Visioning
Workshop to Revitalize Ottawa's Main Street
held on October 21 and 22
By Tara Cundall, (reprinted from the December 2005 Mainstreeter)
There is obvious enthusiasm and hope when residents of Old Ottawa East discuss the future of Main Street
A Visioning Workshop was held at Saint Paul University on October 21 and 22 as a joint effort between the Main Street Revitalization Committee, the Old Ottawa East Community Association and Councillor Clive Doucet's Office.
During the workshop, residents, planners, local architects and business leaders were invited to capture their vision for the future of Ottawa's Main Street. The group split into three teams to work through three questions "What is Old Ottawa East?", "What is Main Street now?" and "What could Main Street be in the future?".
Let's delve a bit into the discussions heard on that pivotal weekend:
The History of Main Street, a Window to its Future
In the 1950's, Main Street's commercial strip was bustling with activity, shaping its character and creating a sustainable community. It brings to mind a dynamic, self-contained village. The Main Street of the past is indicative of the potential of its future.
Old Ottawa East and Main Street Today
As it exists today, Old Ottawa East is a skeleton of that lost community. Participants of the Visioning Workshop reached an easy consensus; they want to regain a modern verion of the Main Street of yesteryear. They articulated a desire for a more densely populated, cohesive neighbourhood, with increased commercial activity; thus creating a sustainable, attractive and eco-friendly community.
Workshop participants discussed how Old Ottawa East is beautifully situated; shaped by the Rideau River on the east, the Canal on the west and located close to downtown. When you head towards the centre of a community, one would expect to find its heart, its lifeline. Instead, as in the words of some residents, “we are used to seeing an under-utilized, disparate, dispersed, and somewhat disengaging thoroughfare for traffic”. Main Street divides the community rather than linking it together.
Other comments from the Visioning Workshop described Old Ottawa East of today as an "eco-oriented population, which encourages activities such as walking to work, skating with the family and cycling with friends to school".
The Main Street of Tomorrow
The workshop participants' vision of where they want to be in 20 years depicted a local, sustainable community which would attract a varied and dynamic population. Below are a few core themes that were discussed.
Traffic and Safety. Throughout the workshop, attendees described traffic along Main Street as too fast, too congested, and dangerous to both pedestrians and cyclists.
Envisioning a safer and healthier community in the future, participants proposed substantially more street parking, expanded pedestrian sidewalks and bulbouts along the street. Additional lighting was also suggested for Echo drive and parks to improve safety at night.
Services and Culture. Workshop participants recognized that the community of Ottawa East is fortunate to have a mixed population; ranging from the very young, to active seniors and individuals with special needs, all rich in ethnic and spiritual diversity. Participants identified the need to enhance local programs to cater to all these groups.
Local institutions (particularly Saint Paul University and Immaculata High School) were seen as opportunities-in-waiting. These institutions, and their grounds, could serve as hubs for local talent in the arts and culture. Their beautiful grounds, public gardens, fields for sports and recreation, auditoriums, meeting and assembly rooms would provide community-friendly indoor and outdoor space. The many churches in Old Ottawa East were also recognized as great assets which needed to be further explored.
Green Space and Recreation. Have you been to the Niagara region? I could sit for hours staring at the lush gardens, the hanging flower pots decorating old lampposts, like those you see along main streets in towns just outside of Ottawa.
We are fortunate to have valuable green space in our neighbourhood; although, as participants pointed out, the green space could be improved.
Some suggested using Springhurst park as a sports field, others suggested converting some of St. Paul's grounds into beautiful gardens, like those showcased at the Gardens and Arboretum in the Experimental Farm, for example.
I frequently take my baby out in the stroller for walks around the neighbourhood. My feet are fast and my nose to the ground until I reach the quiet of the Rideau River, Echo drive, or the calm beauty of the Canal. Why can't we linger on Main Street or stop there for a rest?.
Our four-legged friends would be especially familiar with the unofficial path that runs along the river, behind the Lees Avenue apartments, across to Springhurst Park, through to the back of St. Paul's property. This path was identified by the workshop participants as a great candidate to become a proper bike path, linking the apartment dwellers to Clegg, and then taking nature enthusiasts to meet a new footbridge that would connect the Glebe to Old Ottawa East.
Identifying and Linking the Community. Some workshop participants thought Main Street itself needed to be better identified and linked from one end to the other. “Gateways to Main Street Village" were proposed, not unlike the historic Brantwood Gates. Linking the North end of the community, now severed by the 417, could also be achieved by creating interesting spaces through the the under-pass, and painting murals, such as those seen at the Preston under-pass and on walls in Westboro.
Members of the community want Main Street Village to be an identifiable community, but linked to other communities – Sandy Hill, the Glebe, CentreTown.
It's Time To Get Excited and Get Involved!
By the time this issue of the Mainstreeter goes to press, we will have held two Open House sessions on November 19, and we anticipate good community turnouts for these events. The vision of a revitalized Main Street Village is coming into focus from the results of the survey, the October Visioning Workshop and the November Open House.
Let's keep that momentum going! If you'd like to voice your comments or get involved, we encourage you to attend meetings of the Ottawa East Community Association (held every second Tuesday of the month, starting at 7:15 at Old Town Hall). Write to Councillor Clive Doucet to tell him why Ottawa City Council should support our efforts to put Main Street back on the map! Don't forget to fill out the Survey if you haven't done so already. Please see Ottawa East's website at: http://www.ottawaeast.ca/MainStSurvey.pdf for details.