A celebration is in order, both for the storied building’s 57-year past and the exciting future of its reincarnation a stone’s throw from the current location.
Unless city council has a disappointing change of heart 10 months from now, the world junior hockey championship is the last hurrah, in terms of major events, for the Arena at TD Place formerly and originally known as the Civic Centre.
Indeed, a celebration is in order, both for the storied building’s 57-year past and the exciting future of its reincarnation a stone’s throw from the current location.
Shed no tears over the old girl’s ultimate destruction.
She’s had an incredible life.
Everyone has cherished memories of games, concerts, and a variety of events they’ve attended at the building that was born in 1967 and had a serious makeover to become the home of the Ottawa Senators for the first 3.5 seasons of their existence.
Everyone has stories to tell, whether they’re from classic moments provided by the Day 1 main tenants, the beloved Ottawa 67’s, or by seeing all-time greats like Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux display their dazzling skills, or being on the floor or field for one of the hundreds of top-level bands that have played Lansdowne Park, a Hall-of-Fame list that includes Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Snoop, Bon Jovi and Willie Nelson and can be found in its entirety as wallpaper in a TD Place meeting room.
But upcoming is also an important time in the history of the Bank St. facility.
The fact of the matter is that council has to give final approval to a $420 million budget it has already delivered a green light for the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to continue its role as a key player in this city’s flourishing tourism industry.
When the grand plan is rubber-stamped on Oct. 22, 2025, the wheels will immediately be set in motion on Lansdowne 2.0, the construction of a spectacular new facility that will be a much-needed new home for the Ontario Hockey League’s 67’s, as well as the Ottawa Charge of the Professional Women’s Hockey League and the Ottawa BlackJacks of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, while providing upgraded seating and added viewing points for the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Redblacks, as well as the Atletico Ottawa of the Canadian Premier League and the newly born Ottawa Rapid FC, a professional women’s soccer team in the fledgling Northern Superior League.
It will also allow the nation’s capital to keep attracting tournaments that grab international attention like the world juniors, as well as shows too big for the NAC and too small for Canadian Tire Centre.
Of the 9.8 million visitors that spend $2.6 billion in the capital – numbers reported by Ottawa Tourism in the 2024 Economic Impact Study – 187 events have attracted four million people and generated $400 million of economic activity this year at TD Place, which has also created 4,000 full and part-time jobs.
Evening Update
Most recently, the arena was jam-packed for WJC pre-tournament games Canada had against Switzerland and Sweden over the past few days, and thousands more will pour through the doors to watch battles that will help determine the participants in the gold medal showdown for global supremacy on Jan. 5 at CTC.
In total, the two-week tournament is expected to be worth about $100 million to the city while filling Ottawa hotels that are usually suffering through a relatively dead period of the winter.
Those are revenues that will be realized despite the arena showing age spots that had Ottawa’s bid for the world juniors looking very much like a longshot.
“We don’t meet the specifications for international tournaments,” said Mark Goudie, OSEG’s president and CEO. “We don’t have enough dressing room space, enough storage space, enough media space, enough any space. And it rains in the rink and all of that stuff.
“Hockey Canada just said, ‘one last time, let’s just go with it. They were anxious to get back to Ottawa, and a little bit to our surprise, they kind of just figured out how to make it work.
“The early plan had them building a tent from this rink across the field so that teams could use the dressing rooms over on the (football stadium) side,” continued Goudie. “Between periods the teams would have to get on golf carts and get driven over. Now we figured it out. We built a dressing room down with the women’s team. We figured stuff out. And Hockey Canada was good about going ‘we’ll just do the best we can and kind of drive on.’
A tent was built and heaters were put in it so teams would have a place to warm up
“It’s not world-class. It’s a makeshift,” said Goudie. “The facilities will be a problem going forward. We’ll never get another one of these.”
At least not one that Ottawa wouldn’t have to share with a city that has a smaller arena to meet qualifications for games not involving Canada, like the Slush Puppy Centres in Kingston and Gatineau.
Through the years, it’s been done much more often than not.
Of the 17 world juniors played in Canada, 13 times there have been co-hosts.
From 1978 in Montreal and Quebec City (260 km apart) to 2003 in Halifax and Sydney (400 km) to 2012 in Calgary and Edmonton (300 km) to 2015 in Montreal and Toronto (543 km) to 2019 in Vancouver and Victoria, which are only 115 km apart but with a travel time of over three hours because they’re separated by water unless you’re taking a 30-minute flight.
On four occasions, three different Canadian cities have joined forces to host the WJC: 1986 (Hamilton, Toronto, London), 1995 (Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer), 1999 (Winnipeg Brandon, and Selkirk) and 2006 (Vancouver, Kelowna and Kamloops).
In 1982, it was hosted by four cities in two different countries – Winnipeg and Kenora in Canada and Bloomington and Duluth, Minn, in the U.S.
Edmonton was co-host of the WJC with Red Deer in 2022 because the cities were scheduled to have the 2021 tournament but instead had to be played behind closed doors only in Edmonton due to the COVID pandemic.
In fact, only two other times was the tournament hosted by one Canadian city – 1991 in Saskatoon and 2009 in Ottawa, which was won by the home team and stands as the most profitable, memorable and dramatic of all world juniors.
“The 2009 tournament was the change in the trajectory of the junior tournament,” said Goudie. “That’s when it became big scale. They set records here in 2009 in one market. It kind of changed the world juniors.”
A Hockey Canada report said the WJC was “the largest single sport event ever held in Ontario” with the total economic activity generated for the province estimated at $80.5 million, while the total GDP (gross domestic product, the monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period) was $32.6 million in the province, with $18.4 million occurring in Ottawa.
Fans not only supported the event in record numbers at the games, with 453,274 tickets issued for the 31 games, but more than 1,500 volunteers chipped in to make it “the best event ever for Hockey Canada”.
This year’s world juniors promises to be even better.
But Lansdowne 2.0 is an extensive project that goes well beyond hockey games.
As you can see among the striking images accompanying this piece that were obtained by Postmedia before their release to the public, it also impacts the outdoor stadium.
Along with the arena’s three-level viewing of the field, the decrepit north side stands will get a direly-needed renovation that will initially set the Ottawa Redblacks back a few steps but ultimately lead to them and the city hosting another Grey Cup.
The step-by-step process starts with the building of the new arena – with luxury boxes that don’t currently exist – that will seat 6,200 fans.
That will take two years, during which the stadium and arena will run business as usual until the end of 2027.
The day after the beautiful new structure is finished, the north side stands and the arena under it will be demolished.
It will then take two more years to rebuild the stands, the retail podium that’s behind it, and the extension of the parking.
During Phase II the football stadium will require makeshift stands and have a reduced capacity, from 24,000 to approximately 14,000, which will be a costly hit for the Redblacks but should create a demand for tickets.
All in all, it’s more than a worthwhile venture.
It’s a necessity if Ottawa is to attract prestigious events, international and otherwise, that aren’t quite big enough for CTC.
“We can’t risk going into the last day of an internationally televised event and having it canceled because there’s leaking happening onto the ice, right?” said Goudie.
Totally on board are the restaurants, bars and stores both in the Glebe and the rest of the heart of the downtown area.
“The business community rallies behind it,” said Janice Barresi, the senior vice president, brand and social impact, at OSEG. “They know this is an economic driver. From a tourism perspective, the local businesses are stoked. I sit on the Glee BIA (Business Improvement Area) and it knows this is a boom for business.
“That’s what it’s all about. This place is vibrant when TD place is alive and attracting these events.”
Ottawa wouldn’t be able to host mid-sized concerts and comedy shows without a functioning arena, which is just barely the case now.
“We’re meeting a sweet spot in Ottawa’s venues (between the NAC and CTC),” said Barresi. “We’re able to attract these events.
“We’ve talked to all of the international sporting events we can still attract (and the new facility) will be meeting all of their needs to be able to accommodate and continue delivering their product here.”
The finish line is near.
Last year, the plan was approved and the $420 million budget was approved.
City staff was told to build a plan, do the architectural drawings, get the zoning and site plan approval, what goes where … do all the costing and send it out to market to see who wants to build an arena and the north side stands.
Come back with a quote, and then, if its within budget, the plan goes back to council for final approval next Oct. 22.
“After that, we’re done,” said Goudie. “We start digging a hole.”
It’s been a long wait already.
An aerial view of Lansdowne at the turn of the century is a reminder of what the area looked like before the new football stadium and surrounding entertainment district were built.
You almost expect to see a horse-drawn carriage going down Bank St.
The reality is OSEG’s discussion with the new facility began in 2006, when it was thought that it would take two years of planning and two years to build.
Instead, the stadium opened in 2014.
“We started talking about Lansdowne 2.0 in 2017,” said Goudie. “And in 2024, we’re almost there.”
But the plug could still be pulled.
With council, there’s no sure thing.
A ‘thumbs down’ now would be a shame.
Ottawa deserves this.
This is what Ottawa needs going forward.
Lansdowne has been a success.
While continuing to drive tourism and attract events like the world juniors to a centrally located venue, Lansdowne 2.0 can expect to be as well.
