Lansdowne Park used to be a publicly owned historic multi-purpose district, prior to its redevelopment Lansdowne Park contained a stadium (Frank Clair Stadium), an exhibition hall (Aberdeen Pavilion hall), and a multi-purpose entertainment hall (Horticulture Building). In September 2007, the Frank Clair Stadium was forced to shut down after cracks were found in the concrete structure, inspectors declared the structure unsafe and ordered immediate evacuation. Although this caused some immediate scheduling problems for local sports teams, Ottawa’s former mayor, Larry O 'Brien welcomed the closure and hinted to possible redevelopment plans for the stadium and surrounding area. For many years prior to the closure, Lansdowne Park was operating at a deficit and most of the actual green space was paved over due to lack of funds, this meant that public support for redevelopment was high. Less than a month after the closure the local city council approved a design competition for the site. They were some really interesting …show more content…
OSEG’s proposal also included a residential and commercial component to pay for the upgrade. The competition was suspended, Mayor O 'Brien and sever other city council members pushed for this plan to be adopted. This was not a new idea the city of Ottawa has been considering plans to rejuvenate the area since the 1990s, even then they received a proposal to convert most of the lands into a residential development, however due to public outcry the plan was abandoned. The process became more complicated when another sports group The Senators Sports & Entertainment (SSE) approached the city about building a soccer-specific stadium. The stadium was to house a Major League Soccer professional franchise which the Senators group was in the processes of