Market allies eye push for stimulus cash
The ByWard Market is Ottawa's downtown and it deserves the attention of governments when the time comes to doling out stimulus money in a post-pandemic national capital.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury and restaurateur John Borsten made that argument during a walkabout of the tourist district, which had the eerie feeling of an abandoned town on a grey winter day as eateries, retailers and other businesses stayed dark during the provincial economic shutdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Still, Fleury and Borsten saw light ahead when it came to the future of the historic market district, thanks to a new city plan to upgrade the design and quality of infrastructure in most of the municipally owned space.
Yes, it's another plan for the ByWard Market.
A lot of time and money have been spent thinking about the market area by both the municipal government and the National Capital Commission, but Fleury is confident that all the studies have led to today's potential for action.
City council on Jan. 27 will vote on a new public realm plan for the ByWard Market after the finance and economic development committee last month threw its full support behind the $129-million blueprint.
The money is an issue, though.
The city needs the other levels of government to help make the plan a reality, raising the risk of the ByWard Market falling to the side in favour of other municipal priorities, the largest being public transit.
However, Fleury likes the market's chances if the governments launch stimulus programs to boost infrastructure and the economy after the pandemic.
In fact, COVID-19 might work in the market's favour in the long run. Fleury said the pandemic has highlighted the importance of creating better outdoor spaces in busy mixed-use communities.
So far, the city has dealt with one of the governance questions by establishing the arm's-length Ottawa Markets to oversee city assets, like the central ByWard Market building, and develop programming in the district.
There have already been upgrades to the market's public realm, such as the George Street plaza outside of the central market building and the William Street pedestrian walkway between George Street and Rideau Street. Those two projects helped set the vision for a grand pedestrian entranceway to the ByWard Market from Rideau Station and the Rideau Centre.
Now, the city has a blueprint for the entire district, even down to the design of the light poles.
It might be dismissed by some locals as a tourist trap, or unfairly dismissed as a dangerous place to be after dark, but there's no mistaking that the ByWard Market is one of the city's top draws and, with tourism being the most important private-sector industry in the city, an important contributor to the economy.
The district needs a physical makeover and it starts with the assets that the city can control.
“We're getting to the point where, if you don't do this, we're going to watch it crumble into the sea,” Borsten said.
Fleury and Borsten stopped at York Street and ByWard Market Square, and reflected on the awkwardness of the current design, with an island of car parking in the middle of a super-wide, publicly owned concrete corridor. The public-realm plan prioritizes a transformation in the space to create a “flex plaza” between ByWard Market Square and Sussex Drive to accommodate different uses, such as festivals and outdoor dining. There would even be more trees.
Another major project proposed in the plan is the demolition of the parking garage and retail building at 70 Clarence St. to build something new with a private-sector redevelopment partner.
The new building would face a civic square.
The walkabout came just days after Borsten acquired the old Fish Market building to add at least two new restaurants to his ByWard Market portfolio, which includes the The Grand, Zak's Diner and Metropolitain Brasserie.
Borsten, a member of the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area, said the city's public-realm plan has a virtually universal buy-in from businesses in the district.
“I've never seen less opposition to anything that's happening in the ByWard Market in my life. Everybody is on-side, 100 per cent,” he said.
City infrastructure like roads, sidewalks and old hydro poles needs to be upgraded anyway, so it makes sense to improve the esthetics of the market district now if millions of dollars will be required for that life-cycle work, Fleury said.
While debate often rages about how much of the city-owned space in the market should be for motorists versus pedestrians, Fleury said there needs to be deep consideration of logistics if more streets are closed. One issue he raised is ground-floor retailers relying on deliveries.
Borsten said he has watched infrastructure projects in other parts of the city while the ByWard Market chugs along with a tired public realm and rundown infrastructure.
No longer should the market's future be shoved to the city's back burner, Borsten said.
“It's the market's turn.”
We're getting to the point where, if you don't do this, we're going to watch it crumble into the sea.