive and launched yet another concept plan for the 60-some acres of rolling crayon dreams. Instead of aiming for a single master plan for the site, it broke the area into four logical chunks that could be developed in phases.
Importantly, in the so-called Albert District (a strip along Albert Street), the NCC has pencilled in a “potential event centre” or “major facility” just west of the Preston intersection. In maps, it resembles an arena and the NCC position at the reboot was, essentially, let's set it aside in case a rink/stadium ever rises from the ashes.
In retrospect, it was a wise thing to do, particularly since the pandemic has given pause for a rethink about major federal space, for offices, museums or cultural gathering places. (Plus, let's face it, the feds are barefoot and broke.)
Alas, like so many things LeBreton, this may all be a mirage.
Asked to clarify whether the new Kanata arena was simply a “blue sky” idea without any real meat on the bones, a spokesman for the team wrote Friday:
“Yes, it's just `blue sky' at this point as there are no plans in the works to build an arena anywhere, especially at LeBreton, as that's in the courts. If plans start being made down the road, we will certainly let you know.”
Neither does the NCC seem particularly worried about the Melnyk musings.
A spokesman said the Crown corporation had an “alternative plan” to the “concept plan” that did not include a major event centre or anchor in the Albert sector.
“We understand that a lot can happen over five years, and, if the Senators were to bring a proposal, the NCC remains open to consider that possibility,” Mario Tremblay replied.
Open to consider a possibility? Doesn't that perfectly describe LeBreton Flats after all: mostly empty, now middle aged, the place where the possible lives, but real progress goes to die.