The Ottawa Soccer Stadium was a proposed open-air
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
facility in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. It was part of a proposal to bring a
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
franchise to Ottawa by the
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
organization.
Proposal
The stadium, projected to cost $100 million, was designed to hold 20,000 for sports. One end terrace on the north end was convertible to a concert stage for outdoor concerts, and with field seating, the stadium could hold 30,000 for concerts. The field would have had a natural grass surface built to MLS and
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
specifications. Outside of the stadium there would have been five open-air soccer fields, of which one would be to MLS and FIFA standards and the others to community standards. The purpose of the external fields was for community use and the MLS team's practices. The architectural design was by
Rossetti Architects
ROSSETTI is an architectural design and planning firm headquartered in Detroit, Michigan.[Contact]
" ROSSETTI. Retrieved on November 16, 2009. ...
, architects of
Scotiabank Place
Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...
.
The stadium was to be located on City of Ottawa land to the south-east of nearby
Scotiabank Place
Canadian Tire Centre (french: links=no, Centre Canadian Tire) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, located in the western suburb of Stittsville. It opened in January 1996 as the Palladium and was also known as Corel Cen ...
, in the west end of Ottawa, on Palladium Drive, west of Terry Fox Drive. The soccer stadium would share parking with Scotiabank Place. The land is currently frozen for development by the Ontario provincial government as it is on a
floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
of the Carp River.
The land is currently used as a snow dump.
The proponents were Senators Sports & Entertainment, owners of the
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
's
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
. The stadium plans were announced on September 16, 2008 by Scotiabank Place CEO Cyril Leeder and SSE owner and chairman
Eugene Melnyk
Eugene Melnyk (May 27, 1959 – March 28, 2022) was a Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and owner, governor, and chairman of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Ottawa Senators and the AHL's Belleville Senators. He was the founder, chairman, ...
. Senators Sports & Entertainment is seeking funding from all levels of government for construction and operation of the stadium, and will operate a new MLS franchise there separately under private ownership.
To support the initiative, SSE launched the "Bring the World to Ottawa" campaign seeking broad community support.
MLS expansion
While the MLS commissioner gave positive comments about the Ottawa proposal, MLS eventually granted expansion franchises to other cities, including
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
and
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
.
Lansdowne Live
At the same time that the Ottawa Soccer Stadium proposal was made, the City of Ottawa was presented with the "Lansdowne Live" proposal to revitalize
Lansdowne Park
Lansdowne Park is a urban park, historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located on Bank Street adjacent to the Rideau Canal in The Glebe neighbourhood of central Otta ...
and
Frank Clair Stadium
TD Place Stadium (originally Lansdowne Park and formerly Frank Clair Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street crosses the Rid ...
. A public debate went on both proposals, which would both require some investment on the part of the City. In February 2009, a public opinion poll conducted by The Ottawa Citizen, found that 79% of respondents preferred the Lansdowne Park Football facility option over the Kanata located soccer facility.
In April 2009, matters came to a head. The staff of the City of Ottawa presented a report to Council on the merits of the Soccer Stadium and Lansdowne proposals. The City held public hearings based on the report, which questioned the necessity of the spending, but gave a slight edge to the Lansdowne proposal. Councillors attempted to find out whether the SSE group would support sharing their stadium with a planned
CFL franchise, but the SSE group rejected the possibility. Lansdowne Live proponents made it clear that an MLS team, or another pro soccer team, such as one in the North American Soccer League (NASL) could play at Frank Clair Stadium.
On April 22, 2009, the City of Ottawa Council chose the Lansdowne Live proposal over the SSE proposal as its choice for an outdoor stadium. Since that time, the Lansdowne Live proponents and the City of Ottawa have been negotiating over a final plan. Melnyk released a press release expressing his disappointment and directed SSE staff to stop work on their proposal.
References
{{reflist
External links
Official site
Sports venues in Ottawa
Unbuilt stadiums
Proposed sports venues in Canada
Soccer venues in Canada