Ottawa mayor wants to explore options for new downtown arena

Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe is feeling encouraged by the sale of the Ottawa Senators, especially after his original meeting with new team owner Michael Andlauer.

Sutcliffe told Wake Up With Rob Snow the two had a positive meeting in which Andlauer expressed his commitment to building a winning hockey team.

As for where the team will play, Sutcliffe said he wouldn’t mind seeing a new arena downtown, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be LeBreton Flats.

“LeBreton Flats is a very legitimate option and maybe the new owner, Michael Andlauer, will decide he wants to build the arena on LeBreton Flats and that he can strike a deal with the NCC and that that’s the right way to go,” Sutcliffe said. “All I’m saying is there are other options and I want to make sure we don’t just say ‘let’s put the arena on LeBreton Flats because it’s there, it’s available, it’s the only option’ — because that’s not true.”

Sutcliffe adds it’s worth taking the time to make sure the right decision is made about a potential location, as a new arena would be one of the biggest attractions and gathering spaces in Ottawa.

Another important thing to consider is the future of the downtown core.

“For the first time in our history, I think, where we’re really worried about the future of downtown Ottawa,” Sutcliffe said. “Federal government employees are not going to the office as often as they did before. The federal government is talking about getting rid of a bunch of its office buildings downtown.”

Sutcliffe is worried these changes could put the downtown at risk going forward.

“The more I think about that, the more I think, if there is an opportunity to bring something that’s a big attraction into downtown Ottawa that will get more people going to downtown Ottawa, why would we not at least consider that as one of the options on the table.”

So with that in mind — if not LeBreton Flats, where?

“There’s a few specific sites that have been raised, and this is all very preliminary, but you can make anything work,” Sutcliffe said. “At one time there was no Rideau Centre, there was no Shaw Centre, there was no World Exchange Plaza. There are all kinds of developments that can happen.”

He again points to the federal governments plan to remove buildings within the core.

“If they’re getting rid of buildings in the downtown core and some of them are older and can’t be converted to residential and we could put together a block of land, that’s a possibility,” Sutcliffe said. “Again, I’m not advocating this and saying this is the only way to go. I’m just saying let’s consider that because it’s a once in a lifetime decision — let’s get it right.”

With a potential Sens relocation on the horizon, another consideration is what happens to the Canadian Tire Centre (CTC) and what the impact would be on Kanata residents and businesses.

Kanata South ward councillor Allan Hubley has some ideas, including an entertainment district that could include a variety of things, including a biodome, aquarium or theme park.

Hubley explains these types of attractions bring people to a community on a year-round basis, compared to the CTC, which offers around 60 events per year.

“It’s a math question right? When the team is here, they basically provide 44 nights where they are a draw for thousands of people to come to a game and there may be 10-15 concerts on top of that,” Hubley said. “You could make this busy 365 days a year if you wanted. That’s only going to benefit local businesses even more. We would probably be able to grow the business community out here.”