National Post (National Edition)
Architectural showdown sides with the ‘abomination’
OTTAWA • It was a bruising defeat this week for opponents of a boxy, modern addition to one of the most famous hotels in Canada, as Ottawa’s city council bucked overwhelming public sentiment and voted to allow the Chateau Laurier expansion to go forward.
Shouts of “Shame!” filled the chambers after Thursday’s vote. One councillor, Shawn Menard, stormed out and called the whole thing a “joke.” It wasn’t quite a literal circus, but it did feature a man in a clown costume angrily leading chants after the meeting ended.
Even homegrown comedian Tom Green was in attendance, trying to rally people against what he called an “architectural abomination.” Green — who lives in Los Angeles now — said he was in town visiting family and had posted on Instagram about the addition; he got so much negative response from his 280,000 followers that he decided to come to city hall.
“When you stand there in Major’s Hill Park, and you look at the Parliament buildings, and you look at the Champlain (statue), and you look at the Chateau Laurier, you say, ‘Wow, this is incredible,’” he said after the vote.
“What a beautiful city. And to put a blemish on it like that is just a travesty. People should get angry, and ask our leaders to have more courage.”
Thursday’s vote was a lastditch effort by some Ottawa city councillors to block or at least delay the addition by revoking its heritage permit. The first vote took place on Wednesday and went down to defeat, but then a procedural war broke out. Councillors got a reconsideration motion passed, which normally would have seen the matter come back to a vote in late summer. But Mayor Jim Watson, who voted to allow the addition to go forward, manoeuvred to have the special meeting on Thursday rather than drag out all summer.
In the end, council voted by a 13-10 margin against reconsidering the vote. Although the Château’s ownership, Larco Investments, still needs to clear a few more hurdles before construction can begin, this almost certainly marked the last chance for city council to force a design change.
The original design for the addition was 12 storeys and triggered a massive backlash. In the three years since, it has gone through four redesigns and come down to seven storeys.
Critics, including numerous federal politicians, architecture professors and Ottawa’s most prominent civic heritage group, say the contemporary style clashes with the French-castle look of the existing building. Some have compared it to a radiator or a shipping container, or the box the rest of the Château Laurier came in.
Representatives for Larco Investments point out they’ve gone through a gauntlet of public consultations and meetings over the three years, and have met all the requirements outlined in a conditional heritage permit city council approved last year.
“The Château Laurier, while publicly loved, is not a public building,” said a letter from Larco’s planning consultants to city councillors last week. “It is private property and the proposed addition will be funded totally by the owners. It will serve to increase the ability of this cherished place to survive in today’s market.”
The same letter promised “costly litigation” if council voted to revoke the permit.
Many city councillors have said they’ve never seen so much public opposition to a file. Yet some councillors who trashed the design still voted to allow it to go forward.
“I think it’s ghastly,” said Coun. Laura Dudas at Wednesday’s meeting. But she voted against revoking the heritage permit on the justification that it could mean the design gets even worse.
Four city councillors who voted to allow the addition subsequently released a letter to Larco Investments asking the company to “do the right thing,” listen to public sentiment, and change the design. The chances of that appear unlikely, given the company has come this far in the face of sustained public opposition.
It is possible either the provincial government (through the Ontario Heritage Act) or the federal government (through Parks Canada or the National Capital Commission) could get involved, but they have stayed out of the fray.
Environment Minister Catherine McKenna — who oversees Parks Canada and represents a downtown Ottawa riding — said Thursday she has been hearing “loud and clear” from Ottawa residents and people across the country that the design is not compatible with the hotel. But she also said it is “ultimately the City of Ottawa’s and Larco’s decision.”
“I believe there is still time for common sense to prevail and for the community and the private sector owner to come together to achieve an outcome in which everyone can take pride,” she said.