- Ottawa Convention Centre
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Ottawa Convention Centre 
Address Colonel By Drive Location Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Coordinates 45°25′27″N 75°41′30″W / 45.4242°N 75.6916°WCoordinates: 45°25′27″N 75°41′30″W / 45.4242°N 75.6916°W Owner Government of Ontario Opened 1985 Expanded 2011 Demolished 2009 Construction cost C$170 million Former name(s) Ottawa Congress Centre Enclosed space Total space 192,000 square feet (17,800 m2) Website ottawaconventioncentre.com The Ottawa Convention Centre is a convention centre in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which opened in April 2011. The Centre replaces the Ottawa Congress Centre, which opened in 1985. The new centre is built on the site of the Congress Centre building, which was demolished in 2008-2009. The Centre is located on Colonel By Drive, just south of Rideau Street. The facility is owned by the Ontario provincial government.
Contents
Construction
View from Slater Street bridge of Convention Centre under construction. Rideau Canal in front. (Feb. 7, 2010)
The project's cost was of $170 million CAD, for a four-level 192,000 square feet (17,800 m2) facility. The cost was shared by three levels of government. $50 million came from the Canadian government, $50 million from the Ontario government, $40 million from the City of Ottawa and the remainder of $30 million was borrowed by the centre itself.[1]
The new building features a large glass facade on the Colonel By Drive front. From the outside, the entrance from the street is clearly visible and the internal escalators are also visible. The architect is Ritchard Brisbin of Brisbin Brook Beynon Architects (BBB Architects). While it has four levels of convention space, it is seven storeys in height.[2]
As part of the new project, the name was changed to the Ottawa Convention Centre. According to the centre's chairman, the former title of "congress" was confusing to American convention planners.[3]
Congress Centre
The Congress Centre building was designed by Bemi & Associates Architects in 1982. It had 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) of exhibition space. The building was built on former railways lands, vacated when the main Ottawa train station was moved to Alta Vista Drive outside of downtown. The building was opened by former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.[4]
The Congress Centre was used for conventions, public exhibitions and music concerts. It could support audience sizes of up to a few thousand.
Notable concerts
- Paul Anka 2002 - special 'homecoming' concert
References
- ^ Dare, Patrick (May 7, 2008). "Ontario hands over $50 million for new Congress Centre". Ottawa Citizen. http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=c6d97904-5383-490a-9da3-650c8259649f. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
- ^ Dare, Patrick (October 12, 2009). "Changing the way Ottawa sees itself". Ottawa Citizen. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Changing+Ottawa+sees+itself/2093421/story.html. Retrieved 2010-02-04.[dead link]
- ^ "New convention centre eyes foreign business; Name change expected to clear up some confusion". Ottawa Citizen: p. D1. February 12, 2009.
- ^ Jenkins, Phil (May 11, 2009). "The heart of our city, in surgery again". Ottawa Citizen: p. A11.
External links
Categories:- Music venues in Ottawa
- Convention centres in Canada
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