[URBAN NOTE] On the ill-judged addition to the Château Laurier in Ottawa

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star and the CBC have more on the apparently overwhelming local opposition to this plan to remake a signature building in Ottawa.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says it's back to the drawing board on a proposed modern addition to the historic Château Laurier hotel, and even the city councillor who favoured it at first is backtracking after a wave of angry public feedback on the designs.

The plan — proposed by Larco Investments, which two years ago bought the iconic building in downtown Ottawa just steps from Parliament Hill — would be to move its parking lot underground and add up to 200 rooms in an addition designed by Peter Clewes, one of the leading architects in Toronto's condo boom.

The City of Ottawa and the National Capital Commission would need to approve the plan before it could move ahead.

[. . .]

Asked Thursday to expand on his thoughts, Watson said he doesn't think the modern design of the addition blends well enough with the old hotel.

"Well I'm not all that impressed with [the design], to be perfectly honest. The Château Laurier is an iconic heritage property in the downtown core, and the images that I've seen really don't blend well, in my opinion. And I've heard an awful lot of feedback, most of it negative, from the public. My hope is that we reach some compromise, as we always try to, between the developer, the NCC, the city and the public," he said.