DOWNGRADING THE OTTAWA INFO CENTRE

Last year, instead of figuring out a way to fund some much needed renovations for the only info centre in Ottawa, the NCC decided to close its doors and relocate it inside the World Exchange Plaza. So now instead of crossing the street from the Parliament (Ottawa's main international landmark) to find out more about what the city has to offer, tourists will have to find an old 1970's style booth, tucked away in a low traffic business mall. 

 

This is now the first impression Ottawa is giving its tourists: 

Welcome-to-our-old-uninspiring-city-there's-not-much-to-see-or-do-and-our-idea-of-cutting-edge-technology-is-a-desktop. 

Instead of an fun and engaging 3-D circular map, you get pamphlets and one computer. 

Yes, the previous info centre needed some serious renovations, but still it was a lot better. The 3-D map, was a great concept and the location could not have been more perfect. According to the NCC the renovations in Ottawa would have cost $5,000,000 and that was too much for them. (I'm curious : How much did the Horizon 2067 Campaign cost so far?). What exactly were they planning to do with  $5 million? Why didn't they reduce their renovation budget? Why couldn't they renovate it in phases? 

NYC did it for about 1/3 of the NCC's budget!

Meanwhile in New York city, the leaders city didn't back away from a renovation and had the common sense to hire professionals to redesign and renovate their information centre. This info centre in NYC only cost $1,800,000. I doubt the NCC was planning something as avant-garde as this for $5,000,000. How come a similar renovation would cost almost 3 times more in Ottawa?  

 

This is the first impression New York is giving its tourists: 

Welcome-to-a-fun-and-attractive-vibrant-city-with-lots-to-do-and-discover-at-the-cutting-edge-of-technology. 

The design firm, WXY Studio, did an excellent job. You can find out more about their concept here.

 

I really don't understand why it's so difficult for the NCC to fulfill its main goal, which is "to ensure that Canada’s Capital Region is a source of national pride and significance." Is that what the NCC is really doing? It seems like they're working in the opposite direction of their own goals. I don't understand why this is accepted. I really wish there were more people that cared a little more about this city to actively contribute to its growth and evolution and let it live up to its potential. And there's so much untapped potential in this city.  

Photos : MOOT | alavinge.net |  Gothamist | WXY studio | Detail.de | 

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP SAVE THIS BUILDING FROM THE NCC

I recently learned from an article on Open File Ottawa, that there's this beautiful modern building, formally known as the Canada and the World Pavilion, that the NCC has been neglecting for the past couple years. At approximately $4 million dollars over budget, this glass building overlooking the Ottawa Rideau Falls was constructed in 2001. According to an article on the the NCC Watch, the intent for the building was for it to be a forum where visitors can see and appreciate the global achievements of Canadians in diplomacy, peacekeeping, aid, science, technology, art and sport. Also, the then chairman said that the pavilion would fill a gap in tourists' experience of Ottawa. 

While I like the idea, I would say from the picture below of the "better days" of the pavilion, they clearly didn't know what they were doing, starting with the presentation of the building. Who would cover a piece of art with stretched fabric like this? 

 

But that's nothing compared to the "business plan". Apparently the operating budget was $500,000 per year, admission was free and the objective was to attract 120,000 visitors per year. Mind you, the pavilion was only opened during the summer. As a entrepreneur, I cringed when I read this. What did they expect would come out of such a plan?

So essentially, they opened their doors in 2001, and just when the number of visitors reached their target, they closed their doors. The building was left mostly vacant since. Makes sense?

Seven years later, the NCC is putting the building for rent. They are now looking for a special tenant.  According to an article in the Ottawa Citizen, the lease would cost upwards of $254,000 per year, not including operating costs and taxes. To make things even more difficult, the tenant, which I'm assuming would like to make a profit as all businesses do,  is expected to support a national purpose and be accessible to the public. Now, what kind of business would fit this restrictive criteria and at the same time preserve the architecture ? 

I thought long and hard about it, and I think I came up with a good solution. It seems like most people like the idea of a museum. In fact I think the original idea of celebrating Canada's contribution is a good one, just poorly executed. What I would suggest is to open our very own branch of Madame Tussauds museum, featuring Canadian celebrities? The first one in Canada! 

 I'm assuming such a museum is successful by the simple fact that this model has been repeated in several cities around the world. There are currently 4 in the US, 5 in Europe, 3 in Asia and 1 in Australia.  There are a lot of successful canadians who already have their wax figures in the United States, such as Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Jim Carrey and William Shatner. Why not have the first Canadian version one in Ottawa?

How can we make it fit NCC's criteria? We focus only on Canadians and add more wax figures from our large pool of Canadian celebrities. Seriously, there's a lot to choose from.  Off the top of my head I can think of Keanu Reeves, Pamela Anderson, Keifer Sutherland, Drake, Deadmau5, Mike Myers, Rachel McAdams, Kardinal Offishall, Sandra Oh, Michael J Fox, Donald Sutherland, Seth Rogan, Russel Peters, etc. It's not that hard! We could also add our own Prime ministers to the list. What a fun and effective way to fill a gap in tourists' experience of Ottawa both for locals and tourists from around the world!

Now I'm considering looking for someone or a group of people to make this happen. So if you, or anyone you know fits the bill, have them contact me. If there's a way to take the NCC out of this deal completely, it's even better. We can't let the NCC ruin yet another gem in the city. In fact, you can find a long list of failures on the NCC Watch website.


The building has three levels and is built into a cliff facing the Ottawa River. It features two floors of open spaces with windows on three sides overlooking the river and a lower level built into the cliff. I cringe when I see so much potential wasted. Hard earned taxpayers money going to waste. This is unacceptable.

I even put together an initial conservative proposal. This is based on the data I was able to find so far. The MoOt plan is this : 

1. Keep it open year round: There's no reason I can think of that would justify closing a museum in the winter. Since NCC was able to bring it 125,000 visitors while opened only in the summer. We could conservatively expect to double the number of visitors if we keep the place open year-round 
2. Make it profitable: First, there should be an admission fee, say on average $30,00 per person. This should bring in minimum $7.2 million dollars a year. Second, there should be things visitors could purchase as a souvenir such as a wax molding of your hand (like it Las Vegas) and  merchandises. This should significantly increase revenues. 
3. Stay current and interesting : Use a clever marketing campaign to attract visitors, make the museum interactive and stay up to date with technologies. Add value to the visits with events such as appearances from celebrities, maybe even presentation sessions. Add new wax figures on a regular basis as well. It takes from six months to a year to complete a figure at a cost of $150,000 - $250,000. It looks feasible to me. 

From what I've seen in the four years I've been living in this city, is that if you want to make things happen in Ottawa, you have to do it yourself. I'm on board, but I can't do this alone. So if I can find the proper serious partners to make this happen, I will. So please spread the word. The deadline for proposals is April 30, 2012. 

Source : KatLevPhoto | Michael Afar | Shane Zurbrigg | NCC Watch | Wikipedia | Open File Ottawa | NCC Watch | Ottawa Citizen

NCC'S INFO CENTRE CLOSES ITS DOORS

CBC News recently announced that NCC decided to close it's only tourist information centre because it would have been to expensive to update. Instead, they are going to abandon the building they already own, hire information officers with purchased electronic tablets to stand at various notable landmarks (good luck finding them when you're new to the city) and open a small kiosk inside the World Exchange Plaza that caters to office workers during the day and is usually deserted on the weekend. 

I'm not particularly fond of the building's architecture, but at least it was in the best possible  location : right in front of Parliament Hill, Ottawa's main tourist attraction!  And it was actually useful! According to the article the staff helps 325,000 people per year. This was actually a good thing for the city! Instead of scaling down the $5 million dollar reno or raising money to help with the renovation cost to keep it at it's prime location, the NCC has decided to move it further away from Parliament Hill in a little mall, making it harder for newcomers to find it. That should work right?  

Meanwhile in the city of London (UK), the old tourist information centre was replaced a couple years ago by an architectural gem that has since become a landmark in the city. The building is located on a main tourist route in London, so it's easy for tourists to find it.


So although NCC says it wants to improve the city and help it evolve, the decisions they make seem to point the city in the opposite direction. I wonder what's going to happen to the the building now that it will be abandoned. My guess is that it will probably join the group of decaying NCC owned buildings on Sparks Street. 


Photos :  NCC Watch | e-architect