The following is part of a presentation made on April 3 on behalf of the Ottawa South Community Association (OSCA) to a joint meeting of the City of Ottawa's Health Recreation and Social Services Committee and Emergency and Protective Services Committee.
he public buildings in Old Ottawa South were built on a different scale than the city is used to building today. This year, my son started playing hockey in St. Laurent at the Don Gamble Community Centre. We are very impressed by the size of the facility there - and how it gathers so many community resources, from libraries to swimming pools, under one roof.
Ottawa South is different. We have a small community centre in the heart of the neighbourhood. Our library is a few blocks away. The swimming pool a few blocks further. Our recreational programs rely upon partnerships with the local churches and schools for space.
But in a community like Ottawa South, people walk. They don't mind the fact that community resources and community spaces are scattered. In fact, some of us like it that way. By the definitions of the (the city's draft) Human Services Plan, we are certainly a "complete community."
And with that in mind, I want to commend the Human Services Plan for its emphasis on innovation and flexibility in providing services and infrastructure. We welcome the neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood inventory of assets and needs called for in this document.
And this brings me to my second point. City core communities like Ottawa South have made innovative use of infrastructure that has been around for generations, but facilities are in urgent need of maintenance and upgrade.
When it comes to refurbishing buildings like our Old Firehall (the community centre) - or old schools like St. Margaret Mary - a modest capital investment goes a long, long way. The people in our community aren't looking for millions of dollars to build new community space infrastructure. But they do urgently need funding to improve the safety and the operations of old buildings such as our community centre.
My third point involves the sources of such funding. The Human Services Plan emphasizes the importance of creating partnerships with the private and voluntary sectors in helping finance community needs. Our community has shown leadership in developing these partnerships.
This committee will recall that, last July, representatives from the OSCA and from Bytown Cooperative Child Care spoke here about the need to retain the property at 88 Bellwood for community purposes.
We proposed a private-public partnership that would have the city declare its interest in purchasing 88 Bellwood. The property would thereafter be developed by a partnership of a private developer and various community groups, including Bytown Child Care. The end result would be a property that would retain community space, and would enable the developer to recover its costs.
As the committee may be aware, the Ontario Realty Corporation has not yet decided whether it will declare its interest in buying the property. I just want you to know that we in Ottawa South are still monitoring this file very carefully. You'll be hearing from us again.
Finally, my last point involves community space such as 88 Bellwood. In a city core neighbourhood such as Old Ottawa South, space is perhaps the rarest and most precious of community resources. We can't afford to lose it to development if it means increasing the population pressures on a shrinking inventory of community space.
The property I have just been talking about - 88 Bellwood - is the former St. Margaret Mary School. The Separate Board declared it surplus last year. In addition to serving the school needs of the Catholic parents in the neighbourhood, it was also home to Bytown Child Care, which served 50 families. It also provides playground space that is a favourite for local children, especially for ball hockey tournaments.
We have lost the school. The daycare has shut down - we hope only temporarily. And we may lose the playground in favour of townhouses. When we came before this committee last summer, the idea was proposed by a councillor that - as a matter of policy - the City of Ottawa would acquire any surplus schools that were put on the market.
This was a vision at the time - the question is where would the city acquire the funds. But I think it is a vision worth holding on to. I urge the committee to keep that vision alive, and to work toward it in your day-to-day decisions. Supporting our community association and our daycare in its plan to develop 88 Bellwood is certainly a step in the right direction.
And in the interest of keeping that vision before the city, I would suggest that the language on pages 12 and 13 of the Human Services Plan, concerning the key concept of "sustainability," should include the idea of acquiring real estate that sustains human services.
Anyone wishing to contribute to the community association's efforts to protect community infrastructure is invited to get involved with OSCA's Community Space Committee. For details, contact Dianne Borg by email at dnborg@rogers.com.