Salvation Army at Gladstone Community Church wants to welcome new neighbours

By Louise Rachlis
The Salvation Army at Gladstone Community Church has joined the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
The church in downtown Ottawa aims to reduce poverty by addressing the health needs of the poor and marginalized in its community.
“We invite people to drop by and see what we do and get to know us,” says Captain Ginny Kristensen, corps officer. “We want to help our neighbours as well. There are also many opportunities to volunteer to help disadvantaged people in the community.”
“If any groups would like us to visit and explain about parish nursing, we’d be happy to do that,” says outreach nurse Judy McIntosh, the other full-time employee at the church at 391 Gladstone Ave., near Bank Street.
“Health ministry is a natural fit with spiritual care,” she says. “People who come for the walking group can receive counselling during the walk. People who come to get their blood pressure checked can get prayer at the same time. Most of the people I’ve surveyed say that nursing makes the church more relevant to them. Addressing people’s physical, emotional and spiritual health shows that we care about people totally.”
As an article by Rochelle McAlister called “Soup, Soap, Salvation and Scrubs,” on Salvationist.ca describes, poor health is both a symptom and a cause of poverty, which means that marginalized people often have difficulty accessing adequate health care.
Outreach nurse McIntosh has been at Gladstone for the past 14 years, serving full-time for the past three. Some days, she is making house calls behind dumpsters or washing people’s feet in a basin. Other days she is running the corps’ Fit for Life women’s group or holding health assessments at the drop-in centre. One-on-one counselling, flu shot clinics and health advocacy work are also a part of her ministry, in addition to updating a bulletin board with current health information and holding group sessions on current health issues.
McIntosh’s experience is that some people who are shy about baring their souls will ask for their temperature or blood pressure to be checked. While that is being done, emotional and spiritual issues are often shared. The corps also connects with a variety of health, housing and inner-city networks.
“Gladstone is a mission church where people find community, reducing their social exclusion and poverty,” says Captain Kristensen. “Every person that comes is poor or marginalized in some way, and we show each other unconditional love. If you’re looking for nice pews and the standard Salvation Army, we’re not it!”
The Salvation Army has a dignity project to educate people about what it’s like to be poor.
As winter approaches, donations of men’s socks, warm clothing, tuques, scarves and long underwear are greatly appreciated, says Captain Kristensen, and financial donations are always welcome as well. “Being in our location for 100 years in our heritage building is a milestone but presenting challenges. The building needs major renovations in order to serve the people the way we want to.”
“We have to be visually acceptable to our neighbours,” adds Judy. “We want to be friends with residents of the condos going in around us and to make Centretown life even better. We want to improve life in the community by working together.”
The church plans to hold a barbeque or street party with the neighbourhood to celebrate the completion of basement renovations in the new year.
The Canadian Association of Parish Nurses Ministry will be holding its Canadian conference and annual general meeting in Ottawa May 10-13, 2012 at the Lord Elgin Hotel. “We’re hoping for around 100 delegates from across the country,” says Judy, “nurses, faith community leaders and pastors. The theme is ‘Parish Nursing and Social Justice - a Capital Idea.’”
Keynote speakers will be Dr. Jeff Turnbull, current president of the Canadian Medical Association and founder of Ottawa Inner City Health, and Reverend Dr. Barbara Robinson, an Anglican priest who founded parish nursing in Ottawa.
For more information on the conference, view www.capnm.ca.
For more information on Salvation Army at Gladstone Community Church, call 613-232-2952.

So successful Somerset BIA looks forward to improved streetscape once construction is done

By Louise Rachlis
Peter So has been chair of the Somerset Business Improvement Area for three years, and he was a board member for many years before that.
“I was reluctant to join at first,” says the busy restaurateur, “but quickly realized it’s a valuable group of merchants who give each other ideas and together can negotiate with other stakeholders. We’re the voice of Chinatown merchants. The BIA is very important for negotiating with the city and construction people. Without them, nobody can do anything. Without the BIA there would not have been the hugely successful Somerset gateway to Chinatown.”
There are 14 BIA members, including city counsellor Diane Holmes.
Peter So has been in Canada since 1971, after leaving Hong Kong to come here for high school. He graduated from nursing school in 1977 and worked as a nurse at the Riverside Hospital for 17 years before he started So Good restaurant at 717 Somerset Street West.
“I picked the name So Good in 1994 because I wanted something simple people could remember, rather than a traditional Chinese name,” he says. “It reflects me and also the restaurant. Other companies have now taken the catch phrase on lots of their products.”
In the 1990s he was eating a lot of vegetarian dishes for his own health, and he realized that other Chinese restaurants weren’t doing much to respond to that preference. He added just seven vegetarian dishes at first in his restaurant to test the market, and now offers as many as 100. “Many vegetarians come and bring their friends,” he says. “Vegetarians can be very particular. If you don’t make a dish the way they want it, they won’t show up. Both vegetarians and non-vegetarians can equally enjoy the good food in our restaurant.”
Hugely popular dishes are anything with peanut sauce, and wu se vegetables (“it means ‘many coloured vegetables’, and also ‘delicious’) and the extensive variety of tofu dishes.
On the BIA front, So is enthusiastic about what’s to come on Somerset once the construction is complete. “Even though we have a lot of construction on Somerset now, when we finish we’ll have a new section from Rochester to Preston Street with new street lanterns and benches. There will also be Chinese zodiac symbols on the new sidewalk.”
He says they liked the design of Preston Street and are looking at getting Chinese sculptures along the street as well.
Despite delays, the BIA hopes the construction will be finished this year. “Construction is hurting a lot businesses because shoppers don’t like to walk long distances through a construction zone to get to a merchant.”
The BIA is proud of the Chinatown Gateway that won an Ottawa Tourism Award and many other design awards. Built totally with concrete, the gateway is one of kind outside China.
“It also won first prize for North American infrastructure under $5 million, the first time an Ottawa project has won,” he says. “The award went to Ottawa and to China, because workers from Beijing came in to work on it.” Seven officials from Beijing are travelling to Denver, Colorado to accept the award this fall.
The Chinese delegation will stay in Ottawa for a few days enroute to Denver to check out the archway. They will also help celebrate the 40th anniversary of relations between Canada and China.
The Somerset BIA hopes to persuade the City of Ottawa to give them a hand next year in putting in new benches and lanterns on the rest of Somerset to match the new section. “We’re also talking about expanding our developing area on Booth Street, so we’ll have more streets to serve the public.”
Meanwhile, this month So is renovating the So Good kitchen and taking holidays, including an Alaska cruise.
You see the BIA website at www.ottawachinatown.ca .

Paninis are new touch at longtime Union Smoke Shop on Rideau Street

Celiacs love the
gluten-free options at
Union Smoke Shop’s
panini bar

By Louise Rachlis
A couple of months ago, an American staying at the nearby Days Inn came into Union Smoke Shop to use the telephone.
He ended up chatting with employees Barb and Dana, and bought a few things.
Shortly afterwards, the store received a package in the mail addressed to the two women. It was a $20 gift card and a thank you from the man which said his visit to the shop was the highlight of his trip to Ottawa.
That kind of personal service is a regular occurrence at the Haddad family business in the Constitution Building at 307 Rideau Street near King Edward.
A staple of the downtown area for nearly 30 years, Union Smoke Shop specializes in cigars and tobacco products along with one of the biggest magazine displays in the city. There’s a dry cleaning depot, and a long standing downtown barber, Bernie Proulx. There are also traditional convenience store items from greeting cards to batteries and combination locks.
Because it’s a government building, and a busy downtown area, there are lots of regular customers who are very loyal.
“When I look at my sales at the end of the day, it’s pretty consistent – a little bit of everything,” says owner Eddie Haddad, 43, who took a round-about route to get back to his retail roots.
Originally from Lebanon, his parents owned “Ottawa South Groceteria” at Bank St. and Sunnyside for 27 years. When they left, there was a goodbye party from the neighborhood and a gift painting of the store. Haddad still runs into people today he knew from growing up in that store.
After high school, he attended Algonquin College for computers, worked in Australia, came back and purchased a wagon to sell frozen yogurt all over Ottawa. He sold that, bought a business with his mother selling Middle Eastern fruit at Esplanade Laurier for five years, then took another computer program at CDI College while working at his parents’ restaurant the Big H at Hawthorne and Stevenage.
He then got became a systems administrator at National Defence, working at the restaurant at night until it was sold a few months later.
He met his wife Renee on a DND “Disaster Recovery” workshop in Toronto where there were 35 men and just two women. There were married four years ago. The couple has two boys, 12 and four, and are expecting their third child in September.
When Haddad heard about the opportunity to get back in the family business, he decided to get back to his roots, buying the business in January, 2010.
He and his wife added a panini bar to the 2,500 sq. ft. space in May, 2010. “We do all our food ourselves. We don’t do anything outside,” he says.
“We really do care. We had a suggestion box the first six months to give customers a chance to speak about the food they wanted, such as higher end coffee, or products they wanted us to stock.”
His deli take out counter serves grilled sandwiches, and fresh soup and salads. And as well as food for the general public, they also have food for those on a gluten-free or dairy-free diet.
“My wife and younger sister worked to develop the sandwich variety, toppings and paninis,” says Haddad. “This past fall we introduced the gluten free sandwiches because my older son was diagnosed with gluten allergy and is being tested for celiac.” The food area is called Nini’s Panini Bar, named after the childhood nickname of Eddie’s wife Renee.
“We can’t have seating because of our landlord, Public Works,” he says, “but that shouldn’t stop you from having the best panini in the world.”
Most sandwiches can be made gluten -free or dairy-free, including Hawaiian Sunrise Panini, spicy Ring of Fire Panini, Mini Meatball Panini and lots more. And how about the “Figticious Wrap” consisting of greens, with figs, dried apricot, sugared pecans, goat cheese mix with maple balsamic dressing wrapped in a flour tortilla.
“When our lease expires in two years, we’d really like to open a place that can provide seating,” he says, “and to offer many more truly gluten-free options.”
Union Smoke Shop is open Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and closed Sundays.
For more information, call 613-789-0533 or e-mail ninipaninibar-unionsmokeshop@yahoo.ca

The Experimental Farm a great place to sit and paint

By Louise Rachlis
In the spring, artist Kevin Dodds roller blades down Queen Elizabeth Drive to Dows Lake and the Farm and photographs all the apple trees and the Arboretum bridge.
Along the Canal from Second Avenue, he stops to photograph all the flowers, and sometimes he stops to paint. Boats on the Canal are also a large part of his camera excursions.
“Ottawa is such a beautiful city it lends itself to sketching outdoors,” he says.
Here are his top 10 places for getting creative in central Ottawa:
Favourite spots for photography and painting:
1. The locks behind the Bytown Museum.
2. The boats sitting behind the National Arts Centre.
3. Dows Lake at any time of year.
4. The Arboretum at any time of year.
5. The Hogs Back Falls.
6. The Experimental Farm – “a great place to sit and paint.”
7. Parliament Hill as seen from the Museum of Civilization.
8. The courtyard in front of the National Art Gallery, and the inspiration of inside as well.
9. The vegetable stands in the Byward Market.
10. Strathcona Park.

“I’m a city and a valley boy,” says Dodds, an Arnprior native, but a resident of the Glebe since last fall, and of the Golden Triangle for 11 years before.

Centretown advocate tells ‘the story of the present from the perspective of the future’

By Louise Rachlis

There’s no bigger fan of the Centretown area than Charles Akben-Marchand, president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, and blogger of “Images of Centretown.”
The Lorne Building on Elgin Street is being proposed for re-development and his comments on that are one of his most popular posts.
“Sitting quietly at 90 Elgin Street, between Albert and Slater is the Lorne Building. Built half a century ago to house the National Gallery of Canada on a ‘temporary’ basis, the federal government wants to replace it with a new, larger, building,” he writes. “The building’s history starts in 1880, when the Marquis of Lorne, Governor General John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, initiated the National Gallery of Canada movement. The Gallery opened to the public in May 1882…”
After old and new photos and a chronological history, he concludes: “At least on the Elgin elevation, the new building should reflect the scale of its neighbours, and it should present an architectural landmark to those coming across the Mackenzie-King Bridge. There is an opportunity for a spectacular view here, and it can’t be spoiled by yet another square ugly office building.”
Involved in community groups for over a decade, including three years as President of Citizens for Safe Cycling, among his current responsibilities besides being president of the CCCA, are board member of the Dalhousie Community Association, a central role in the Rescue Bronson Avenue project, and he’s in charge of the bicycle parking at Bluesfest. He was on the naming committee for what is now known as the Corktown Footbridge.
He’s also on Twitter and regularly tweets photos on @Centretowner (www.twitter.com/Centretowner).
A program manager for a non-profit group, he works four blocks away from his house and often spends time in the coffee shops around the area. He attended McNabb Public School and now lives around the corner, with little need to leave. “You can really get pretty much everything you need from the area. I venture no more than two and a half kilometres from my house most of the time.”
He began his blog in 2008 - “I’m a storyteller with pictures rather than a photographer” – and has a vast collection of photos that he refers back to as the neighborhood changes.
“I’m telling the story of the present from the perspective of the future. I always like looking back at old photos and seeing what things looked like then. I’m helping people 50 years from now to know what life is like now.”
He says that the buildings you notice less are often the most special, “the small things that you only notice when you live in Centretown…the yellow house that was on Gladstone, it’s a really interesting story….The Fox and Feather on Elgin used to be a smaller building called Miss Harman’s Girls’ School, and the apartments that were added beside it along Elgin Street were named the Harman Apartments.”
“Wherever you live, pay attention to what’s around you and how it changes. Get involved with your local community association so you can have an influence on the change process. Whenever I’m in the Glebe or Westboro or somewhere else, I’d like to be able to refer to someone’s local blog for the history.”
See Charles’ blog at www.centretown.blogspot.com .

Stately Laurier House a Sandy Hill landmark

By Louise Rachlis
Sandy Hill is the oldest suburb in Ottawa, and Laurier House at 335 Laurier Ave. East at Chapel Street is a glimpse into the life of the times as well as political history.
Among the artifacts in the residence of prime ministers Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Rt. Hon. William Mackenzie King is a speeding ticket given to Lady Laurier for going over 10 miles an hour on Bank Street in 1910.
Laurier himself used to take the streetcar to work from his home, given to him by friends and supporters in 1896 because there was no official prime minister’s residence. The first French-Canadian prime minister, he lived there with his wife Zoe until 1919.
Lady Laurier willed the 10,000 sq. ft. house to Mackenzie King, who in turn willed it to the nation in 1950. It was the charismatic Laurier who encouraged King, who was good at policy, to go into politics.
King stipulated in his will that some of the 26 rooms had to stay the same. “It’s 98 per cent intact,” says Louise Hamelin, heritage coordinator of Laurier House. “We’re fortunate to have this. Not many places in Canada have the original artifacts. It’s a level one cultural resource because it’s directly related to the prime ministers.”
King’s study is all original, including his 3,000 books. He liked to take his meals in the breakfast room, listening to the radio.
Even the house is important on its own, “because it’s the original Second Empire Style, originally from France. It’s a good urban style.”
There’s an Otis elevator in working order that has been used by all kinds of famous guests such as President Roosevelt, Shirley Temple and Queen Elizabeth.
Sometimes people come in and just want to look around, she says, “but they ask so many questions they end up getting a tour anyway.”
Visitors – about 7,000 a year - first see a 10 minute video and then explore the home. A new visitor centre under construction next door will open next year.
Tea at the National Historic Site is served on the veranda every Saturday and Sunday afternoon until August 28th between noon and 4 p.m.
“The tea is popular with people in the neighbourhood who have guests from out of town,” says Ms. Hamelin, who has been working at Laurier House since 2000. “They enjoy tea with them, and don’t take the tour because they’ve done it already.”
Visitors like to buy souvenirs such as books, teacups, and stuffed dogs representing King’s pets.
Laurier House is administered by Parks Canada, the agency of the federal government responsible for protecting and presenting significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage.

Another way to enjoy a glimpse into the lives of Laurier and King is with an evening candlelit tour. The “Evening Butler Tour” by Edward the Butler is given July 29th and August 26th at 7 p.m. Reservations required.
There are family activities and guided tours, and free admission, on Parks Day July 16th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday afternoons in July and August at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. there is Sunday Theatre as Prime Ministers Laurier and King relive their pasts. Tea on the veranda is included.
Other activities requiring reservations are:
- Murder Mystery, July 21 and August 18 at 7 p.m.: “The year is 1939. Prime Minister King has invited you to his private residence for a relaxing evening accompanied with wine and cheese. But the party is interrupted by a murder…and you are a suspect.”
- Fine Art Friday, August 12 at 1 p.m.
Take a detailed look at King’s rare and unique fine art collection, including gifts from world leaders. Followed by tea on the veranda.
“King liked historic objects,” says Ms. Hamelin, who holds a degree in Fine Art from Queen’s and has been researching King’s art collection, especially Italian Renaissance. Venice was King’s favourite city, and he had many Venetian scenes like “The Doges Palace.”
“His family friend was J.W.L. Forester who did a lot of commissions for him.” She also likes King’s “Adoration of the Magi” by Flemish artist Rogier van der Weyden, and his Homer Watson paintings.
Among the variety of large and small pieces in the house are the travel trunks Laurier used when travelling by boat to Europe, a little box where Mackenzie King saved his mother’s wedding ring and a lock of her hair, Laurier’s death mask, hat pins, shoe horns, pocket watches, and Lady Laurier’s player piano which is over 100 years old.
There are two pink chairs, a gift from the Palace at Versailles from a French dignitary, in the elegant room where politicians would sit and have a conversation.
King’s bed was a gift from the Ritz Hotel in England.
There is also an area upstairs devoted to former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, who didn’t live or work in the house, but the collection was donated after his death.
Laurier Park across the street and Strathcona Park nearby are handy to take the kids afterward.
Laurier House is open seven days a week, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., until Thanksgiving. Reservations are required for groups of 10 or more and for special programs such as tea or theatre.
The classic afternoon tea is served with a scone, cream and jam and also includes a tour. Reservations are required. Admission is $9.80 for adults, $8.40 for seniors, $4.90 youth and $6.00 without a tour.
View www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/on/laurier/index.aspx
Call 613-992-8142 or e-mail Laurier-House@pc.gc.ca.

Head to the Museum of Nature after work for adult evening programming

By Louise Rachlis
The Canadian Museum of Nature, a Centretown fixture, isn’t just for kids.
It’s a pretty cool venue for adults in the evenings as well.
“New adult programming initiatives such as Café Scientifique and the environmental film festival have proved successful in attracting new visitors to the Museum who are interested in exchanging their views on ecological and social issues,” says Marie Lasnier, Director of Community Services.
“Nature and natural sciences provide us with so many topics to explore with mature audiences,” she says. “And the fun mix of other offerings such as haunted tours, jazz music in the Nature Café, special movies or seasonal activities all contribute to making the Museum an appealing, multi-faceted destination for adults.”
The Museum’s history with café scientifiques, where the discussion “question” relates to natural science or the environment, goes back to 2006 and has attracted a growing community of people interested in this format.
Since then other groups in Ottawa have been organizing their own café events on a variety of topics. Guest speakers are on hand to get the discussion rolling, and all opinions are welcome.
In fall 2008 the Canadian Museum of Nature teamed up with the Canada Science and Technology Museum to host joint café scientifique discussions in the Fox and Feather Pub’s upper level, quite often with a big crowd as the list of faithful attendees grew.
The completion in 2010 of the major renovations to the Canadian Museum of Nature enabled Museum staff to organize science café events on site, taking advantage of the attractive new Nature Café for the discussion venue. The format was modified to include a fixed-menu dinner in the Café as well as a documentary in the new Theatre. (The CSTM continues to hold their science cafes at the Fox and Feather Pub).
The monthly Friday night dinner, movie and documentary combo proved popular, often attracting the capacity limit of 70 people in the Café. Now, for summer 2011, the Museum is trying something new: café scientifiques on the last Fridays in July and August. The bilingual format consists of a documentary (English with French subtitles) and a discussion where questions are encouraged in either English or French. Participants enjoy a casual mix ‘n mingle with appetizers and cash bar, rather than a set dinner.
Along with the science cafés the Museum has introduced other adult-oriented activities, branding them together under the theme “Museum by Night.”
Last year, the Museum partnered with Haunted Walks of Ottawa to offer special tours on Thursday nights in October that presented the rich history of the century-old building along with the many tales of eerie occurrences reported over the decades. These tours proved so popular that the Museum of Nature and Haunted Walks are finalizing the details for this year’s schedule.
Last year on Thursday evenings between Halloween and Christmas, Museum visitors could hear the sounds of holiday music sung by choirs on the mezzanine of the Queens’ Lantern. In the Theatre, the holiday classic “The Sound of Music” was presented in high definition.
The Museum continues to explore ways to appeal to adult audiences interested in combining learning with a fun evening out. Over 100 adults attended the Museum’s “Beer and Bread Evening” in March 2011 where they sampled three different ales from Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company while learning about the role of yeast in beer-making.
In April, the Museum partnered with Planet in Focus in Toronto to present the four-day “Best of Planet in Focus Environmental Film Festival. This is the first time that the Museum held the festival during Earth Month; during 2010, its first year in Ottawa, the festival took place during Environment Week in June.
The Museum’s first tweetup on July 21 combined a screening of the new Dinosaurs 3D movie, followed by a social meetup for the “tweeters” in the Museum’s Nature Café.
To be up to date on what’s happening this summer and fall at the Museum, view nature.ca or call 613-566-4700.

Centretown Community Health Centre: From vision to action, five years later

By Louise Rachlis

A client recently commented about Centretown Community Health Centre, “this centre is the best I have seen and I have moved 39 times in my life.”

Her positive comment is not unique. With all their programs, the Centretown Community Health Centre has received extremely encouraging feedback from clients, participants and community members.

About 98 per cent of clients rate their care and or services at Centretown Community Health Centre, 420 Cooper Street near Bank and Somerset, as “excellent” or “very good.”

The CCHC has existed since 1969 when it was established as a health clinic for hard to serve youth, in a broom closet in the downtown YMCA.

Now they have 130 staff offering health and community services to the residents of Centretown, Glebe and Old Ottawa South, in addition to serving all residents of the city of Ottawa through their Diabetes Education Program, Mental Health and Addictions Program for adults 55 plus, the Good Food Box and Mental Health Support for GLBT youth.

“The 2006-2011 Strategic Plan has guided the centre for the last five years,” says Simone Thibault, Executive Director of Centretown Community Health Centre. “It has guided us to new and innovative program delivery including the New Canadian Clinic and the Gay Zone Gaie, as well as encouraging us to be reflective on our own practices of interdisciplinary care and advocacy.”

The journey began in 2006, developing goals to guide the Centre. Those goals included “Excellent, Comprehensive, Integrated Primary Health Care”, “Responding to Community Needs”, Organizational Health and Capacity”, “Ensuring Accountability”, and “Health Systems and Policy Change.”

“We also set out a plan of action that identified individual and collective tasks for us to accomplish in key areas,” she says, “and we promised to monitor and report our progress to the community. Five years later, we are excited to tell everyone what we have achieved.”

When they committed to making the Centre more accessible to various populations, they monitored the number of non-English speaking clients there were serving. The number of clients who speak a language other than English grew from 695 in April 2006 to 2,027 in April, 2011.

They are also pleased that the effort put into programming groups to address chronic disease prevention and management are having an impact. “The information that was provided was so vital for me,” wrote one delighted client on a Diabetes Education Program. “Just following what I was taught, I lost more than 15 pounds in less than three months and my numbers for diabetes and cholesterol went way down. Even my doctor was amazed. A big thank you!”

Darlene Richardson, a participant in the Centretown Walking Group, wrote: “I ‘urban poled’ most days, at least five times a week. The route which I took was approximately 4,500 steps. An accomplishment for me. Thank you for the opportunity of learning about and trying out these poles. I am most grateful. I can also see a difference in my blood sugar when I walk. If only I could get my hubby to agree to eat some of those foods!”

And now the Centretown Community Health Centre is looking ahead to the next five years.

“We’re now consulting with the community to get input on our next strategic plan for 2012 to 2017,” says Ms. Thibault. “We want to hear from our community, including partners, residents, clients and volunteers. We invite them to go to our website at www.centretownchc.org and fill out the survey.”

She says that feedback will help the Centre establish its priorities for the next five years.

Fighting for diversity and affordability in Centretown

By Louise Rachlis
With all the words going back and forth, it all comes down to one thing: How do we keep Centretown an affordable place for people to live.
“I want more kids downtown,” says Catherine Boucher, who has been involved in Centretown development for over 30 years. “We lost schools. We want to make it a family-friendly area.”
Ms. Boucher is the retired executive director of Centretown Citizens’ Ottawa Corporation, a private non-profit social housing provider which has been an important player in the Ottawa context and beyond. She’s currently involved in the new Centretown Neighbourhood Plan.
“I think Centretown is a very important place for our city, reflecting a lot of the good stuff that people like about Ottawa,” she says.
About 35 years ago, downtown residents came together to create the Centretown Plan, with the goal of keeping Centretown a mainly residential area rather than a conglomeration of commercial and office buildings. “It was a huge victory to retain this very important residential heritage,” she says.
Today, that fight has morphed towards concerns about residential developers wanting to develop in Centretown, and the big question is “how high one should go.”
“That has to do with questions of people adapting to change, and what’s an acceptable height,” she says. And that literally depends upon your point of view. In some cases it’s a NIMBY reaction in a way, but there’s a real consideration of ‘is Ottawa Manhattan?’ Condo town like we see near the waterfront in Toronto doesn’t have a lot of attraction for me. It’s too single-purpose, not pedestrian/bike friendly, a high income wind tunnel ghetto”
The community embarked upon a new Centretown plan to see how and whether the old plan should be changed. “I come at it from many points of view,” she says. “I worked for 30 years as a non-profit developer. Many buildings we built were in the downtown core and it’s not like building in farmland. You are always pressured by encroachments and setbacks; it’s expensive and it’s not easy. And my job is to build affordable housing.”
When she looks around at what is being proposed by the current spate of development applications, she sees “mainly one bedrooms, a community of rich, retired people and yuppie singles.” Her basic concern regarding the current development plan is “where is the diversity” of age, levels of ability, and income?”
“How do we continue to have diversity in Centertown? How do we work in more pedestrian friendly neighbourhoods, more green space, and all the new recreational facilities that outlying areas get more easily? The Corkstown foot/bike bridge has phenomenally high usage, yet it took twenty years of fighting to get it built. The community spent years doing bake sales to help re-build the Plant Bath, which is now the second highest used pool in Ottawa.”
She believes it’s extremely important to have mixed communities to ensure a vibrant neighbourhood. “The people who have money have more ability to make things work for them….to phone the councilor’s office and get something done. In big cities where you have high concentrations of low income people, those areas tend to be forgotten because they don’t have champions. That’s an important piece of what makes Centertown a good community.”
People who have more than others should live side by side with people who aren’t as well off financially, she says. “Being in the elevator and common areas and sharing space with people has a great moderating influence both ways. It’s equally good for both.”
Mixed communities providing affordable residential units but all of the other components – recreation, pedestrian friendliness, good transit - are needed for the public good as well. “Obviously there is a push from the development community, but we want to make sure this doesn’t become the focus of this plan.”
One of the negative situations that happened to Centretown was becoming a ‘pass through’ for commuter traffic. “We want to return those streets into liveable spaces.”
For instance, the plan looks at the whole area of the Catherine corridor – “Catherine Street is a bit of a wasteland and could be a really good place to put a grocery store, the bus station might be moving, and there are other opportunities on Catherine as well. We could build up abutting the Queensway….that’s another exciting piece of work the consultants have put out that could be good or bad, depending on how it happens.”
There is also discussion around the provincial Section 37 tool – extra height to negotiate community benefits - that municipalities can use to finance walkways, public art, heritage refits, and affordable housing.”
About 20 years ago, to encourage residential development, reclaiming surface parking lots, the city exempted developers from development charges in Centretown. “Now it’s not needed any more; they want to be downtown. Those development charges are coming back in August, but if you have an approval from the city beforehand, you’re exempt.” All the developers are trying to get their applications in before August and so there’s now a huge glut of applications being approved without much thought to the impact on the community. .
“We don’t want to be left with just a bunch of tall buildings and nothing to say about it,” she says. “Tall isn’t necessarily bad, but everybody just looks to downtown to do that. That has to work its way through all of Ottawa. We don’t want to gobble up more agricultural land.”
The draft plan for Centretown can be viewed at www.midcentretown.wordpress.com . A public meeting to review the draft plan was held on June 29th at the Museum of Nature.