page_title: Lansdowne Park redevelopment
section_title: Existing condition
hierarchical_section_title: Lansdowne Park redevelopment / Existing condition
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
context_page_description: The Lansdowne Park redevelopment is a public-private partnership redevelopment of the Lansdowne Park fairgrounds in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In September 2007, cracks were discovered in Frank Clair Stadium, and a portion of the south-side stands were demolished due to safety concerns. The City of Ottawa subsequently initiated an international design competition to redevelop Lansdowne Park. However, it suspended the competition when a group of Ottawa businessmen known as the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, who had been awarded a Canadian Football League franchise on the condition of securing a home venue in Ottawa, proposed a public-private partnership with the City to rebuild the stadium and redevelop the grounds with residential and commercial uses to finance the reconstruction and annual upkeep of the site. Ottawa City Council decided to enter into a partnership with the OSEG group and cancelled its competitive process.
  The redevelopment plan split into two components after the City rejected the portion of the OSEG proposal regarding the lands bordering the Rideau Canal.
context_section_description: By the 1990s, Lansdowne Park had become mostly paved over. The site, then owned by the then-City of Ottawa, was operating at a significant deficit. The grounds were used for the annual SuperEx fair and parking for visitors to the arena and football complex and not much more. The condition of the site had sparked the City to ask for private proposals to rejuvenate the site. A proposal was received to convert most of the lands into a residential development, retain the Aberdeen Pavilion and Civice Centre and return money to the City of Ottawa. Because of a public outcry, the redevelopment plan was abandoned, and the property transferred to the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, keeping the property in the public domain. The Aberdeen Pavilion received a facelift and parklands in the north-east quadrant were improved, but the rest of the site was left "as-is". After the Food Pavilion was torn down, the SuperEx itself was looking for another site, and the fair commission agreed to leave after its lease expired.
caption: By 2008, almost the entire surface of Lansdowne Park was paved for parking. View of Lansdowne Park in 2008 from east.
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