DOWNSVIEW PARK’S BUMPY PATH
No end to planning, no future in sight,
Regardless of what the geniuses in Ottawa were thinking, their handling of Parc Downsview Park has been appalling. Indeed, if Canadian law allowed for a charge of criminal stupidity, the federal Conservative party could be facing trial right now. As it is, one can only shake one’s head in disbelief. After almost 20 years of effort and expenditure, false starts and, finally, slow progress, federal Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose decided last December to pull the plug on Downsview. The former Canadian Forces Base started its second life in the late 1990s when some federal bureaucrat came up with the idea of turning the 600-acre site into the country’s “first national urban park.” No one had the least notion of what they meant, but an international design competition was launched and early in 2000, a winner chosen. The scheme, called Tree City, was submitted by Dutch celebrity architect Rem Koolhaas and (then) Toronto graphic designer, Bruce Mau. If nothing else, their scheme has the virtue of being so vague it could be used to justify any number of plans. After that, Downsview fell into a long period of dormancy when little was accomplished other than to sell land for big-box retail and organize flea markets, indoor soccer leagues and the like. Eventually, a vision did take shape. Shepherded by former Downsview chairman David Soknacki, ex-CEO Bill Bryck and development VP, David Anselmi, green space was carved out of a wasteland and dense new neighbourhoods planned. No one would say that the path was smooth, but after so much time, and to the surprise of many, something was actually happening.
In the meantime, the subway has arrived and developers have started to pay attention. There’s talk of building an aerospace industry hub at the north end of the property in the shadow of Downsview’s second metro station, which opens in 2015. So at the very moment when Ambrose decreed that the Canada Lands Corp. (CLC) would take over the property from Parc Downsview Park (PDP), the situation at last seemed headed for a satisfactory resolution, if not a happy ending.
However, judging from the little that she and CLC officials have said, they don’t have a clue what they’re doing. They know nothing about Downsview’s present, past or future. All they have said is that they’re studying things and will make an announcement in the spring. In other words, it’s back to square one.
“Whether we change the direction a bit, that’s down the road,” Robert Howald, acting president and CEO of Canada Lands, told the Star. “We’re not starting from scratch,” and the previous plans will be taken “very seriously.” Well, that’s nice to hear. But not everyone was sad to see the demise of PDP.
“The Downsview Park board and staff did not have the confidence of the community,” says veteran local councillor Maria Augimeri. “They were deaf, dumb and blind to community interests. Now that we’re going back to the CLC model, I’m hoping that it and the federal government will heed our concerns.”
Specifically, Augimeri worries about plans to build high-rise residential on land that Ottawa originally promised would be a park.
Though 300 acres have been set aside for a park, the same amount of land is being readied for development. Residents fear the sort of high-density growth called for by 21stcentury realities, including the new subway. Instead, they want old-style suburban lowrise housing much like what was built 50 or 60 years ago.
That would be a mistake, of course, but that’s never stopped us.