3D Thursday: Lewis blossoms

Spring is finally here, and with it the trees are blossoming. Across from Minto Park* on Lewis Street, this tree makes for quite the 3D experience:

Source photos for the 3D image: Left, Right

Also within the Golden Triangle, a couple blocks east on Lewis, at MacDonald, is another blooming bush whose lotus-like flowers look like they're floating in the air when you look at them with 3D glasses on:

Source photos for the 3D image: Left, Right

Let's hope the nice weather lasts!

*On the topic of Minto Park, the CCCA is hosting its annual BBQ, plant sale, and e-waste drop-off at the annual Minto Park Sale, on Saturday, June 14, 2014. These fundraisers will be important for the CCCA as we will need funds for expert assistance as we prepare for our OMB appeal of the Centretown Community Design Plan this fall. If you'd like to volunteer for the CCCA's Minto Park Sale activities or for the OMB appeal effort, please contact the CCCA (ccca@centretowncitizens.ca).

[Tune in on Thursdays at noon for a new 3D image. View the 3D label for other posts with 3D images. 3D FAQ]

Jane's Walk Ottawa 2014 this weekend

This weekend (May 3-4, 2014) is the annual Jane's Walk Ottawa series of free urbanist walking tours, and as with last year, I'm publishing a list of walks in Somerset Ward.

I mentioned two of the walks I went on last year in my blog posts The Lonely Elm (Dennis van Staalduinen's walk on Wellington Street, who this year is giving a walk in Champlain Park) and The stones don't fall far from the hill (Quentin Gall's talk on Ottawa's Building and Monument Stones), both of which seem to have been one-offs.

Here's the rundown of Jane's Walks in Centretown for this year:

Minto Park Sale tomorrow: BBQ, Plant Sale, e-Waste drop off and more!

The annual Minto Park Sale is tomorrow (Saturday, June 15, 2013) from 8am to 2pm in Minto Park on Elgin Street.

A new record of 75 tables have been booked by people selling their household items, crafts, art, etc.

The CCCA will be renewing its suite of popular activities, including the electronic waste drop-off, where you can bring your broken/unwanted electronics to be safely recycled without charge--also raising funds for the community! A full list of what can be dropped off is on the Recycle Your Electronics website. Let's see if we can collect more old Centretown electronic junk than we did at our last e-waste drop off in October!

The CCCA barbecue will be back again, with yours truly as grillmaster, and I'll be firing up two grills this year! In addition to the hotdogs and veggie dogs of the last four years, we'll also have sausages from the Glebe Meat Market, and there'll be grilled onions this year to top them off! Service starts at 10am.

There will also be two specialized CCCA activities in Minto Park during the sale, the annual plant sale to raise funds for the CCCA Tree Fund...

...and a bake sale to raise funds for the Minto Park Games Tables project.

We'd greatly appreciate your help with any of these initiatives, even if you just show up for an hour or two, to help sell and serve the dogs and to help promote the community association and recruit new members.

If you're not into that, at least come out to the sale to get some great finds!

Note: the annual Minto Park Sale is organized by Councillor Diane Holmes, in whose office I work.

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

What's Happening in Centretown - April 2013 (CCCA)

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Today's blog post is a message sent yesterday to the e-mail list of the Centretown Citizens Community Association by CCCA President Jordan Charbonneau. I've added the photos to this version.

I encourage all residents of Centretown to attend the Centretown Community Design Plan consultation meeting tomorrow night at 7pm at Dominion-Chalmers United Church. This will be an important opportunity for CCCA members and other Centretowners to learn more about the deal brokered by the CCCA and some members of the development industry. I should also note that I am on the Board of the CCCA. Of the 6 Board members who voted on this agreement on the second day of the February 2013 CCCA board meeting, I was one of the 4 who voted against (one of whom resigned after the motion was approved later by e-mail). I also remind readers, again in the interest of disclosure, that I work in the office of Councillor Diane Holmes, who has publicly objected to a number of provisions of the CCCA-developer agreement. Lots of information is in the April 2013 edition of the Centretown Buzz. 

3D Thursdays: Autumn in Minto Park

It's the time of year when the weather gets colder and the leaves change colours. It's also Thursday, which means today's post is in 3D. Get your red-blue glasses out for this great shot of Elgin Street's Minto Park:

Source photos for the 3D image:Left, Right

The focal point of the image is the statue of Argentinian General José de San Martin.

[Tune in on Thursdays at noon for a new 3D image. View the 3D label for other posts with 3D images]

[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]

Minto Park Sale 2012

Tomorrow is the annual Minto Park Sale, organized by Councillor Diane Holmes (disclaimer: I work in her office). This sale provides a chance to have a yard sale table for those who live in buildings without a yard. And it takes place in historic Minto Park, on Elgin Street.

This year, there will be over 70 tables, plus other events. Funds raised by table rentals will go to Women's Initiatives for Safer Environments (WISE). In addition, there will be a raffle for many prizes of gift certificates along Elgin Street.

As mentioned by CCCA president Jordan Charbonneau in his May 2012 message to CCCA members, the association will be holding its fourth annual barbecue in Minto Park during the event, raising funds for the CCCA and WISE. I will be returning in my role as grillmaster to serve up hotdogs and veggie dogs for two dollars apiece.

As usual, the CCCA's hard-working Trees and Greenspace Committee will be hosting its annual plant sale during the event, the proceeds of which go to the CCCA Tree Fund, dedicated to improving greenspace in Centretown.

New for this year is another CCCA fundraiser, an e-waste drop off site. Drop off your used electronics at the dumpster provided on Lewis Street next to the park for free, and the CCCA will receive funds from Ontario Environmental Stewardship according to the total weight of electronics collected. So haul out that old TV or computer monitor and clear out your closet of that old VCR and discman! A full list of accepted items is on the this event page.

There are also a number of other events, including a street sale on Waverley, the Elgin Street Book Sale, and a strawberry social at Knox Church:

None of this could happen without the contribution of volunteers. The CCCA will be needing volunteers to help with the electronics drop-off site and the BBQ, and also to help people fill out membership forms to join the CCCA (at a bargain price of $5/year!). Contact ccca@centretowncitizens.ca, or just show up.

Minto Park (named after the Governor General), is a great little heritage park with a fascinating history:

“Minto Park was created following a petition from residents of Lewis and Gilmour Street to
the City of Ottawa Board of Park Management. The City purchased the vacant land in 1898
from J.R. Booth and created Minto Square named after the newly arrived Governor General
Lord Minto. Minto Square was designed as an ornamental park with interlacing half circles,
trees and planting beds, to be enjoyed for its visual appeal rather than for active recreation.
The buildings facing Minto Park, constructed between 1892 and 1906, comprise a coherent
streetscape representing the changing architectural styles and building craftsmanship
popular in Ottawa at the turn of the century. Alexander Garvock, a builder, was one of the
first residents of Minto Park. He built two of the houses facing the park. The Church of Our
Father, now Eglise Unie St-Marc, at the southwest corner of the park, was designed in 1900
for the Unitarian church by the architectural firm of Arnoldi and Ewart. Minto Park’s
significant grouping of low scale residential buildings, exhibiting compatible stylistic
attributes and surrounding a planned square, form a special place in the historic
development of Ottawa” (from the City of Ottawa, quoted in this PDF)

So come celebrate the park, the neighbourhood, and the many activities and causes that make up this growing annual event.

See you on Saturday!

CCCA News & Events May 2012

The following message was recently sent to the e-mail list of the Centretown Citizens Community Association by CCCA President Jordan Charbonneau. I've added the photos to this version. Join the CCCA, follow @CentretownCCA on Twitter, and get on the e-mail list to receive 2-3 updates per month from the CCCA. Note that Images of Centretown is my personal blog and not a blog of the CCCA.

Good evening,
I've outlined below some of the events and initiatives of note in Centretown. More information on upcoming events is available on the CCCA website, which I encourage you to check often.

Centretown Community Design Plan Meeting: This is certainly the biggest CCCA-sponsored event so far this year, and probably for the last few years! Members of the CCCA, in particular Joan Spice and Judy Forrest, have been working extremely hard to prepare for this meeting on 30 May 2012, which is intended to inform and engage Centretown residents regarding the soon-to-be-finalized Centretown Community Design Plan. George Dark, the consultant who led the creation of the plan, and several CCCA and City figures will be in attendance and presenting on the plan. See the attached poster for more information (which I encourage you to print and post around the community or send electronically to your networks) and come out to the meeting to take part in the discussion of this extremely important document!

Minto Park Sale: While the community design plan meeting is our main focus at the moment, don't forget that Councilor Diane Holmes' annual Minto Park Sale will take place from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, 16 June 2012 in Minto Park! If you're interested in participating, send an email with your home address and a contact phone number to MintoParkSale@ottawa.ca ($10 per table rented). The event will include a CCCA BBQ, bake sale, plant sale and electronic waste collection service (see the Recycle Your Electronics website for exactly what we can take as part of this service. Note that it does not include light bulbs or things like toasters). I have attached the poster for this event; feel free to distribute it as well!

Volunteer Opportunities:
Heritage Conservation District Study: A reminder that, this summer, Heritage Ottawa is helping conduct a study of heritage conservation districts (HCD) in four Ottawa neighbourhoods: Rockcliffe Park, New Edinburgh, Lowertown and Centretown. In order to pull it off, however, they need volunteers! There will be a two-hour training session in the evening of Monday, 4 June 2012, and conducting the survey itself takes just a few hours. If you're interested, please respond to this email by next Tuesday, 22 May 2012.

Buzz Deliverer: Don't forget that the Centretown Buzz newspaper is always looking for volunteers to help with delivery. In particular, they need individuals with a vehicle to make some of the larger deliveries (gas reimbursement negotiable). Let me know if you're interested, or if you'd like more information.

Transportation Committee Chair: We are currently looking for a chair for our Transportation Committee. If you have an interest in transportation-related issues (and that's pretty broad!), let me know. The committee usually meets once a month to review and discuss transportation developments, but the role could be yours to shape! Many thanks to Robert Dekker, CCCA vice-president and co-chair of the Planning and Development Review Committee, for his excellent work in this role.For more information on the CCCA, including its meetings, see our website.
Have a great long weekend!

CCCA News & Events March 2012

The following message was recently sent to the e-mail list of the Centretown Citizens Community Association by CCCA President Jordan Charbonneau. I've added the photos to this version. Join the CCCA and get on the e-mail list to receive 2-3 updates per month from the CCCA. Note that Images of Centretown is my personal blog and not a blog of the CCCA.

Good evening,

I hope that you enjoyed the recent heat wave that has auspiciously marked the beginning of spring. While temperatures look as though they will be more seasonable for the near future, we've certainly had a taste of the coming warmth!

I've outlined below a short summary of some of the events and initiatives of note in Centretown. More information on upcoming events is available on the CCCA website, which I encourage you to check often.

Upcoming meetings and events in Centretown - including tonight!

The following message was sent to the e-mail list of the Centretown Citizens Community Association early this morning. Join the CCCA and get on the e-mail list to receive 2-3 updates per month from the CCCA. Note that Images of Centretown is my personal blog and not a blog of the CCCA.


Dear CCCA members and followers,

There are some important meetings coming up in the next couple of weeks:

Tonight, Wednesday, March 23, 7-9pm
Public meeting on 224 Lyon (at Gloucester) development
7pm, Ottawa City Hall, 110 Laurier (Richmond Room)

The CCCA has already submitted comments lauding many positive aspects of the plan, but asking that the height and setback limits not be increased. The CCCA has also asked that mature trees removed for this development be replaced by more trees (on site or elsewhere), asking for visitor parking to be included, and asking that, if the City grants the height increase, that it seek a Section 37 agreement for the increased density.

The City of Ottawa has more information on this proposal here:
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__7FKLD1


Other rezoning applications

June's another busy month in Centretown

I thought that last month had a lot going on, but this month is even busier!

First up, I was in the Ottawa Sun and on the cover of its free commuter daily affiliate, 24 Hours today. The topic of discussion was the yellow house on Gladstone, which I previously blogged about here, and the Bay & Nepean site, which I blogged about here.

There's also Doors Open Ottawa this weekend. For the armchair tourist, check out some of the sites (and others) that I've blogged under the "Tours label"

Next week there are a gazilion and a half meetings, including:

Bronson Consultation:
DCA President Eric Darwin has a series of posts going up on West Side Action regarding the reconstruction of Bronson Avenue. He and I are both on the Public Advisory Committee, whose goal is to shape the vision of Bronson post-redevelopment. I blogged about that previously here.

Many of us on the PAC aren't satisfied with the level of consultation and want to hold our own consultations and talks. We've secured a table-sized printout of the existing conditions on Bronson, and we'll be meeting sometime next week (TBD) to discuss opportunities, prior to the next PAC meeting on the 15th (which is for PAC members only, unfortunately). Contact me at centretown.ottawa -at- gmail - dot- com if you're interested or if you have feedback.

Mid-Centretown Community Design Plan
The CCCA's Planning & Development Review Committee is taking a pro-active role in providing input to the consultation for the Mid-Centretown Community Design Plan. The consulting team will be holding an open house next Tuesday, June 8th from 5:30 to 7pm at Woodside Hall in Dominion-Chalmers United Church on Lisgar/Cooper/O'Connor.

This is an important planning document that will set guidelines for Mid-Centretown (Elgin-Kent, Gloucester to the 417) as development in that corridor picks up pace, giving it a coordinated shape that makes sense.

The consulting team have developed a blog on the project at midcentretown.wordpress.com

Segregated Bicycle Lanes
The Segregated Bicycle Lane pilot study, which I previously summarized here and whose website is at www.ottawa.ca/bikelane, is having four open houses in the next couple weeks:

June 7 – Dalhousie Community Centre, Somerset at Empress (6:30-8:30)
June 8 – McNabb Community Centre, Percy at Gladstone/James/Florence (6:30-8:30)
June 10 – Dominion-Chalmers United Church, Lisgar/O'Connor/Cooper (6:30-8:30)
June 14 – City Hall (5-7)

Minto Park Sale and CCCA BBQ
Councillor Holmes is again hosting the Minto Park Sale, a yard sale for those of us without yards, on Saturday, June 12, 9am-3pm in Minto Park (Elgin at Gilmour/Lewis). Book a table for $10 at mintoparksale@ottawa.ca . The CCCA's Trees & Greenspace Committee will be holding its annual plant sale at the event.

The CCCA will also be hosting a fundraiser BBQ like last year, with yours truly at the grill. We'll be serving all-beef hotdogs and veggie dogs, plus soft drinks, and a water station to refill your water bottle, and we'll also be selling CCCA memberships. Funds raised by the BBQ will be split among the CCCA and the Minto Park Sale's beneficiary for 2010, the Well at St. John the Evangelist Church. Note: We're still trying to locate a decent-sized barbecue to borrow from someone near Minto Park. Contact me if you can help (we have one that we can borrow but it may not be big enough)

This is our second-biggest fundraiser of the year, so please come by and grab a dog and support your local community association!

Monthly CCCA meeting
The monthly meeting of the Centretown Citizens Community Association is on the third Tuesday of the month, as always, at City Hall at 7pm (Honeywell Room). The guest this month will be mayoral candidate Alex Cullen.

This follows the previous day's meeting of the CCCA's Planning & Development Review Committee, which meets on the second Monday of the month at 5:30, usually at the Second Cup on Elgin at Lisgar (though we may be migrating to a reserved room at City Hall).

Cycling blogs
The Ottawa Sun has a new cycling-related blog called the SpokesMan, at blogs.canoe.ca/spokesman, by Kris Westwood.

There's also the new-to-me blog, and new on the Blogawa feed, The Incidental Cyclist, by Kate and her bike, Mike. Kate talks a lot about issues pertaining to people who cycle for transportation.

Carling Avenue reconstruction
Carling Avenue is being reconstructed between the O-Train tracks and Bronson Avenue. There will be an open house on the project on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 from 7-8pm at the Dow's Lake Pavillion, Vista Room.

All of these events are open to the public, there are a few other things going on this month that aren't that I haven't listed here, but some of which I'll be able to blog about as they happen.


Again, remember that your local community associations participate in all of these events. Please support them by coming out to meetings and events, becoming a member, and donating generously!

Springtime is busy for the CCCA

The CCCA Heritage Event in April was very successful, and is only the start of a full season of activities the Centretown Citizens Community Association has planned for the Spring.

1. Safety - A Community forum on SCAN

Date: Thursday, May 13, 2010
Time: 7:30-9:00 pm (doors open at 7pm)
Location: Dominion-Chalmers United Church, O'Connor and Cooper

The CCCA does not have a position for or against the Ontario SCAN legislation proposed by Ottawa-Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi. Because it's such a controversial issue, the CCCA's Safety Committee is hosting a forum on SCAN where expert panellists both for and against SCAN will speak about and answer questions about the legislation, and hopefully clarify any misconceptions about it. The forum will be hosted by CTV News at Six's Graham Richardson.

2. May 2010 CCCA Board meeting presentations

Date: Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Ottawa City Hall, Honeywell Room

CCCA Board meetings are open to the public and to CCCA members. This month we have three big presentations:

• 2010 Ottawa Mayoral Candidate Jim Watson will be speaking to the association and will take questions from CCCA members


• Light Rail Ottawa Project presentation from the City of Ottawa's Rail Implementation Office (presentation plus Q&A period)


• Segregated Bike Lane Pilot Study presentation from Colin Simpson of the City of Ottawa's Transportation department

Colin gave the Bike Lane presentation to the Dalhousie Community Association last night where many concerns were raised and some questions answered. This presentation is the one that was scheduled for the March 2010 CCCA meeting but cancelled at the last minute.

3. Yuk Yuk's CCCA fundraiser

Date: Thursday, May 20, 2010
Time: Doors open 7:30pm, Show starts 8:30pm
Location: Yuk Yuk's Downtown Ottawa, 292 Elgin Street (between MacLaren and Gilmour)

As with last year's successful event, the CCCA is once again partnering with Yuk Yuk's comedy club for a fundraiser on Thursday, May 20th. Tickets can be purchased from CCCA Board members (including me), and half the $14 ticket price will go to the CCCA. The ticket price also includes a free CCCA membership if you are eligible ($5 value).

This is an important fundraiser because it allows the CCCA to carry on tcohe many other activities held throughout the year.

Yuk Yuk's has renovated their frontage on Elgin street since last year:


4. Minto Park Sale - CCCA BBQ and plant sale

Date: Saturday, June 12, 2010
Time: Sale is from 8am to 2pm, BBQ is from 11-1
Location: Minto Park, Elgin-Gilmour-Cartier-Lewis

The annual Minto Park Sale, organized by Somerset Ward Councillor Diane Holmes, originated as a way for those without front yards to have a yard sale. It has since grown, and anyone can rent a table for $10. The funds raised go to a good cause (last year it was the Cambridge Street Elementary School's Kindergarten Play Structure Fund). To book a table, send an e-mail to mintoparksale@ottawa.ca

Last year, for the first time, the CCCA held a Barbecue fundraiser during the Minto Park Sale, and raised funds for the CCCA and the Cambridge Elementary's play structure fund. The CCCA's Trees and Greenspace Committee uses the Minto Park Sale as a venue to have its annual plant sale, where the sales of the donated plants help to fund the Committee's activities to green Centretown:

We welcome you to come out to the Barbecue, to donate plants for the plant sale, or to volunteer to help out with either event.

You can also just come out to the Minto Park Sale and pick up some of the great deals. Last year Elgin Street Video sold many of its de-commissioned DVDs, and I got one of Jim Furminger's wonderful prints of an Elgin Street scene:

5. Bronson avenue consultation

Date: Ongoing

As mentioned in the April 2010 CCCA report in the Centretown Buzz newspaper, things aren't looking too well for the reconstruction project of Bronson Avenue, which is due for reconstruction soon to replace the century-old water systems underground.

I'm the CCCA's representative on the Public Advisory Committee (PAC), and the drawings shown by the consultants at the first PAC meeting reflected only the street's use as a roadway, and they did not consider many other statuses, including the fact that Bronson is a scenic gateway, that much of it is zoned Traditional Mainstreet, that there are recommendations in the Somerset Heights Transportation and Parking Study, the Escarpment Area District Plan, the Chinatown Gateway Arch, and others. They actually want to widen Bronson, which will only mean cars travelling faster (though not necessarily getting anywhere more quickly when traffic signals are factored in), and less space for pedestrians and residents.

I welcome your feedback on Bronson Avenue reconstruction, and what you, as a Centretown resident, want to see on Bronson. If you have specific feedback as to problem points on Bronson (e.g. places where it's hard to cross or dangerous locations), that's also useful feedback that I can bring to the PAC.

You can leave your feedback in a comment below, or you can send me an e-mail at centretown.ottawa@gmail.com

Note: I am the Corporate Secretary of the Centretown Citizens Community Association.

Urban Tree Conservation

On Tuesday, the City of Ottawa's Planning and Environment Committee (agenda) will be considering an Urban Tree Conservation Strategy, including the implementation of a by-law to protect distinctive (i.e. large) trees on private property within the urban boundary of the city.

We sometimes take our trees for granted in the city. The City's arborists have been pretty good at preserving our trees when they can, such as these wonderful ones in Minto Park:

Especially with the Emerald Ash Borer bug coming to take away our Ash trees, the City has been planting lots of trees, and wants to minimize the unnecesary removal of other types of trees. After all, it takes decades (or centuries) for trees to grow, yet they can come down in just minutes.

Here's one that was delivered to be installed in the median on MacLaren at O'Connor: