The City’s View Of Sprung Structures
Below is a slide projection presentation on sprung structures released by the City of Ottawa.
Worth noting is that many of the visuals in the presentations are artists’ renderings which tend to enhance the view of structures and are not necessarily what the final product will resemble.
Also of note is that examples of sprung housing in the presentation come from climates that are more temperate than Ottawa’s. That’s not to say they won’t work here but they do not face the very harsh realties of Ottawa’s sometimes vicious climate.
One more thing … the presentation illustrates the advantages of sprung housing. It does not have a section on possible problems with the structures. Presumably if this is shown to councillors who will vote on the issue, it would be helpful to have both the advantages and disadvantages of the structures so that the city’s elected officials can get a fair idea of the issue:
Sprung Structures – Backgrounder
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– The Bulldog – News Feed Enter 
I am assuming these structures are similar to the sports centre located on the northeast corner of Hunt Club Road West and Greenbank Road. This structure has been standing for a number of years although I have never been inside. It seems quite capable of withstanding Ottawa winters and summers (I’m not sure how it would stand up if subjected to a hurricane or tornado). I question why such a structure has never been erected for Ottawa’s homeless population. I am also concerned, as mentioned above, that city staff will not paint a complete picture for city councilors who will then make a quick, and probably bad, decision unless they come prepared to pepper staff with the right questions.
If you search online, there have been quite a number of these types of shelters catching on fire. In particular in refugee camps where people were cooking too close to the fabric. Just thinking about what a disaster one of these catching on fire would be
Two problems with your line of thinking sisco.
First is that these are not identical to the athletics dome at Greenbank and Hunt Club West. Not even close.
Second, council unanimously delegated the authority to purchase and install sprung structures to staff last November. Technically, staff does not need a vote from council to proceed with their plan.