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Archive for September 7th, 2007

Riddle me this….

Posted by Carl on September 7, 2007

Commenter Larry Williams wondered aloud on the previous post: 

It all seems a bit childish when the city councillors say “the Lynx have to ask us first”, instead of simply initiating discussions with the team about a mutual win-win solution.

According to this article, they’ve been having those very discussions.

NASHUA – With the Nashua Pride’s future up in the air, a move north of the border cannot be counted out.

Nashua Pride owner John Stabile said he has had no “direct” contact with anyone from the city of Ottawa, Ontario, which is expected to lose its Triple-A team this offseason, but the Can-Am League is clearly interested in placing a team there for 2008.

“I have not,” Stabile, who was to be interviewed on Tuesday night by the Ottawa Citizen, which sent a reporter to Holman Stadium for the team’s Can-Am semifinal series against the New Jersey Jackals. “The (Can-Am) League called me up to make sure I (followed protocol).”

While Stabile says he hasn’t talked to anyone official about such a move – a source in Ottawa confirmed he hasn’t – there is clearly interest on the part of the Can-Am League to place a team in Ottawa’s 10-year-old, 10,200-seat Lynx Stadium. According to reports in the Citizen, Can-Am League commissioner Miles Wolff met with Ottawa city officials months ago about the Can-Am League taking over the final two years of the Ottawa Lynx’ lease, which expires in 2009. The Lynx are the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.

As part of the deal, the Lynx would drop litigation against the city over parking issues. Wolff has long sought a geographic rival for the Quebec Capitales, a team he owns.

“Baseball stays (in Ottawa) and everybody is happy,” he told the Citizen of the proposal.

(excerpted from the Nashua Telegraph, September 7, 2007)

This is getting crazy.  They know more about this deal in New Hampshire than in Ottawa City Council’s chambers.  Or someone’s not telling the truth….

Major tip of the hat to Patricia for digging up the Nashua story! (I’m going to start cutting and pasting linked stories into the comment fields as many papers archive their stories in a relatively short period of time.)

Posted in ABM, News | 7 Comments »

Keeping our stories straight

Posted by Carl on September 7, 2007

In more ways than one:

The plan, leaked last week by Coun. Jacques Legendre, was a surprise to some, including businesspeople who hoped their own ideas would come to fruition. These included keeping it as a baseball stadium and having Ottawa join the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball (Can-Am) league, making it the site of an enlarged Congress Centre, or a full-service casino…

But Mr. Butler said he has met with every councillor one-on-one on his plan, including Coun. Legendre.

Mr. Legendre, who said publicly that the proposal would prevent the stadium from becoming a white elephant, did not return calls before deadline. 

(excerpted from The Ottawa Business Journal, Tuesday, September 4, 2007)

Re: Legendre strikes out, Sept. 3.

The Citizen editorial says that “Now Mr. Legendre and a private consortium are proposing a $40-million renovation … that would see a hard dome put over the park …” Your readers should know that I am not part of the group advancing that notion.

Although the idea sounds very interesting should Ottawa not have a baseball team as a tenant next season, as it seems likely, I found out about the proposal 24 hours before my colleagues and weeks after city staff and Mayor Larry O’Brien were aware of it.

The editorial describes the parking situation more accurately. If the stadium is ever to succeed in the future, some well-advertised shuttle service will be necessary as will a pedestrian overpass connecting the Transitway to Coventry Road. As Rideau-Rockcliffe councillor, I have worked hard with the Lynx management and city staff to persuade OC Transpo to offer a free shuttle from the Transitway, to identify on-street parking that could be used (starting with parts of Coventry Road) and to negotiate off-site third-party parking agreements.

As far as protecting the residential streets nearby, I stand guilty as charged. Your editorial at least does not accuse me of being responsible for selling off adjacent parking — that was done by the council of the day. Extraordinary as it may seem today, inadequate parking was part of the initial plan. It appeared to make the stadium more affordable. It was one reason that I had opposed the site for the stadium.

I wonder who really “struck out” on this file? I also wonder if the Citizen editorial team would ever be prepared to admit that they hit a foul ball or that they threw a pitch in the dirt?

Jacques Legendre,

Ottawa

Councillor, Rideau-Rockcliffe

(Ottawa Citizen, Friday, September 7, 2007)

Thanks to Pete Toms for bringing the letter to the editor to my attention.

It certainly makes you wonder what’s going on, and who knew what and when.  If the Stadium Group people have met with every councillor “one-on-one”, presumably this has been going on for a while.  Would the mayor and City staff do a complete 180 on their CanAm League plans because of this proposal?  And, while he did us all a favor by doing so, why did Legendre “leak” this proposal while 22 other councillors kept their mouths shut?
 

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