Ottawans have talked about a hockey arena downtown for so long that it has become a given that the LeBreton Flats location is convenient and desirable. Whether that’s really the case is a matter of geographic perspective.
For years, some have considered the Ottawa Senators’ current rink, the Canadian Tire Centre, as laughably far from anything of importance, even calling the Kanata location “the middle of nowhere.” That was arguably valid when the rink opened nearly 30 years ago. Now, the middle-of-nowhere-adjacent communities of Kanata, Stittsville and West Carleton have a combined population of about 173,000 people. That’s a considerable potential fan base with easy access to the CTC.
Compare that to the fan base downtown. According to city figures, downtown and its adjacent residential areas are home to only 118,000 people. Even if one generously includes some of Ottawa West’s 51,000 people, the number of potential customers close to the new LeBreton rink will certainly be no greater than those close to the CTC.
Perhaps Gatineau fans will give the Sens a bit of a boost, but when you look at attendance figures, it doesn’t seem like a major need. Last season, the Senators averaged 17,306 fans per game in their 18,652-seat Kanata arena. How in the world did they all get to such a far-flung spot?
The Senator’s attendance per game puts the team near the middle of the league, not up there with Toronto and Montreal, but not down in the basement with Winnipeg or San Jose, either. Not surprisingly, the Sens maxed out attendance in the years when they were a consistent playoff team. When they stunk, numbers went down. Now that they are improving, numbers are going up.
It would be difficult to argue that a small potential boost in attendance would justify a new arena that’s likely to cost close to $1 billion.
Certainly the new location will do little to attract west-end fans, who can now get to the rink in minutes. Instead, they will either have to drive downtown and look for scarce parking or take a bus to get the city’s LRT line. And then there’s the spectre of big crowds trying to squeeze on the LRT at the same time.
The Senators’ move to LeBreton is not so much about fans. It looks a lot more like a land development deal. All the talk will be about the “entertainment” centre, but the financial payback will come from building the anticipated 2,200 housing units, a hotel, and a restaurant and bar zone. In essence, the Senators’ plan is a mini-version of much more ambitious 2018 plans that would have had a private sector consortium develop the entire site, including multiple attractions.
That’s good enough for the National Capital Commission, which is understandably eager to put its decades-long LeBreton Flats fiasco in the rear-view mirror. At least the new rink will give the NCC something to point to other than condos.
It’s difficult to say which is more embarrassing, the modest scope of the LeBreton plan or the fact that some Ottawans are so excited about it. Moving the rink from Kanata to LeBreton doesn’t net the city an additional asset, it just moves it from A to B.
The arena has long been seen as a piece of LeBreton development, but it wastes the site’s potential. The great virtue of LeBreton is that it’s on the Ottawa River, but a building for hockey and concerts is indoor space that doesn’t benefit from the natural setting.
It will be interesting to see what the new rink does for downtown. Its location is outside that area as we have traditionally defined it. It will certainly please some in the short term, given Ottawans’ under-examined belief that the new home of the Sens will somehow rescue our moribund downtown. Maybe, but it will be a definite loss for the west-end and Sens fans there.
Randall Denley is an Ottawa journalist and author. Contact him at randalldenley1@gmail.com
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