Controlling Stadium Costs will be a Challenge

The decision of a majority of councillors to move ahead with the Lansdowne Live costs has the potential to result in costs to the City that are far beyond the $97 million that has been quoted by the proponents. This is why I voted against the decision.

Under the proposal from Lansdowne Live, the City of Ottawa would be responsible for the following costs:

• Renovating the stadium and arena
• Building 575 underground parking spaces and 250 in a parking garage - total parking spaces would still not be enough to meet zoning requirements so there are likely to be additional costs
• All parks and recreation facilities other than those located within the retail complex
• Dealing with traffic problems caused by having to accommodate additional traffic from a new retail complex about ½ the size of the Centrum and people attending football games in an area where congestion is already a problem, there is no rapid transit link and no space to easily widen roads

During the next 60 days there will be negotiations between the City and Lansdowne Live on the details and then Council will vote on the final proposal.

What I was willing to support is a proposal to enter into negotiations on a stadium in Kanata, provided there was a limit on the costs to the City. This motion has been tabled until we know the results of the negotiations on Lansdowne Live.