City recommending ways to support Lansdowne Park Partnership through pandemic

The City of Ottawa released has released a report outlining recommendations to help Lansdowne Park to deal with the significant effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The estimated financial impact is $40-million over the next several years. 

The Lansdowne Park Partnership is structured so that the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), which owns the park, is solely responsible for operating deficits.

The city-recommended changes to the existing partnership agreement include adding 10 years to the partnership, modifying some of the terms of the retail rent agreement and giving OSEG one-time access to lifecycle funds to provide immediate support during the pandemic, which OSEG would then commit to reimbursing at a future date.

According to city officials, these modifications would protect taxpayers from any operational or lifecycle costs for 10 more years.

“The City of Ottawa is doing everything possible to protect and support its residents and businesses during this pandemic,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson in a memo. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a perfect storm of negative conditions for the Lansdowne Park Partnership that threaten its long-term financial viability.”

“That is why the proposed amendments to our partnership agreement make good business sense and will offer further protections to the city and to our taxpayers,” Watson added. 

The report also includes a recommendation of a city-staff led working group with representation of OSEG. Staff would report back to council with potential strategies by the second quarter of 2021.

There are 50 businesses at Lansdowne Park, creating more than 4,000 full and part-time jobs.