Parsimony: economy in the use of means to an end;
In light of yesterday’s news that the south side stands at Lansdowne Park truly do suck*, does it not now make even less sense to re-develop Lynx Stadium, or worse, leave it sit vacant too?
Lansdowne Park is just one big question mark sitting beside the Rideau Canal. (If I were the Ottawa Business Journal, I would qualify that by saying it’s a big question mark sitting on a prime piece of real estate beside the canal.) With more rumors of the CFL** returning and an international design competition to redevelop the site - it’s probably worthwhile to note one thing: The only thing we have for sure right now is a crumbling stadium. (Sitting on a prime piece of real estate.)
On the other hand, with Lynx Stadium we have some known commodities - chiefly a safe building in good condition with a prospective tenant (who intends to use the facility for its designed purpose) killing themselves to sign on the dotted line. “The boy” weighs in with his two cents:
Dear Mayor and the Ottawa Councillors,
I am writing this letter to ask you to really consider the Can-Am League’s proposal to take over Lynx Stadium.
I am 10 years old and I love baseball. It doesn’t make sense to me to put something else in a Baseball Stadium. Besides, I read that it will cost the city of Ottawa 40 million dollars to renovate the stadium. That’s a dumb idea. Won’t the taxes go up then?
This summer, I went to alot of baseball games with my dad. He spent alot of money on tickets, food and merchandise. Sometimes my mom and sister went too. Our family supported the Lynx because many local people got jobs there and it was our team. It wasn’t expensive for our whole family to go out and do something together. It was cheaper than going to the movies.
I made lots of friends there with other kids who went to the games. There were fans who were all ages. There was lots to do there. You could play ball in the picnic area, talk to professional players in the bullpen, play in the kids fun zone and watch the game too. There were people with mental and physical disabilities who also got to enjoy the game. Where will they go next summer?
I also met out of town fans (of the opposing teams) who were visiting Ottawa just to see their team play. They told my parents that they visited places like Parliament Hill and the Market while they were here for the game. One family we met were fans of the Blue Jays and they came to see the Syracuse Chiefs (Blue Jays AAA farm team) because it was easier to drive to Ottawa than go through the border into the US. They said Ottawa was beautiful and that we should be proud of such a great baseball facility.
Alot of people, including me will be missing baseball in Ottawa. I don’t understand how city government works but if you have a baseball league that needs a park and we already have one that will be empty, why don’t we just let them use it?
Zech Kiiffner (emphasis added)
Now the $40M may be picked up by the developer, and I realize there are legal issues to work around, but when all is said and done, I think he makes a fair point. We have a baseball facility. We are likely losing a tenant. We have a prospective tenant willing to move in. Someone at City Hall has to make this happen.
Parsimony, my friends. Keep it simple. Let them play ball.
* For those of you from out of town, or otherwise unfamiliar with the history of Landsdowne Park, it was customary for fans to yell across to the opposing stands that they “sucked” - e.g. “North side sucks”, “South side sucks”. We’re a creative bunch here in Ottawa (sitting on a prime piece of real estate).
** “O’Brien has been meeting with a group of local investors who are putting a business case together to bring back professional football to the capital.
“This group of business people are very high-quality and deep-pocketed,” said O’Brien, who has also been talking with officials from the Canadian Football League about the proposal.” (Ottawa Sun, September 25)
Man. Does that sound familiar. (And in a sickening way.)
