By John Chenier
Though the news may come as a disappointment to some, the future success of the ByWard Market no longer lies in going back to what it once was. That option no longer figures prominently in the plans.
The ByWard Market is, and will remain, a major destination for residents and tourists alike. But people come here for different reasons. It is a place where tourists can visit and shop once they’ve seen the Parliament Buildings; where convention-goers can come to socialize after a day of meetings; or where residents can find something different from the food courts and shops in their local suburban mall. What they all discover is the oldest part of Ottawa with a unique ambiance and landmark architecture all its own.
That is the message you get when you discuss the future of ByWard with the people associated with the organization responsible for steering the Market to that future, the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA).
People standing outside the Byward Market (Photo: Stefan Hiienurm on Unsplash)
All a board
The BMDA is still very much a work-in-progress. A committee composed of the heads of the former Marché Ottawa Markets (MOM) and the ByWard Business Improvement Area (BIA), along with City officials, is recruiting people for the Board of Directors and the various committees and staff positions.
The selection criteria for the board are vague. The goal is to have members from across Ottawa who have knowledge of the area and who are willing to develop a vision for the future of ByWard. However, those with a business interest in the Market are disqualified from sitting on the board.
To date, six Board members have been selected with four more to go. Three directors were confirmed back in June—Mischa Kaplan (Boy Scouts Canada), Nina Kressler (Shaw Centre) and Grace Xue Xin (Ottawa Community Foundation). They join the Mayor, Mark Sutcliffe, and the former chair of the ByWard BIA who is now chair of the Business Advisory Committee, Deek Labelle. Bryan Chandler, who was the chair of the MOM Board of Directors, is serving as acting chair of the BMDA board.
The voice of business
The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) will have two major roles. The first is bringing the concerns of businesses to the attention of the Board and the staff of the BMDA. The second is serving as a major advocacy group to press for the changes needed to help the Market and the merchants achieve their goals.
The chair of the committee, Deek Labelle, part owner and manager of the Chateau Lafayette, is in the process of recruiting eight to ten members to serve on the committee. She says that each business has its own distinct concerns relating to both their location and their type of business, and that it is important to ensure all areas and business types will be represented. She expects the members of the BAC to liaise with, and speak for, all the businesses in their respective vicinity.
Transforming the business community into a coherent, effective advocacy group that speaks with one voice will be one of main tasks of the BAC. While Ms. Labelle will expect the other members of the BMDA to push for the resources and changes needed to improve the area, the task of driving home the message to decision-makers at City Hall and elsewhere will rest mainly with the business community.
It is expected that the BAC will organize “Lobby Days” where business owners gather at City Hall to meet with Councillors and top city officials to discuss issues. Ms. Labelle points out that the concerns of the local businesses extend beyond the confines of the Market as many businesses that operate here are owned by people with business interests elsewhere in the city.
Outside the Chateau Lafayette (Photo: Lyes Lahlou on Unsplash)
The working parts
The former Executive Director of MOM, Zach Dayler, is the acting Executive Director of the BDMA. He and his staff from MOM are carrying on with their work in the new BMDA. Jeanne Matthiss has been hired as Manager, Business Integration, to provide support for the business community. This fills in a gap left by the dissolution of the BIA.
Mr. Dayler says other staff will be required once the Board is able to provide direction and set priorities according to the resources available.
He sees the ByWard as a place to showcase and celebrate the diversity of Ottawa. “The ByWard has always been a place where the many cultures of Ottawa mingled,” says Dayler. “Ottawa is much more culturally diverse today, which makes a place like the Market, where all cultures come together and learn of each other, even more important.”
He points to events like the Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) as one successful example of sharing cultural experiences.
The challenges
The BMDA is not the solution to all the problems besetting the Market. According to those involved, the success of the new organization will depend on its ability to stick to what it realistically can do and to trust that effective advocacy will get other city and volunteer agencies to work on the issues that the BMDA is incapable of addressing.
Funding will be a critical factor. According to one person who wishes to remain anonymous,
“Refurbishing the Market will definitely require a hefty capital investment. Implementing the plans for public realm will cost millions. Yet, several very expensive long-term capital projects are already on the city’s agenda—Lansdowne 2.0, the expansion of the LRT, a new arena for the Senators, a new library. We’re talking billions here. Where is the ByWard going to fit in, if it fits at all?”
From where we are seated at the Lafayette, we can see the site where much of that investment will be needed, the City parking garage. In the spring, the City launched a process seeking plans from private investors to redevelop the land bounded by York, William, Clarence and ByWard Market Square. Ms. Labelle says that the parking garage has three years remaining in its life cycle. After that it will either need costly repairs or be demolished. In her view, whatever happens to the parking garage will have a major effect on the future of the Market. Its fate may depend on the whim and wishes of private investors.
An important issue left unaddressed is who will speak for those most affected by future plans for the ByWard—the people who actually live there. The district impacted by the BMDA includes many residential buildings, and there are thousands of people living within and along its borders who will be affected by whatever developments occur. At the moment, there seems to be no place for their voices to be heard.
It is easy to create a list of priorities for the new organization. It is another matter to develop the means to achieve these. To paraphrase the observations of those involved, where we are now is the result of numerous decisions taken years, if not decades ago. We may know where we want to go from here, but there is no roadmap to tell us how to get there. According to Ms. Labelle, while we may not know how to get there, we know where we want to end up. It is summed up in three words: a space that is pretty, profitable and safe.
BMDA mandate and strategic priorities
- Growing and managing the historic public markets, manage the market building at 55 ByWard Market Square, the other properties in the Market, and the public realm;
- Maintaining the ByWard Market district streetscape and public spaces to a level of service higher than the City of Ottawa Quality Standard;
- Enhancing the resident and visitor experience through public-space enhancements, installations, animation, branding and pageantry;
- Supporting and advocating for property, small business and entrepreneurial interests within the BMDA Operational Boundary, including the availability, accessibility and promotion of local foods, producers, goods, artisans and creators through the public markets;
- Hosting special events and activities of both city-wide and national significance;
- Advocating for investment within the BMDA Operational Boundary in accordance with the City of Ottawa’s ByWard Market Public Realm Plan or other area objectives as determined by the Member (City Council) or the Board;
- Undertaking initiatives that improve community safety and well-being within the BMDA Operational Boundary; and
- Embedding in all initiatives a focus on climate-change adaptation, the advancement of social equity, inclusion and diversity, and celebrating and promoting the cultural and built heritage tradition of the ByWard Market.
