East Ottawa Star
Published: Friday, March 6, 2009 A vision for the old Canadian Tire Two weeks ago I asked you what should be done with the old Canadian Tire store on Tenth Line. Sadly my idea of a restaurant mecca didn’t resonate. As for the EastOttawa.ca reader poll, 43 per cent said sell it to developers, 19 per cent thought it could be our health hub, 15 per cent opted for an indoor skate park, 14 per cent voted for more greenspace and nine per cent chose a youth centre. Forgive me, but sell it to developers? Well there’s a recipe for a quick zoning change, terrace homes, town homes and dinky lots the width of a single-car driveway. Good Lord, where is the vision? Oh, and good luck with all that traffic at Tenth Line and Charlemagne. On a more positive note, the column did elicit great reader feedback. I received an e-mail from the executive director of SKETCH Orléans about the real challenges of finding a permanent home for this amazing organization. I will write about them in a future column; for now take a look at their website at www.sketchorleans.com and the great things they offer local youth. Most heartening for me was the response by local in-line skaters and skateboarders. Several e-mails came from teenagers asking on what they can do to convince city officials, local businesses, anyone, to build an indoor skate park on this site. In response, a petition to city officials doesn’t hurt but a business plan is really needed. Where will the money come from? How will the store be converted? Who will supply the indoor ramps? What are the insurance costs? Who will run the facility? Are there any corporate sponsors out there? How will you keep the facility safe? Answers to these questions should be inspired by other skate parks out there; Montreal for example. And if I strike it big in the lottery, I’m in … alright, back to the business plan idea. And then there is the never insignificant issue of what revenues the centre could generate. Maybe an indoor skate park could work given the hundreds of kids that use the outdoor facility down on Youville Drive in the summer. And perhaps a small portion of the old store could be hived off for laser tag, indoor rock climbing, a jam area for budding bands, kids’ birthday parties (ever tried to host a kids’ party in Orléans? Good luck!) and other revenue-generating uses. One thing is for sure, if we as a community – activists, politicians and local business leaders – don’t attempt to stimulate a debate about the future of the old Canadian Tire store, you can rest assured that its present owners will not sit on this land forever and most likely, it will be sold to some developer or another. If this does occur, it will be a housing or commercial development play which will not enrich our lives the way a community facility could. So we will watch and do nothing or will we think, contribute, rally and build? = = = = = Comments can be sent to Walter Robinson at orleansouttakes@transcontinental.ca. |