Parents of francophone students and neighbours concerned about a lack of green space spoke up at Tuesday’s finance and corporate services committee, as Ottawa city councillors discussed next steps for a highly anticipated mixed-use development near the planned Corso Italia LRT station.
The committee unanimously approved a plan to sell a portion of the land to the Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) for its market value of $6.49 million.
The existing école élémentaire publique Louise-Arbour is badly overcrowded, according to parents like Alexandra Baril.
She said the school currently relies on seven portables, requiring students to put on their jackets whenever they need to use the washroom in winter, and its staircases are used as storage space.
“There’s no ventilation system,” she said. “There is a real urgency for the community of the school to improve this plan…. I’m worried that my kid in first grade will never get to see this new school.”
The four- to six-floor school would have no gymnasium of its own, relying instead on the planned recreation centre.
City staff included a fail-safe provision in the deal that would allow the school board to purchase more land for a gym if the facility isn’t built within six years.
Concerns over green space remain
When the city secured the land for the development from the federal government in 2021, it was hailed as a game changer for the inner-city neighbourhood.
The sale, and a mortgage loan with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that covers the adjacent Gladstone Village, came with a host of conditions including a one-hectare public park, a community centre expansion and 300 new housing units — half of which must be affordable.
Somerset ward Coun. Ariel Troster said Tuesday that this has been one of her office’s biggest files since day one.
“It represents the dreams of our community and also some major challenges because it is a very rare piece of usable land in downtown Ottawa where there is very little land,” she said.
Initial plans suggested the school could be built at Plouffe Park, setting off a fierce public campaign to save the green space.
The city has since adjusted the site plan to move the site of the future school to sit between the existing park and a new, larger public space.
But nearby residents remain concerned the city is chipping away at its own green space requirements, especially since the committee approved the disposal of more land it hopes to sell to a developer for housing.
“The ratio of green space to people is going to be reduced even further,” Cheryl Parrott told the committee. “This is public land and it should be used for public uses.”
More consultation coming, staff promise
Kitchisippi Coun. Jeff Leiper questioned if today’s vote could lock the city into selling a larger plot of land than it might want.
Robin Souchen, manager of the city’s realty services department, assured councillors that those specifics can change.
“This isn’t a development play,” he said. “We want to put green space — that’s one of the main drivers for acquiring the land, so it is a top priority and I want to make that clear.”
Souchen said the next two years will focus on public consultation. Staff will look at what the community wants from the site and where it should go, but Souchen confirmed construction of the new school can occur at the same time.
The city will spend $2 million to demolish the existing building at 1010 Somerset St. W., which no longer has electricity or running water and is now being used by police for training. That work is set to be done by the end of next year.
Ottawa city council will vote on the land disposal at its last meeting of the year on Dec. 11.