Jack Hanna
Volunteers needed to help maintain Jack Purcell rink
Want to help keep the kids skating outdoors at Jack Purcell Park this winter? The City of Ottawa is looking for volunteers to help flood and clear the outdoor rink.
If you can spare a few hours to help maintain this free rink near Elgin and Waverley, email seasonalrecreation@ottawa.ca
Adorn the trees and sing carols
The CCA’s annual Deck the Park Party kicked off the festive season early this month.
Folks brought homemade decorations to Dundonald Park to hang on the trees and bushes. Some of the ornaments, such as the popcorn garlands and orange slices, were gifts to the birds and squirrels.
People filled a big box with food donations for the Centretown Community Food Centre. The Christ Church Cathedral Girls’ Choir led the carol sing-along. See the photos on page 14 of this issue.
Renew the tree canopy in the heart of the city
The CCA is doing its part to help the city renew the urban tree canopy.
The community association has identified more than 200 locations in Centretown where sizeable trees can do well. It recommends the city perform those plantings very soon. All the sites are on public lands, usually street-side boulevards.
The city planted a mere 14 trees in Centretown in 2023, which, the CCA points out in a letter to the city, “does not come close to replacing those lost to severe weather, disease, and old age.”
Heat maps show Centretown suffers the worst heat-island effects in Ottawa. At the same time, as the CCA points out, the district has “the lowest canopy coverage in Ottawa, and it is worsening.” Thus, the hottest part of the city has the least shade cover.
Planting trees downtown is a social equity issue, the CCA says. Centretown has rooming houses and other low-income housing and, thus, a population poorly equipped to withstand worsening climate change. Strengthening the tree canopy in the city’s heart “would help to address the equity imbalance.”
In the last handful of years, the CCA’s NeighbourWoods project has dispatched teams of volunteers to survey the entire district, collecting detailed data on the health of existing trees and locating good spots for new ones.
Saving Centretown’s heritage character
The CCA formally has proposed the creation of two new Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs) in Centretown.
One would be in west Centretown, between Kent and Bronson; the other in The Golden Triangle, between Elgin and the Rideau Canal.
Both neighbourhoods have street after street of Victorian red-brick houses, usually with ornate brickwork and architectural features.
HCD status would ensure new construction does not result in the Victorian houses being demolished. Rather, new developments would incorporate the frontages of heritage buildings, so the streetscape retains its heritage character.
Centretown already has heritage districts, notably the Centretown HCD, from Elgin to Kent. Within this HCD, new developments constantly are being built, providing badly needed additional housing and greater density. Developers retain the frontages of Victorian houses and construct new mid rises and high rises behind and above, so the streetscape for residents and passersby evokes the beautiful architecture of the late 19th century.
Safety in your neighbourhood or building
The CCA’s safety and emergency preparedness group has practical advice on how to improve safety, both in the neighbourhood and within buildings.
The group is looking for volunteers to help build Neighbourhood Watch groups.
Those living in apartments or condos can explore a program that focuses on how building doorways, foyers, and hallways can be enhanced for safety.
For more info, contact: anti-racism@centretowncitizens.ca
As well, folks can find out what sorts of crimes are happening at what spots in their community, via the police service’s data portal, at data.ottawapolice.ca