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The City of Gatineau and the National Capital Commission will spend $32 million to beautify Jacques Cartier Street and open up some new vistas of the Ottawa River and the capital’s landmark buildings.
The project will run about three kilometres from the Lady Aberdeen Bridge down along La Baie Park to St. Louis Street. It will include construction of a recreational pathway along the Ottawa River, burying electrical wires, new benches, lights, docks, extensive tree planting, landscaping, building pathways, access roads and parking lots.
The project will be done in three sections, with the first one, between Lady Aberdeen Bridge and Prince Albert Street having a historic and cultural theme. The second section, in the middle part of Jacques Cartier Street, will focus on tourism and recreation. The third section, near Kettle Island, will have a natural focus, with money put into shoreline restoration.
Features of the plan include a terraced viewing area where residents and visitors can see some of Ottawa’s landmark buildings. And the plan includes a large lookout near water level where people will have new views of the Ottawa River.
The NCC is contributing half the cost of the project. This includes $10 million in new funds and $6 million from a property the commission gave to Gatineau a few years ago on the understanding that the value of the property would be used for riverfront redevelopment. The City of Gatineau will borrow to cover its share of the project.
Gatineau Mayor Andre Bureau said the participation of the NCC means the city can do the whole project all at once, rather than doing it in three separate efforts. He said city residents will enjoy the improved access to the water and views, but he also believes the project will make Gatineau a much more green, attractive destination for tourists.
The project will add a scenic drive possibility for people who are coming toward downtown Gatineau and Ottawa from the east, who drive down Maloney Boulevard and then down Jacques Cartier.
The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2009.
The project is the last big piece of waterfront redevelopment for the NCC, which has been building parkways and green space near the water since the 1950s to make the capital more attractive. Other waterfront projects, such as using the Domtar site and redeveloping the Chaudieres-Victoria Island area farther west on the Ottawa, are also on the NCC’s books.
NCC chairman Marcel Beaudry noted this project follows many other such waterfront projects on the Ottawa side, including the Rockcliffe Parkway, the Ottawa River Parkway and, most recently, redevelopment of LeBreton Flats.
The riverfront project could involve some property purchases, but that will be left entirely to the City of Gatineau. The NCC, like many government agencies interested in urban renewal, expropriated land in the past and often ended up tearing down buildings for its beautification projects.
But with this project, the commission is emphasizing it won’t expropriate any property and wants the modest, wooden homes along Jacques Cartier Street preserved. The houses were owned by working people, many of whom worked in the paper mills.
“I’d like to see all these houses remain there,” said Mr. Beaudry. “It’s not a question of saying ‘we’ve got this great view, we’re going to be tearing everything down and we’re going to be putting castles out there.’ These people have been living there. That’s the history of the place. It’s the history of the region. It’s important. It’s a little jewel because of the history behind it.”
“We want to keep the character of the area,” said NCC planning director Francois Lapointe, noting that parking for visitors will be behind existing buildings and people will walk to the waterfront.
Pontiac MP and senior Quebec cabinet minister Lawrence Cannon has called for a public debate about whether the NCC should continue to exist. He attended yesterday’s press conference.
Mr. Cannon, a former Gatineau councillor, did not comment specifically about the merits of the riverfront project. But he said in an interview the project is a good example of the commission working with a municipal government to build up the capital region.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2006