Lansdowne Park Redux

Earl McRae had a great trip down the Lansdowne Park memory lane in this morning's Ottawa SUN.

Brought back a lot of memories for Citizen Ellie.

A life-long love affair with motorsports, especially stock- car racing , was kindled back in the 1950s -- high school days when there wasn't much for teens to do in Ottawa. When stock-car racing came to Lansdowne Park, it was new, it was loud, it had an aura of danger about it, it was cheap entertainment and above all, it was fun.

It was short-track racing on a half-mile oval inside the football stadium. Stock-car racing was just getting off the ground in Canada at that time -- and for car-obsessed teens, it became a way of life on Wednesday nights during the summer months.

But like all good things, it had to come to an end. The burghers of the Glebe were more successful in eliminating stock-car racing from Lansdowne Park than they've been in their efforts to get rid of the Ex and other entertainments which they don't like. The Capital City Speedway was built and stock-car racing moved to the outskirts of town. Citizen Ellie gets her fix at the NASCAR weekend in August at Watkins Glen -- camping in the infield, deep-fried turkey legs -- can't wait for it ! Citizen Ellie has also made the pilgrimage to Daytona, the great shrine of all things stock-car, attending speed weeks in 2005. But if there'd been no stock-car racing at Lansdowne Park.....

Citizen Ellie used to take her kids to the outdoor wrestling cards at Lansdowne Park. Again, it was fun and it was cheap family entertainment. This was in the days before Vince McMahon and the WWE. We saw Hulk Hogan, Mad Dog Vachon and his brothers, Classy Freddy Vlassy, Jesse "The Body" Ventura among others.

Then there was the "liberation" of the press box at Rough Rider games. It's very common today to see women reporters and broadcasters covering professional sports. But it wasn't common at all back in the 1960s and 1970s when Citizen Ellie was making a career in journalism. In fact, it was unheard of. Press boxes in hockey arenas and football stadiums were a male preserve and the male sportswriters of the day were bound and determined that it would stay that way. Women could not possibly do locker room interviews. A cunning ploy to prevent women from making inroads into newspaper, radio and television sports departments.

Citizen Ellie hoped her newspaper would take up the cause and assign her to cover a Rough Riders game. When the news broke that United Press International had assigned Susan Riesler to cover a game, and that Susan's employer expected her to be seated in the press box like any other sportwriter, the foaming at the mouth, particularly on the part of local radio sports directors was something to hear. Citizen Ellie had the opportunity to write about this for her newspaper's editorial page. The sky didn't fall. The world didn't come to an end. Susan was the first and we were proud.

67s hockey is a Citizen Ellie passion -- season ticket holder since 1997. Watched our boys win the Memorial Cup in 1998. Took in the recent World Junior Hockey Championship series -- games at Scotia Bank Place and the Civic Centre. More memories. Including seeing wrestler Bret Hart at the Memorial Cup final -- at the time he didn't know his brother had just died in a wrestling accident in the U-S.

Now we have Councillor Clive Doucet wanting to tear the whole place down. This is a man who ought to, but doesn't seem to, understand that Ottawa would never have hosted the World Juniors if we had not had the two venues -- the Civic Centre and Scotia Bank Place. This tournament brought millions of dollars into the city as well as providing TV exposure for the city which it could never afford to buy -- except maybe in somebody's dreams.

Councillor Doucet wants to turn Lansdowne Park into green space. He wants to spend ratepayers' dollars on an international design competition. What an insult to the Lansdowne Live proponents and the Melnyk group! Does he not think Ottawa people are good enough to design something spectacular ? No wonder Roger Greenberg and Cyril Leeder are dismayed.

Citizen Ellie hopes that Councillor Doucet's plan for green space does not include the razing of the Aberdeen Pavillion. She would be mightily displeased as she was one of hundreds of Ottawans who contributed money to the restoration of this historic building. It is one of only two buildings built on the London World's Fair Crystal Palace design remaining in existance in entire North America.

In his desire for green space, Councillor Doucet joins the rest of the Glebe hoity-toits who view hockey, football, trade shows and the Ex as entertainment for the "common" folk -- people who think Don Cherry is a great Canadian and spend their Sunday afternoons watching sports on TV rather than attending lectures on recycling kitchen waste; people who prefer beer and nachos over chardonnay and melted goat cheese on crackers. Not the sort Glebites want in their neighborhood.

Councillor Doucet and his constituents should remember that Lansdowne Park belongs to ALL the citizens of Ottawa. Green space, while nice to look at, doesn't bring revenue to the city. It doesn't add to the tax base -- something which would result from a commercial/residential/entertainment complex such as that proposed by the Lansdowne Live group.

If only city councillors weren't obsessed with a transit plan dependent on an expensive LRT system instead of cheaper buses running on surface routes.......

If only city councillors weren't obsessed with building a monument to themselves in the form of an expensive LRT tunnel through the downtown core.....

If only Transport Minister John Baird hadn't withdrawn federal funding from the initial transit plan.....

If only city council hadn't acted in such a fashion to bring on millions of dollars in lawsuits from Siemans and St. Mary's Cement.....

If only city council hadn't squandered the dowries brought into amalgamation by the municipalities which had surpluses and balanced budets.....

If only the city's reserve funds hadn't been wasted.....

If only council members were forward-thinking, understood the big picture and had the balls to tell ratepayers the truth about the city's finances.....

If only the city had done what every other property owner is expected to do --repair and maintain what they own.....

Then maybe Lansdowne Park wouldn't be in the shape it's in today and money would be available for many things.

In The Bear's Den....

Scene: the bears are gathered in the Bear's Den (otherwise known as Citizen Ellie's bedroom).

Growler (the oldest) is wearing a Winston Cup Daytona 500 baseball cap and a set of National Guard dogtags. Jake is wearing a grey sweatshirt, his name embroidered on the front. Alexander is decked out in a blue plaid kimono and matching blue slippers. Leon and Nathaniel are dozing --hibernation not quite over. Earnhart, Fireball Roberts and J. D. McDuffie are reading aloud to each other from Jeff MacGregor's "Sunday Money". Growler, Jake and Alexander are watching the News at Six with Max and Carol Anne on CJOH. It is Monday, April 6, 2009.

Jake: Holy Toledo, Growler! Is that who I think it is ?

Alexander: What's he doing on a picket line at Tunney's Pasture ?

Jake: He's wearing a swell-looking jacket. What's that logo on the back ?

Alexander: Who are those people and why are they picketing ? Why is he with them ? Tell us, Growler. You know everything.

Growler: You were right, Jake. It's Councillor Alex Cullen. By holding up a large Service Employees International Union banner, he's demonstrating to all and sundry that he's a true friend of organized labor. This picket line is supporting four janitors who claim they've been fired because of union activity. They want their jobs back and they have a case going to the Ontario Labor Relations Board.

Jake: What about the jacket ? Could I get one like that ?

Growler: Not unless you were elected to City Council. Not a bad idea -- couldn't be worse than what's there now. Councillor Cullen is wearing his corporate outfit -- a jacket with the City of Ottawa logo on the back. Kinda like those "FBI" or "Police" jackets the SWAT teams wear. The mayor has one. Probably all the councillors have them. It's so they can be recognized by Joe and Jane Public as VIP elected officials. As for what he's doing there -- it's simple. He wants to be mayor and this is a photo op.

Jake: Does that mean he'll be on TV every night ?

Growler: I surely hope not, especially since I personally prefer Greta Von Susteren. But I'm not optimistic. Political candidates never miss out on a chance to get their mugs before the public.

Alexander:It's interesting that he just happened to be there when the CTV camera crew came along. Do you think he might have set it up ?

Growler: I don't believe in coincidences. We're in for a long haul, boys. The election is well over a year away and this guy's campaigning already. Let's look on the bright side. Maybe he'll overexpose himself so that by the time the voters get to the ballot box they won't want four more years of him.

Jake: Pass me the remote. I'll see if I can find Greta. In the meantime, what are we going to do about that Randy Hillier and his campaign to bring back the spring bear hunt.....

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