How a reimagined ByWard Market utopia could help Ottawa win (Citizen)
The Ottawa Citizen - February 27, 2025
The design images of a bright and shiny potential long-term future for the ByWard Market look a bit like contemporary scenes outside a bustling Paris cafe or a tree-lined public market in New York’s Central Park.
In the mock-up pictures of the city’s detailed ByWard Market Public Realm Plan Recommendations Report, the drab greyness of the current Market has been replaced by spots of tree canopies and blooming flower planters.
The narrow sidewalks and tight car-congested streets of today’s reality have given way to expansive boulevards full of strolling pedestrians and welcoming patios. There are also no homeless people lying outside storefronts begging for change and a way out of their dire circumstances.
Indeed, the colourful depiction of a ByWard Market utopia might seem like a pipe dream to those who have witnessed the area decay in the past decade or two, but the champions of the $129 million plan to renovate and refresh the 10-hectare area believe it’s vital that the city embraces the rebuild for both its economic engine and its eclectic charm.
“It’s Ottawa’s oldest neighbourhood,” said Amanda Mullins, the city’s manager of ByWard Market Strategic Projects. “It has the highest concentration of hotel rooms and heritage designated properties in the city.”
For those keeping score, there are more than 600 businesses and 6,000 hotel rooms in the Market.
With Parliament Hill looming in the background, Mullins also says the Market “bridges the concept of town and crown”.