Garneau sports dome: right idea, wrong place

Too big for neighbourhood, says Doug MacQuarrie.

A permanent sports dome, proposed by the francophone Catholic school board (Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est) a few metres away from pre-existing homes and nearly six storeys high over the field and track at Garneau high school, would be an aberration.

This proposed dome would be a behemoth in an otherwise functional ribbon of interconnected pathways and green space. As an important part of the fabric of our community, the CECCE should know better.

Imagine, a huge dome, about the size of the uOttawa Gee-Gees Dome (at Highway 417 and Lees Avenue), or even larger, being plopped right on your doorstep, obliterating your view and wiping out your backyard enjoyment. This proposed dome would be so big that you could fit almost all of Garneau high school inside of it.

While I'm not on the community association or otherwise involved with this project, I am aware of many unanswered questions and unaddressed concerns. Here are just a few:

Why is the CECCE:

Ignoring the “No domes near homes” messaging of the local community association?

Preventing the community association from meeting the Garneau high school parent council?

Not providing details of the financial arrangements of this project to taxpayers?

Not being fully transparent in its advertising to area residents?

Our neighbourhoods are shaped by city council, which in turn is guided by planners, local bylaws and the Planning Act. These checks and balances allow us all to count on community order and harmony. The local homes have been there for decades. If the dome had been there first, so be it, but it wasn't.

Should this proposal be approved, it would be in the midst of an established neighbourhood and much closer to existing homes than any other large dome in Ottawa or surrounding communities. Attempting to shoehorn an outlier such as this into a space not meant for it would be an anomaly that would significantly disrupt the community esthetic and not be in keeping with reasonable community expectations.

I was trained as a physical education teacher and I have worked in the sport and health sectors for more than 35 years. As a strong proponent of sport, I have competed, coached and refereed in this community for more than 45 years. Providing more space for active lifestyle during the winter is the right thing to do — but only if it is in harmony with other community needs.

The existing proposal is the right idea but the wrong place and time.

That said, I would be supportive of a seasonal dome (like the uOttawa Gee-Gees dome) at Garneau; in our climate, it would make good sense. And this way, the eyesore and noise from its operation would be present only during the dark days of winter and when neighbours have all their doors and windows closed. Such a dome could operate from late fall to spring, giving way to natural light, open ventilation, ambience and esthetics for the remainder of the year.

However, a win-win is still possible even if the CECCE refuses to consider a seasonal dome at the Garneau location. City council should decline the Garneau proposal and divert the board to one of its other more suitable properties to house such a permanent structure.

It has even been proposed by the deputy mayor and local councillor that the CECCE use one of its properties at L'École secondaire catholique Béatrice-Desloges or Le Collège catholique Mer Bleue.

Ample space exists in both locations to accommodate such a structure without encroaching on existing residences and disrupting existing parkland.

That makes good sense to me. Contact the city and let them know your views on the matter. Doug MacQuarrie has lived in what is now known as Innes ward since 1967. He has volunteered for, and chaired, local minor and adult sport, recreation and community associations, school councils and a city recreation centre board.