Creative thinking could make the ByWard Market so much better
The historic ByWard Market was home to a vibrant public market for more than a century. It’s been part of the cultural history of Ottawa since Ottawa was Bytown. Today’s market is a far cry from its past.
A former industrial setting, Toronto’s Distillery District has been transformed with heritage conservation, new retail and commercial space inserted within quirky buildings and new residential and commercial space. There are outdoor spaces for people to enjoy festivals and a performance theatre. There are some underground parking spaces under new buildings but the whole space is pedestrianized.
Granville Island has a vision to the be the most inspiring public place in the world. Backed by Canada Mortgage and Housing, it has been transforming from an industrial wasteland to one of the most beloved public spaces in Vancouver, creating a cultural and artistic hub that is home to artists, public markets and culture.
Ottawa has the potential to be on radar as one the best public places in Canada.
Recent news of the closing of Saslove’s Meat Market, after 70 years in business, comes as no shock. The once vibrant public fruit and vegetable market is all but gone. Tourists flock towards the OTTAWA sign, but its rare that the sign, or approach to it, isn’t obscured by circling cars or idling trucks.
A few years ago, a public realm plan was commissioned. The fourth in a decade, it was released during the pandemic and, in 2021, was unanimously adopted by Ottawa City Council. The report largely ignored public input, creating nearly no pedestrianized streets; its $129 million price tag included only for replacement of sewers and buried infrastructure, replacing roads and parking with wider sidewalks.
Two and half years ago, the City released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Public Private Partnership (P3) to replace the aging parking garage at 70 Clarence. The City never announced a winner. That kind of behaviour borders on deception and eats away at public trust.
Ottawa’s track record with P3 projects (LRT, Lansdowne) doesn’t inspire trust or confidence.
One of the basics of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is that “eyes on the street” helps create a sense of safety.
The Market needs more people, not just tourists. It needs people living in the Market year-round, walking through its streets, providing passersby to a mix of stores and services. With LRT steps away, the Market can be home to thousands of people, providing not just market-rate homes, but subsidized and affordable homes of all kinds. An influx of people will need places to buy their groceries and other daily needs, something we codified in our Official Plan and the concept of 15-minute cities.
This week, the City released an RFP to implement the mediocre 2021public realm plan. This RFP, along with the 2022 RFP and the original plan, all acknowledge that this is a “once in a generation” opportunity to re-envision the Market.
The RFP is a single stage, winner take all, proposal. The public will get one idea from one firm, who will win the RFP based on their low fee, once they meet minimum technical conditions. Lessons from past RFPs in the City suggest that even meeting minimum technical scores isn’t enough, if the fees are cheap. We have ample evidence and example of how to do better.
Creative and new talent is all but prohibited from bidding because of restrictive criteria, unfair contract language and an emphasis on risk avoidance.
We have so much opportunity to be better, to adopt a design culture:
- Host an ideas competition to solicit ideas for the Market, creating a vision for excellence that addressed the challenges, and socio-economic conditions today, setting forward a goal for how the Market can evolve.
- Select the best 10 ideas through a juried process that includes public participation (as was recently done for a park in Toronto).
- Allow the 10 teams to develop and refine their ideas based on feedback and additional information; include public presentations and feedback.
- Select the best proposal and commit to funding and implementation.
Ideas for the Market could include a creative solution that partners with other levels of government, such as CMHC, to create innovative housing (capitalizing on extensive research in Housing First to eliminate homelessness) or create a destination space (such as a National Portrait Gallery) in cooperation with other institutions and government bodies. What we need is a vision for excellence.
We have the talent, and the creativity, to make a #BetterByWard.
The time is now.
Originally published in The Ottawa Citizen.
Photo credit to Tony Caldwell/Postmedia.