Cardozo: Seven big ideas to make Ottawa a great capital city

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Although Ottawa Council has opened Wellington Street to traffic, We can do better. Let’s think big — much bigger.

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Wellington Street’s future

Federal Procurement Minister Helena Jaczek has said the feds are prepared to buy the street, turn it into a plaza and beautify it in the short term. That sounds like a wrap. Time to get on with it and get it ready for the summer. It’s time for the federal government and the City of Ottawa to get on with turning Wellington Street into a pedestrian plaza. Let’s make this a prime new tourist destination, starting this summer.

Science and tech museum downtown

Let’s move the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology to a modern, downtown site. If we want to promote Canada as a scientific and innovative country, we need an exciting museum downtown rather than one tucked away in a former bread factory in a distant industrial park. Seriously.

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LeBreton Flats is one good prospect, and if we do it as part of the development of the area we can get some of the condo developers, who are going to get very rich, to kick in some serious money to help build the museum.

A graffiti museum

Graffiti has more fans than our traditional art galleries. Done well, a graffiti venue is bold, engaging and exciting. Miami has developed an industrial neighbourhood around two venues: Wynward Walls and the Graffiti Museum, which draw thousands of visitors and have resulted in a tourist area replete with trendy restaurants, cafés and hip clothing stores.

A project centred on high-end graffiti (yes, there is such a thing) could be launched in an area such as the ByWard Market or Mechanicsville, and would be a of huge interest to kids and families.

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A mural program

Many cities in North America and Europe have developed imaginative mural programs that produce large, engaging, privately funded and multi-story murals, some of which can be interactive or such that people can put themselves into the picture. Think instagram!

A portrait museum (with a different name)

The idea of a portrait museum has been around for decades and actually did get approval by the Jean Chrétien government around 2000, but was shelved by the Stephen Harper government before it got launched. While the idea is a good one, the proposal should go beyond the masterpieces of French Seigneurs and English Lords and Ladies. Let’s make it more lively to include historical and contemporary figures. And let’s give it a better name, like the Museum of the Canadian People / Musée du peuple canadien.

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A good location would be in the lower few floors of a government office building downtown, since the government has just announced it will be vacating several buildings as more public servants work from home.

24 Sussex Drive

Once again in the news, the prime minister’s official residence clearly has to be torn down, perhaps keeping only part of the façade. A good idea out there is to build anew to the best environmental standards and share this work via video.

Since this is such a politically charged issue, perhaps a committee of senators can make the decision, working with the National Capital Commission. And it can be timed such that the end product will only be available after the next election in 2025.

Indigenous art museum

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Congratulations to the Winnipeg Art Gallery for opening Qaumajuq, the first significant Inuit art museum wing in the country. There is just so much unique First Nations, Metis and Inuit art, both historic in nature and bravely contemporary. Many years ago there was a plan to build such a gallery here, on Victoria Island. It’s time to revisit that and whether it be on the island, an office building or adjacent to the National Gallery, it is worth planning.

And the NHL arena downtown? Meh.

Andrew Cardozo is a senator from Ontario, former president of the Ottawa-based Pearson Centre and long-time resident of Ottawa.