Lansdowne Can’t Be Delayed For PWHL: STEPHANSON

As several Members of Council have advised that they have been approached by representatives  on behalf of the PWHL, I felt it would be beneficial to provide information on the impacts of pausing the Lansdowne 2.0 project in order to increase the seating capacity in the new  Lansdowne 2.0 Event Centre.

Additionally, please find attached correspondence I received from  Mark Goudie, President and CEO of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG) regarding  the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).  

In April 2024, Council approved the Design-Bid-Build construction procurement model of the new  Event Centre. The City’s architect team (Brisbon Brook Beynon) has completed its Event Centre design, which is building permit ready. The new Event Centre is designed with 6,600 capacity for sports modes and over 7,000 capacity for concerts and entertainment events. 

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This is a release from the City of Ottawa.

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An increase in seating capacity of 2,000+ seats would result in an estimated increase in footprint  of 20-25%. An increased footprint represents a change in the design and schedule Council  approved in 2023. This would terminate the existing project and require a minimum of two to  three years to complete.  

Staff estimate that a high-level cost for this work, which has no proof of viability on this site, is at  minimum an additional $80 to 100 million for architectural design, planning approvals, permitting,  escalation, and building code adjustments for the new Event Centre, on top of the original cost of  

the Event Centre, which was $176.8 M as part of the fixed-price bid. Also, this does not account  for the $22 M that has already been invested in the current design, which would be lost. The  following actions are necessary to develop a new proposal: 

• Cancelling the Construction Tender process (disengage with EBC Inc. as of January 16,  2026), leading to a retendering of the construction project, likely at a higher cost for the  other components of the plan 
• Cancelling the Air Rights Tender process that has concluded with Mirabella Development  Corp and would need to be recommenced. 
• Procuring a new contract with the Architect (e.g. BBB) on a new Event Centre design 
• Re-engaging with planning, engineering, transportation, and landscape consultants to  prepare new applications for the Zoning By-law amendment and Site Plan approvals • Re-applying for a Building Permit under the new 2024 Building Code 
• Re-engaging the Ontario Heritage Trust on their support for a larger Event Centre • Re-engaging the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservations and Parks (MECP) on environmental approvals 
• Re-engaging Parks Canada and the National Capital Commission on the Event Centre  Design 
• Re-engaging on community consultations for the new design 
• Determining if the footprint would adversely impact the programming of the Great Lawn for  festival, concert, and community use. 

In summary, a delay would result in the cancellation and restart of the overall redevelopment plan resulting in increased costs given annual construction inflation ranging from 3 to 5% as well as  increased City debt and debt servicing to offset the increase in costs.  

Attachment – available in the language in which it was received.  

Thank you,  

Wendy Stephanson 

City Manager 

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Sutcliffe’s Slick, Vague, Unfair Lansdowne Video

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