Ottawa’s new Arts Court and Art Gallery

For almost 25 years, MPP Madeleine Meilleur has been planning and fighting for the redevelopment of Ottawa’s historic Arts Court. After a long uphill battle, MPP Meilleur, Mayor Jim Watson, city councillor Mathieu Fleury, and many other key figures, met in early October at Arts Court to kick off construction.

The expansion of the Ottawa Art Gallery and the redevelopment of Ottawa’s Arts Court is a $100 million collaboration of the city of Ottawa, the province of Ontario, the University of Ottawa, the Ottawa Art Gallery, Le Group Germain, DevMcGill, and EBC inc.

The tagline for the project, Building a more vibrant city: supporting arts and culture, sums up what many of the speakers shared at the event. “This project is a result of the perseverance of the arts community and the people who believed we need a better facility for the wonderful art in this city,” stated Mayor Jim Watson.

The new development is not simply another highrise building in Ottawa’s downtown core; this project will become “A landmark to artists, audiences, and visitors,” as explained by Mr. Fleury. There was an overall sense of excitement in the room as speakers shared their passion for art, history and culture.

Arts Court is part of an overall redevelopment of Ottawa’s downtown core: from the reconstruction along Rideau St. and King Edward Blvd., to the Rideau Centre expansion, this entire area will be a cultural and artistic hotspot within the city.

The new project, which will take up an entire block, will consists of the expanded Ottawa Art Gallery housing the greatest collection of the Group of Seven, classrooms and theatres for the University of Ottawa’s theatre department, a hotel and condominiums.

“Mixed-use developments are the way of the future,” shared Stéphane Côté, president of DevMcGill. DevMcGill is working closely with Le Group Germain to develop ArtHaus, a mixed-use 21-storey tower at the corner of Daly and Waller. This will be the second hotel that Le Group Germain opens in Ottawa. This type of luxurious hotel-living is brand new to Ottawa and will surely attract visitors from all over.

The project will put Ottawa on the maps in terms of cultural cities – and just in time. The city will be in the spotlight come Canada’s 150 year celebration of confederacy in 2017. The art gallery will be ready for visitors and there will also be a test run of the new LRT line.

Mr. Fleury, since entering office in 2010, has been working tirelessly on this project because, as he stated, “This project will leave a wonderful legacy for generations to come.” MPP Meilleur agreed as she shared her passion for heritage buildings. The original building will be integrated into the new development, meaning the city won’t lose this important structure.

The development is sure to waken up our sleepy city and remind us that we aren’t simply one that revolves around budgets and Parliamentary debates. We are a national capital that strives to share great art and theatre with the world.