Would You Bet Your Ottawa Arena On LRT?
When it was fashionable to build sports palaces downtown, Ottawa built the current Canadian Tire Centre in the suburbs.
Now it has become cutting-edge to build stadiums in the suburbs. The Atlanta Braves are leading the way.
But in the antithesis of cutting-edge, the Ottawa Senators appear to be determined to build somewhat downtown in a city core that is hollowing out due to federal job cuts.
Sports franchises have determined (except in Ottawa) that their fans are in the suburbs so why not build near them? On top of that, these stadiums can produce little cities of their own around them giving fans easy access to the sports franchise. You know, sort of like Kanata and Stittsville.
You can take this argument a step farther. The Toronto Blue Jays, after scouring Hogtown for a new location for a stadium, found building new was financially unfeasible. So they renovated the Rogers Centre which consistently packs in 41,000 spectators a night. Nothing wrong with the CTC that a few renos and a couple of coats of paint wouldn’t solve.
Also those suburbanites, already living in the west end, use cars and the new LeBreton location is likely to be car unfriendly. Instead, the National Capital Commission (can you imagine having the NCC as your landlord?) and the Senators will be depending on light rail to bring fans to the game.
Worth noting is that the problem-plagued Ottawa rail project construction began in 2013 and could possibly conclude in 2027, though unlikely. The Canadian Pacific Railway was built between 1881 and 1885 or less than half the time of the Ottawa example. The CPR had to cross the Rockies. Ottawa LRT had to go under the Rideau Canal and the tunnel leaks.
We can go on. The giant Rideau Canal project 1826 to 1832 was constructed when there was almost nothing in eastern Ontario but rocks, water and black flies. It took less than half the time of the building of Ottawa’s LRT. Maybe someone will write an ode to the Ottawa LRT like Gordon Lightfoot penned for the CPR.
Accordingly, do the Senators really want to bet the bank on an LRT project that is so fouled as the Ottawa example? And LRT was current in 1982, not 2025. Yesterday’s technology today. Yesterday’s arena location today.
The LeBreton Ottawa Senators arena is not a done deal. It should stay that way.
Ken Gray
When will they write the Ottawa Railway Trilogy?
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The biggest problem with the current setup at the Canadian Tire Centre is getting customers out of the parking lots and on their way home in a timely, efficient manner once the game has concluded. The city that has figured out how to treat sports fans the way they should be treated when they’re paying so much money to attend live sports is (the many-times derided) Toronto. All franchises (hockey, baseball, football, basketball) play their games in the same geographic area. It’s easy for fans to get to the games, they park their cars somewhere along the subway line and take the TTC to Union station, then walk to the arena/park. Once the game is over and the mass exodus begins some fans go straight home using the TTC while others head to the bar to discuss the game. Compare this scenario to Ottawa where the baseball team plays its games at the Queensway and Riverside, the Redblacks play at Lansdowne, and the Sens play in the Kanata. Even if the Senators move to Lebreton the positioning of sports venues will be far from optrimal.
Just to amplify what you’re seeing here There’s currently a trained stuck in a tunnel and they are smelling smoke but it’s dissipating. It’s on Twitter
You want to see in live format the stupidity of a downtown arena? Visit Halifax.
Statistics compiled by Environment Canada reveals that Ottawa has suffered from over 5,000 (thousand) hours of freezing rain.
Hundreds of newspaper accounts bear that out.
LRT cannot withstand that and will be stranded.
Typically the City of Ottawa will ignore history. This could become dangerous.
The Ottawa Senators may want to give moving to Lebreton Flats a rethink. LRT is an abysmal failure. If fans think exiting the CT Center parking lots is difficult, wait till they get stranded after a game at Lebreton Flats. It will happen.
Just because our mayor wants something badly enough doesn’t means it’s in the best interests of residents and businesses.
Ken A. McLeod:
You make an excellent point.
Imagine 20,000 fans at an arena on the flats. The game ends and the fans come pouring out of the arena and head to the LRT. But, the train isn’t there… freezing rain has stopped it at U of O. Now how do 20,000 people get out of the flats?