November 7, 2025
The redevelopment plan for Lansdowne 2.0 was presented final vote by Ottawa City Council today, Friday, November 7, 2025. After a thorough review of the many complexities of this project, including the Audit of the Lansdowne 2.0 Redevelopment tabled at the Audit Committee this week, I will be voting to support the project.
I recognize and appreciate there are mixed views on Lansdowne 2.0. One only has to look at our local newspaper coverage, such as the VISTAS or the Riverview Park Review, or listen to the delegations at last week’s Special Meeting of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee that took place on October 29th and October 30th, to know that Alta Vista residents are both supportive and non-supportive of this project.
In recent years, I have attended several public consultations on Lansdowne 2.0 where I have appreciated the engagement of Alta Vista residents on this important project. In addition, my office has received numerous telephone calls and emails from Alta Vista residents who are both for and against proceeding with the Lansdowne 2.0 redevelopment plan.
I would like to remind residents that Council’s final vote on Lansdowne 2.0 is not to consider whether the arena and stadium need to be replaced; that decision passed by a unanimous vote in 2021. Since then, with direction from Council, significant progress and funds ($22 million to date) have been expended to redevelop the site and make the partnership sustainable including the addition of more residential towers to assist in offsetting the costs of the redevelopment. It is unfortunate that a previous council did not replace these assets as part of Lansdowne 1.0. The only other municipal arena in Ontario that is of the same vintage is in Brantford, and plans are currently underway to rebuild an event centre there.
The current expected cost of the project is $419 million, with offsetting revenues forecasted to bring the total cost to taxpayers at $130 million. While I understand there are challenges with the existing transportation network and the prolonged construction period that need to be mitigated, my primary concerns are with the increased costs to taxpayers should a decision on Lansdowne redevelopment be delayed any further. If the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal is not approved by Council, taxpayers would not only lose the $22 million already spent, but the costs would escalate. Estimates to replace the arena in 2037 are between $597 million and $752 million, with no offsetting revenues guaranteed. Rejecting the Lansdowne 2.0 proposal means that City taxpayers could bear the full cost of upgrades and ongoing maintenance, as taxpayers did before Lansdowne 1.0 (estimated to be between $8 to $12 million per year), as well as the cost of replacement.
I have witnessed first-hand the impact of delaying decisions on cost escalations. The Police Services Board cancelled the tender of the new South police station in 2021. As such, when the project was restarted in 2023, the cost had escalated by close to $50 million.
I am confident that I have given diligence to thoroughly investigating the challenges and opportunities that Lansdowne 2.0 present, with a view to making the right decision at Council today. I have spent hours deciphering the documents, meeting with staff and asking questions. I am disappointed in how communications have unrolled on this project; they have not been clear and it has led to people being mistrustful. I understand that. Today, it was important for me to ask the most important questions that I have received publicly. I confirmed the impacts of delays, the scrutiny that has been given to the financials, how this project will help the City, and how it can be guaranteed that this project will not result in a tax increase, but will be done within existing tax targets. These questions can be found beginning at the 2:44 time mark of today’s Council meeting.
In closing, many parties representing wide interests have been communicating on Lansdowne 2.0 and providing their own interpretations, which has led to some confusion around the financials and consequences of voting against Lansdowne 2.0. I encourage you to review the Lansdowne 2.0 staff presentation for accurate information. The presentation begins at the 00:25:10 mark.
Marty Carr
Councillor, Ward 18 Alta Vista