Ottawa group unveiling CFL plan for Lansdowne Park

A group of investors hoping to lure the Canadian Football League back to the city of Ottawa will unveil their plan to revive Lansdowne Park on Friday.

Led by Ottawa 67's owner Jeff Hunt, the group will speak at the Ottawa Civic Centre where they're expected to propose the stadium housing both a football and soccer team. The plan also includes hosting community sports activities and major concerts.

Ottawa was reported as one of three Canadian cities also bidding for a Major League Soccer franchise on Wednesday.

Hunt will be joined at the Friday's news conference by partners Roger Greenberg, the chairman of The Minto Group; John Ruddy, president of Trinity Development Group; and William Shenkman, chairman of the Shenkman Group of Companies.

Hunt and his group were awarded a conditional expansion franchise by the CFL in March, but the league has given no timeline as to when it will return to Ottawa.

The CFL suspended operations for the Ottawa Renegades franchise in 2006. The league was hoping to find a new owner in an effort to bring the Renegades back for the 2007 campaign, but was unsuccessful.

This would be Hunt's second attempt to purchase a CFL franchise for Ottawa.

He was part of the Golden Gate Capital group that was thought of as the leader among three bids to land a CFL expansion franchise for Ottawa in 2007. However, Golden Gate was forced to bow out of the bidding after a prominent group member was diagnosed with cancer.