Don’t approve Arts Court tower, group says
Residents warn project would make life much worse for those living downtown
The condo forest that has sprouted east of the Rideau Centre is a hell of truck noise, parking shortages and inadequate space for dogs to relieve themselves, several Sandy Hill residents warned city council’s planning committee, urging the group not to approve a new tower as part of the redevelopment of Arts Court until the problems are solved.
The committee unanimously approved the $36-million project, including the 23-storey tower likely to be filled with condos.
“I feel I was very duped into moving into that area,” said Graham Gleddie, who lives in a condo building at 200 Rideau St., one of the tallest in the area. He and his partner paid more than $500,000 for their one-bedroom unit, he said, and he could not try to sell it to anyone in good conscience. “Air brakes. Truck horns. Where do you start? It is a hellish nightmare of noise from truck traffic.”
Gleddie got agitated and swore, blaming his short temper on a lack of sleep. “It is horrible. It is truly horrible,” he said.
He walks everywhere, just as the city wants him to do, but his family refuses to visit because they can’t find parking. “What are you doing here?” he said they ask. “People call it The Bronx. It is not just the noise, the lack of green space. It is very, very bad.”
He suggested the city scale back the Arts Court project, which is meant to renovate the old courthouse and registry office at Nicholas and Waller streets and add a major modern addition to make more room for the Ottawa Art Gallery and the numerous other arts groups with offices and facilities there. The tower, to be built by a private developer the city has not yet chosen, is to bring in $2.5 million toward the project. Instead, Gleddie suggested, the city should scrap the tower and put a green roof on the Arts Court portion that would form the tower’s base, making room for dogs.
A similar argument was advanced by another neighbourhood resident, Patricia Godin, who bought a penthouse with a southern view that she believes will be obstructed by the Arts Court tower. She investigated the zoning before she bought and argued it’s not fair to change it — and she’s more worried about a parking lot immediately south of her building that’s zoned for 10 storeys.
Planning manager John Smit agreed buildings in the Rideau Street area are significantly taller than what would make sense.
Traffic’s also a problem, in Godin’s view. “By continuously increasing the downtown population, the city must make sure that visitors have a place to park their cars,” she argued.
In contrast, Peter Honeywell of the Council for the Arts in Ottawa and Alexandra Badzak of the Ottawa Art Gallery praised the development plan. “I am delighted by the work the architects have done,” Honeywell said. He’s pleased the project is finally on its way.
Well, almost on its way. One big problem still remains with the much-delayed project: finding $9 million toward the cost, money the city had hoped would come from a federal grant that was refused last week. City officials are hoping to scrape the money together from other budgets and sources by fall.