Ottawa's Lansdowne Park on endangered place list

The Heritage Canada Foundation has added Ottawa's Lansdowne Park to its list of Top 10 endangered places for this year.

It calls Lansdowne Park "a massive redevelopment project incompatible with the heritage of the 142-year-old park — selling a public legacy short."

The redevelopment plan approved by the city in June has left council and the community divided.

The project is a public-private partnership between the city and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG). Under it, the city will renovate the football stadium and hockey arena, while the sport and entertainment group would try to bring a Canadian Football League team to Ottawa, and build shops, restaurants and condos on the site.

The foundation calls itself the national voice for heritage conservation.

The heritage foundation's director of communications, Carolyn Quinn, admits that being on the list may have little impact on what actually happens with Lansdowne Park.

"Being on the list has been very useful for communities who have an endangered place. It's been used as an important preservation tool," she said.

"But that's not always the case. Unfortunately, sites that have started out on our endangered places list have ended up on our worst losses list."

The Glebe Community Association is pleased that Lansdowne Park is on the list, because it has been fighting the redevelopment plan.

"First, it makes people realize that in making decisions about Lansdowne Park we can't just think about what it is now, but about what it has been, and if a national independent organization has declared it to be an endangered heritage place, that shows that it really does have significance," said June Creelman, a member of the board of the community association.

"It's a site that is important and significant to the people of Ottawa. It's been in the city for 140 years."

The Heritage Canada Foundation says two heritage buildings at Lansdowne Park are at risk if the redevelopment project goes ahead.

It says the Aberdeen Pavilion will no longer be visible, and the Horticulture Building will have to be dismantled to make room for residential parking.