Walking LeBreton

In what seems to be a Sunday writing habit, A’s snuggled in my laptop, pushing my laptop just out of easy arm’s reach—so writing today will also check off the “do some stretching” item on my todo list.

Yesterday, continuing to take advantage of glorious fall walking weather, I joined some friends for a walking tour of LeBreton Flats, led by Laura Mueller, Chief of Planning and Engagement at the National Capital Commission (NCC), the owner of the large, mostly empty lot in downtown Ottawa known as LeBreton Flats. We learned about various aspects of the NCC’s Master Concept Plan for the area, a thoughtful document that’s worth a browse.

In a scene that’d be familiar to most any urban planner—or fans of Parks and Rec—the walk audience included one man who was keen to share his thoughts (as either comments or pointedly-worded questions) at every stop. He raised the numerous failed attempts to develop the Flats, the broken promises about affordable housing, and other concerns. While the host (kindly, patiently) offered (good, fair, measured) responses to the concerns at the heart of his questions, his persistence suggested he’d been burnt one time too many, that he couldn’t believe it’d be better or different this time.

To me, the persistent questioning felt mostly sad. I think he and the host, many of the people in the audience, and many at the NCC itself share similar values: hope for stronger community, desire for better, more affordable housing throughout our neighbourhoods, recognition of just how complex it is to build a new neighbourhood from scratch in the middle of an international capital. But the manner in which he raised his concerns wasn’t appropriate (it was a walking tour, not a public meeting or consultation), and it felt like no answer would satisfy him. While institutions do need to be held accountable for past mistakes, it seems the NCC is genuinely learning and applying as many best practices as it can to how this rolls out.

One example Laura Mueller shared: previously, a small parcel of the Flats had been sold off to a developer (the eastern component near the Fleet Street Pumping Station), with a condition that the site eventually include some percentage of affordable housing. But the condition applied to the site as a whole, with no timelines for when the affordable components had to be delivered. So a few of the eight or so towers have been built, without any affordable housing yet; it’ll likely be delivered in the last one, at best. The NCC recognized how untenable that is, and is instead working affordability requirements into future conditions on a per-building basis. (What constitutes “affordable” is of course another question, but it’s also one that, short of providing huge ongoing subsidies that it likely can’t budget for, the NCC itself can’t solve alone.)

It gave me hope, at least, to see how seriously and thoughtfully the NCC is approaching this project. It’ll be one to watch in the years (decades) ahead. Some things I learned:

• The large, treed hill near Bayview Station is the former dumping ground for the material from the razing of the former LeBreton Flats neighbourhood, much of which was dumped onto the riverbed, forming an unpredictable foundation. It’ll be remediated and kept as parkland.
• The height requirements for buildings on the site need to account not only for sightlines to Parliament (classic), but also for the beam of light that illuminates the Tombstone of the Unknown Soldier in the War Museum every Remembrance Day.
• The plans include a pedestrian / cycling connection from Preston Street over the LRT line, to bring you to the heart of the redeveloped Flats. (Once built, this’ll be a great way to bring even more people from Centretown into the area, which you can currently only access via the Pimisi or Bayview stations.)
• The NCC is working to partner on a district energy system for the Flats. (YES!!) (Part of me wonders if they could connect it to the federal district energy system, but maybe that’s more district than is really necessary.)

It was an awesome tour, heckling notwithstanding, and a great day for it. If you haven’t heard much about LeBreton before, it’s a fascinating area:

• An Acre of Time by Phil Jenkins takes a one-acre slice of LeBreton and explores it over thousands of years. My edition is from 2007, and features some dated language about Indigenous people, which is hopefully addressed in the 2020 edition. You can also hear Jenkins recount some of the area’s history in a 2021 talk with the Historical Society of Ottawa.
• For an aerial view of the Flats, Chris Gorman uploaded a photo a few years back (which I maybe learned of through Ryan?) There’s also the City of Ottawa’s excellent aerial photos map (navigate to “Vimy Place” if you don’t know where the Flats are, then select the camera icon in the top menu bar to see the old aerials). Going from 1965 to 1976 is the best demonstration of the scale of the loss, though some lots were already cleared by 1965; going from 1928 to 1976 also allows you to see the huge changes to the waterfront in that area, how much of it was filled.
• Walking the Flats now, it’s easy to think of it as a large, vacant lot. But it used to be a lively, bustling neighbourhood where many people lived.
  • Ariane Gauthier at Library and Archives gathered some photos (including a fire insurance map!) that show just how normal, recognizable a neighbourhood it was.
  • Students working with Jo-Anne McCutcheon (or McCutcheon herself, I forget which!) geotagged a number of photos of the Flats, so you can see what different areas we know today looked like then (see also the brief history of the Flats they provide). (McCutcheon’s courses had a huge influence on me during my own studies—this project is a great example of how digital history enables historical research to endure and proliferate without being bound to the pages of a printed book.)
  • The NCC itself commissioned the Memories of LeBreton Flats oral history project, recording stories and memories from the area.
• For an example of the failed development attempts mentioned earlier, the twisting story of the previous attempt to redevelop the site (“RendezVous LeBreton”) is a good summary.
• And, finally, how did the Flats get their name? A story of attempted corruption and righteous fury, one that diverted the Rideau Canal from its original course (which would’ve gone from Dow’s Lake along what’s now Preston) to the incredibly scenic route we now know and love.

Okay, that’s loads of links for today. If you’re around Ottawa and want to go on a walk (self-guided historical or not!) or bike ride in the next few weeks, send me a note! This is the time of year to do it, and it’d be lovely to see you. In the meantime, and to all of you, all the best for the week ahead!

Lucas