Public Notice

Rehabilitation and Extension of Westboro Beach Public Infrastructure – Public Comments Invited

January 18, 2022 The National Capital Commission must determine whether the proposed Rehabilitation and Extension of Westboro Beach Public Infrastructure Project, located in Ottawa is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects in compliance with sections 81-91 of the Impact Assessment Act and the National Capital Act.

To help inform this determination, the National Capital Commission is inviting comments from the public respecting that determination. It is important to note that all comments received will be considered public. For more information, individual should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website.

Written comments for this project must be submitted within 30 days of the date of this posting, referencing project name and registry number:

By email: IA-EI@ncc-ccn.ca

 

By mail: Environmental Officer, Environmental Assessment group

40 Elgin, 5th floor

Ottawa, ON, Canada

K1P 1C7

 

The National Capital Commission thanks you for your comments, which will be considered in the project determination. Please note that responses may not be provided.

 

Public consultation on the proposed project has taken place in 2017, 2019 and 2020. The feedback collected during these consultations were considered in the design of the project. For more information, please visit the Westboro Beach Area Redevelopment Project located on the National Capital Commission website.

 

For National Capital Commission general inquiries, please contact:

Email: info@ncc-ccn.ca

Telephone: 613-239-5000 or 1-800-465-1867 (toll-free)

TTY: 613-239-5090 or 1-866-661-3530 (toll-free)

www.ncc-ccn.ca

 

The Proposed Project

The National Capital Commission is planning the rehabilitation and extension of the Westboro Beach heritage pavilion and park. This work will provide a wider range of recreational and public service amenities to the National Capital Region. The park is located at 745 Sir John A. McDonald Parkway, towards the parkway's west end. 

The rehabilitation will focus on the preservation and celebration of the natural and cultural history of the site. The Strutt Pavilion will be rehabilitated and expanded at the beach level to accommodate a café, patio, lifeguard services and fully accessible gender-neutral washrooms, and will continue to be used only seasonally.  The heritage aspect of the existing Strutt pavilion will be preserved alongside quality-of-life changes to the building's infrastructure, including new glass roofs and skylights for increased natural lighting.  A new highly sustainable Zero-Carbon Park Pavilion will sit behind the Strutt pavilion and will host a restaurant, patio, a multipurpose community room, lobby space and accessible public washrooms. Steps taken to preserve and improve the natural landscape will include the revegetation of the existing parking lot and its replacement on the opposite side of the parkway (234 Atlantis Avenue).

The main objective of this project is to capitalize on existing site assets, such as views of the river, the shoreline, the heritage and archeological features, the existing mature trees, the beach, and waterfront activities. Maintaining the heritage characteristics of the fifty-year-old pavilion remains a top priority as well as integrating the built heritage of the former Skead's Mill as part of the park's interpretive activities strategy.

The project also aims to retain Westboro Beach's character and function while integrating year-round recreation and wellness services such as washrooms, restaurants, rentals, repairs, increased community space, and improved pathways (which will include segregated cyclist and pedestrian pathways). The project will follow sustainable development guidelines, targeting a zero-carbon building design while relocating parking away from the shoreline in order to revegetate an area that provides habitat, educational, and play components.

The project is a component of the Ottawa River South Shore Riverfront Park Plan, which aims to create an iconic Capital park that strengthens the relationship of people to the nature and culture of the Ottawa River while ensuring a more vibrant active area that will improve the quality of life of Capital residents and visitors.

The construction plan includes the following components:

  • 9,000 sf ft of building space, including 4,000 sq ft of new park-level pavilion construction and 5,000 sq ft of existing beach-level building
  • Park-level pavilion to be a high-efficiency, zero-carbon building
  • Year-round park-level pavilion will accommodate a 100-seat restaurant, a public lobby with UA washrooms, and a multi-purpose room with storage
  • Existing heritage beach level pavilion to be rehabilitated and expanded
  • Parking lot with 4 Universally accessible stalls and a drop-off
  • Park features include view and habitat improvements, look-out areas with historic interpretation, play features, a picnic area, volleyball courts, and improvements to the pathway network.

Document Reference Number: 3

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