End of quiescence

The period of dormancy surrounding Lansdowne Park seems to be over. Not much has happened since City Council held its nose and decided to press ahead with the grand Lansdowne Partnership Plan back in November.
On Jan. 14 we had the announcement of the design panel headed by George Dark. Both Dark and Rick Haldenby from the University of Waterloo were quoted in the press with less than complimentary comments about the plans for Lansdowne seen so far.
Then in the debate about the City Budget for 2010, the questionable provision for repairs at Lansdowne were trimmed back. This is no big surprise. Not only has Council been consistent for decades in failing to properly maintain Lansdowne, but the proposal for expenditure in 2010 included fixing up the south side stands - the part of the stadium which is slated to be demolished.
The request for proposals on providing alternative trade fair space has been issued. It was strange that staff had proposed back in November to just ask Shenkman to offer up a proposal and then to invite others to try to match or beat Shenkman. I understand that even officials of Shenkman Corp. thought this was a strange approach.
But this week, we have seen additional indication that the pressure is mounting and attempts are again being made to stampede us all to making hasty decisions. Suddenly a proposal for the needed transportation study is to be discussed by joint Transit & Transportation Committee on Monday Feb. 8. It had been thought that this would wait until Feb. 17 but now we seem to be in a big rush.
We also have had the strange letter from Councillor Doucet to the National Capital Commmission asking the NCC to purchase Lansdowne Park. It is difficult to know what prompted that letter at this time.