Lansdowne Park
1015 Bank Street
About
Ottawans have been gathering at Lansdowne Park since the long-ago days when the park lay outside the city limits. These days, Lansdowne is in the heart of the bustling downtown Glebe neighbourhood and easily accessible by bike, on foot or by public transit. (You can drive there, too, but parking is notoriously inadequate during major events.) The site is one of the city's main locations for concerts, consumer shows and sports events. The Ottawa 67s (a Junior A team in the Ontario Hockey League) play at Lansdowne's Civic Centre Arena, and talks are ongoing to bring a Canadian Football League team back to the site's Frank Clair Stadium. In fact, plans are afoot to redevelop the entire aging site, with proposals for everything from a reflecting pool to a bridge over the nearby Rideau Canal being tossed around. In the meantime, though, it's well worth checking out the range of special events on the site. Architecture buffs should bring their camera to photograph the beautifully restored Aberdeen Pavilion (or, as the locals call it, the Cattle Castle), a domed Victorian confection that is one of the city's landmarks. For a real taste of the neighbourhood, drop in on Thursday afternoons or Sundays, from late spring until fall, for the Ottawa Farmers' Market. Vendors sell everything from fresh spinach and organic beef to apple pies and spicy curries. (During events such as the Central Canada Exhibition, the farmers' market relocates to a small municipal park northeast of Lansdowne.)
