Sparks Street BIA supports plan for South Block construction amid councillors’ concerns

The South Block redevelopment in downtown Ottawa is set to start this month, and despite concerns from city councillors, the authority representing Sparks Street and its businesses is completely on board.

The project will redesign the current block of buildings on Wellington Street facing Parliament Hill and is expected to take upwards of nine years to complete. 

Now that the contracts have been awarded, construction is poised to begin in the coming months, but there was tension over the anticipated impact of the project during a meeting of the city’s transportation committee on Sept. 26.

Chaired by Coun. Tim Tierney, the committee updates on the project from representatives of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) , and while councillors in attendance voiced concerns surrounding the impact to traffic and businesses, the executive director of the Sparks Street BIA said he is “entirely in favour.”

Updates from PSPC:

Rocque Gameiro, director general, and Justin Tsang, project director, from PSPC, presented updates to the committee and city staff regarding latest plans for the South Block Project.

The presentation confirmed that the architectural and engineering contract was awarded in May of 2023, the construction management contract in December, and that the target date for construction mobilization is October 2024.

The construction will begin with the East side of Block 2 and include installing construction hoarding, relocating existing infrastructure like lamp posts and benches, and interior abatement and demolition.

The construction site plan for phase one does not plan closures to Wellington street or cycling lanes, but councillors raised concerns that future phases would restrict the already congested traffic downtown.

Why some committee members are concerned:

Councillors raised questions regarding the price tag of the project and source of funding, which the PSPC was unable to confirm. 

The plan has previously indicated it would require Wellington Street to be reduced to one lane of traffic for several years to facilitate the construction. In the committee meeting, though, Coun. and vice-chair Catherine Kitts brought forth a motion to ensure that temporary construction encroachment permits require that Wellington Street be open at all times to one vehicle lane in each direction and one cyclist lane in each direction. 

Should the PSPC report that this is not possible, the motion allows the committee to determine whether or not permits be issued. 

Although Gameiro said the project has “no interest in wandering onto Wellington Street”, he said the exact needs of the project remain to be seen, and a permit refusal from the City based on encroachment would be “very detrimental” to the project.

“There’s a lot of different elements and little details of the encroachment permits and parts being approved or not approved,” he said. “But we would have to do a complete rethink on how this could be delivered.”

This is a concern for Coun. Jessica Bradley, who said there could be “serious impacts” on the project by giving council the ability to “yay or nay” the permits. She also suggested that plans for Wellington Street, including the discussions to transfer ownership of the stretch of Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill over to the federal government, could be informed by this project and that “now would be a good time” to finalize the sale. 

Coun. Sean Devine questioned whether the encroachment permit motion could effectively stop the project before chair Tierney moved on. 

Another motion tabled by Counc. Ariel Troster requests, among other things, a review of the potential revenues from the encroachment permits and that the PSPC enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Ottawa to continue financially supporting Sparks Street during construction.

The Memorandum would require the PSPC to fund part of the Sparks Street Public Realm Plan design as well as provide financial support to the Sparks Street BIA for tourism development. It would also require the PSPC to change leasing terms for the vacant Sparks Street federal properties to help find small business tenants.

All of these requirements need to be met before any encroachment permits are issued for the project.

Tierney also asked for a recent cost evaluation, referencing the original estimated price tag of $600 million, but the PSPC representatives were unable to confirm the cost.

Gameiro and Tsang were also asked about details like the proposed tunnel for pedestrians and deliveries, the hoarding and gating around the site, as well as features of the renderings like cranes. 

“The renderings are diagrammatic, and the exact amount of space we need… are things we’re still actively reviewing…” said Gameiro. “One of our guiding tenants is trying to minimize the impact to city right-of-ways.”

Tierney also mentioned the ongoing discussions between about the sale of Wellington Street, the PSPC representatives at the committee meeting emphasized that the future of Wellington Street is entirely separate from the plans for South Block. 

Coin. Stephanie Plante, city councillor Rideau-Vanier ward was also in attendance, though she is not a member of the committee, and she voiced concerns that the increase in truck traffic along King Edward Avenue would impact her constituents. 

Why McHale is in favour:

Kevin McHale attended the committee meeting as a delegate to speak in favour of the project “despite the difficulties it will create along Sparks Street to the area for a decade.”

One of the planned communication strategies for the project is an ongoing relationship with McHale’s team, including notice of construction letters, and maintaining the project as a standing item on the Sparks Street Mall Authority board meetings to regularly provide updates and answer questions.

During delegation, McHale explained that the working relationship between his team and PSPC has improved considerably in the 11 years that he has worked for Sparks Street.

PSPC has worked to mitigate impacts on Sparks Street and communicated closely with the BIA and Mall Authority to keep McHale in the loop, he said, including pausing construction during major events like Winterlude when possible.

According to McHale, the project will “bring back life” and “revitalize an empty office complex.” While he acknowledged the negative impacts of hoarding and construction on Sparks Street, McHale said his time will “rethink” how to boost the area.

When asked about the motion tabled by Troster, McHale said an MOU would be a “key piece” to hold all parties accountable and ensure the plans “become a reality” for Sparks Street. 

“The flow of traffic is important. The reality is that Wellington (Street) is a major East-to-West connector through the downtown core space,” McHale added. “Maintaining the flow of traffic is important for the operators of our businesses to be able to get deliveries for service providers to come through as it is for the general impression to the public. So it’s something that’s very important to us.”

However, he said the project will be a much-needed investment in the revitalization of Sparks Street and the surrounding areas.

At a meeting of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee on Tuesday, McHale requested the committee advise City Council to expand the boundaries of the Sparks Street BIA to encompass more of the downtown core and fill “service gaps” for businesses in the area. The expansion would allow the BIA to bring resources to more businesses that are not currently part of a BIA and create a cohesive approach to revitalizing downtown business, including by allowing events like Winterlude to spread further through the downtown. 

Where that leaves us

The committee carried both motions and will meet again on Oct. 24. As the project mobilizes, PSPC has committed to ongoing communications with the City of Ottawa, Ottawa residents and the Sparks Street BIA and Mall Authority as the planning process continues. If construction is expected to impact traffic on Wellington Street, the PSPC will be required to report to the transportation committee directly, and the committee will reserve the right to refuse the project an encroachment permit, possibly halting the project.