Champions of the $129 million plan believe it’s vital that the city embraces the Market rebuild for both its economic engine and its eclectic charm.
The design images of a bright and shiny potential long-term future for the ByWard Market look a bit like contemporary scenes outside a bustling Paris cafe or a tree-lined public market in New York’s Central Park.
In the mock-up pictures of the city’s detailed ByWard Market Public Realm Plan Recommendations Report, the drab greyness of the current Market has been replaced by spots of tree canopies and blooming flower planters.
The narrow sidewalks and tight car-congested streets of today’s reality have given way to expansive boulevards full of strolling pedestrians and welcoming patios. There are also no homeless people lying outside storefronts begging for change and a way out of their dire circumstances.
Indeed, the colourful depiction of a ByWard Market utopia might seem like a pipe dream to those who have witnessed the area decay in the past decade or two, but the champions of the $129 million plan to renovate and refresh the 10-hectare area believe it’s vital that the city embraces the rebuild for both its economic engine and its eclectic charm.
“It’s Ottawa’s oldest neighbourhood,” said Amanda Mullins, the city’s manager of ByWard Market Strategic Projects. “It has the highest concentration of hotel rooms and heritage designated properties in the city.”
For those keeping score, there are more than 600 businesses and 6,000 hotel rooms in the Market.
With Parliament Hill looming in the background, Mullins also says the Market “bridges the concept of town and crown”.
Most long-term Ottawa residents, she says, can share an anecdote or two about a memorable personal or family event with the Market at its core, often with music and or eating involved. She also says the current incarnation of the ByWard Market is an amazing foundation.
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“In terms of how we build upon that, the vision aims to create purposely built quality spaces, something befitting the special space of the national capital.”
The public realm plan has been percolating for awhile.
Online surveys, panel discussions, workshops, interviews with Market businesses and a preliminary design took place between 2018 and 2019. No two cities are exactly alike, but in assessing how the the Market could adapt, the City looked around the globe for examples of how refashioned neighbourhoods spurred positive change.
That includes Temple Bar in Dublin, Baker Street in London, Barcelona Superblocks in Spain and the Detroit Riverfront, across Lake Michigan from Windsor.
City council approved the plan in the midst of the pandemic in 2021. Now, the first step in a reimagined Market is just around the corner, beginning on William Street in 2026. That part of the project will be financed by the $11.8 million received from the Ontario government in the Ontario-Ottawa Downtown Economic Recovery Fund.
“It’s refreshing,” said Zachary Dayler, an urban planner who also serves as executive director of the ByWard Market District Authority. “The Public Realm plan is ambitious about what can actually be achieved with better pedestrian access, more trees and being well-lit. William Street is following the (grand) plan.”
The major issue is where the financing for the remainder of the grand ByWard Market plan will come from. Dayler says the William Street portion of the project could be the kickstart for the city to put its money where its Market meal ticket is.
“There has been a lot of wear and tear on the neighbourhood,” he said. “The city has already done significant maintenance in other areas, including Wellington West, along Elgin, and on Main Street.
“It’s time to see that kind of investment in the ByWard Market. I’m optimistic that a lot of work can get done over the next five to 10 years.”
There has been an ebb and flow of businesses coming and going from the Market in recent years, but Dayler is bullish on what’s ahead. He cites the pending arrival of the Live Nation music venue in the old Chapter’s building on the corner of Rideau and Sussex.
“If they didn’t see a value in the future, they wouldn’t have been interested,” he said.
In 2024, the Market had 22 million visitors, down from pre-pandemic numbers, but the hope is that both locals and tourists will be keen on taking advantage of a more open public space in the future.
“With immigration and cultural changes, there’s a different understanding of public spaces and density,” said Dayler. “People have smaller backyards, they want to spend more time in public spaces. We’ve seen provincial changes in zoning and density and that requires cities to change. That’s why transit is so important. I like to think of it in terms of 15-minute cities, not 15-minute neighbourhoods.”
The city’s much maligned LRT does incorporate the Market well, with the Rideau Station emptying out into the action. That’s also not far from where much of the city’s homelessness and opioid crisis is centred, which is a known deterrent for would-be visitors to the area.
“We have to acknowledge that’s a situation across Canada and North America,” said Dayler. “But the city has a lot of great services, with 2-1-1 and block leaders, the community engagement and Ottawa Inner City Health trying to help people along the path to employment. What you’re seeing in ByWard is decades of decisions to put clusters of services downtown. The city is exploring the relocation of some shelters around the city.”
A small gesture linking Ottawa’s past to the future could be finding a way to incorporate an Ottawa Music Hall of Fame somewhere nearby, recognizing the talent that lives here and has passed through town over the years.
In another effort to leap forward while recognizing the past, some of the new installations could include a nod to the city’s lumbering past. A redesigning effort might also serve to “Remember the Bywash”, the overland water channel which once connected the Rideau Canal to the Rideau River, running along George Street.
Can any or all of the above significantly help lift the stock of the Market?
“There’s an overwhelming amount of evidence that speaks to other cities making public realm investments and how that benefits visitation, benefits the economy and benefits community safety and well being initiatives,” said Mullins.
“So, we’re drawing upon that best practice.”
The ByWard Market vision
It’s a bicentennial project, of sorts. Back in 1826, the first public market appeared in the area, servicing the Irish labourers who arrived to transform a boggy swamp into the monumental project that became a signature structure of Ottawa. Oh, if only the Rideau Canal walls could talk.
When it’s complete, lighting will be enhanced and flexible, multi-purpose vending stalls will be in place. A wide public space will give way to “flush curbs”: no raised barriers in front of restaurant and store fronts.
The focus is on having adaptable open space and the updated infrastructure will include electricity and water supply to service a variety of special events.
Ultimately, William Street could be closed to vehicular traffic between Rideau and Clarence, with an exception made for deliveries.
Down the road, wide promenades could also be established on York, George and Clarence Streets.
A “Flex Plaza” could be established on the western edge of York Street, creating a more natural gateway towards Major Hill’s Park. The idea is to establish a ByWard Market Square – off limits to vehicles during the summer – as a home for special events.
Smaller spaces can be transformed into larger areas by using “bollards”, barriers that can be easily removed when required.
Public art, segregated cycling lanes and the possibility of a state of the art “destination building” on William Street are also among the many ideas that have been floated to draw more people.
Editor’s note: This story is part one of a five-part Postmedia series called How Canada Wins. Stay tuned for more.
