Latest news with #eventscentre
Globe and Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Plans for new downtown Ottawa NHL arena move ahead as Senators, NCC finalize land deal
Plans for a new National Hockey League arena and events centre in downtown Ottawa have taken a major step forward with the National Capital Commission announcing that it will sell off 4.5 hectares of land in the city's LeBreton Flats area. The NCC and Capital Sports Development Inc. (CSDI), a group led by the NHL's Ottawa Senators, released a joint statement Monday on an agreement in the long-running effort to develop a stadium to replace the 29-year-old Canadian Tire Centre. The Senators have played at the facility, located about 20 kilometres west of downtown Ottawa, since 1996. The site central to Monday's agreement is located at LeBreton Flats, just west of Parliament Hill. The flats is a largely vacant area that was once the site of a working-class community and is now managed by the NCC. Parts of the area are occupied by the National Holocaust Monument and the Canadian War Museum. There are two light-rail stations in the area. The NCC is a federal Crown corporation that manages about 11 per cent of the land in the national capital region, and owns more than 1,600 properties, including six official residences in the capital. Cyril Leeder, president and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Senators, said the club was pleased to reach the agreement. Now, he said it's time to move on to the next steps of the process in developing the project. According to the NCC website, these steps will include zoning, design and approvals as well as decontamination of the land parcels to prepare for construction. 'There are still many more hurdles to clear,' Mr. Leeder said in a statement. 'We look forward to working with the NCC and other stakeholders to achieve our shared vision of creating an event centre at LeBreton Flats that can be enjoyed by our Ottawa-Gatineau community.' Meanwhile, the head of the NCC, said the project will be a plus for Ontario's second most populous city after Toronto. 'The promise of a major events centre will provide a lively and convenient attraction for residents and visitors, inject new energy and excitement into the core of the Nation's Capital and further catalyze the development of LeBreton Flats,' said Tobi Nussbaum, NCC chief executive officer, in a statement. He said that Monday's agreement builds on a pair of previous real estate transactions completed by the NCC since 2002 on a project to see more than 2,000 new housing units along with new retail and commercial spaces built on site. In 2022, the NCC announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with CSDI.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Puck to drop on LeBreton Flats arena as Sens, NCC announce land sale
The Ottawa Senators and National Capital Commission say they've taken the next step toward building a major events centre. They announced they have a land sale deal, totalling approximately 11 acres at LeBreton Flats.
CBC
a day ago
- Business
- CBC
Puck to drop on LeBreton Flats arena as Sens, NCC announce land sale
The Ottawa Senators and National Capital Commission say they've taken the next step toward building a major events centre. They announced they have a land sale deal, totalling approximately 11 acres at LeBreton Flats.
CTV News
a day ago
- Business
- CTV News
National Capital Commission and Ottawa Senators sign agreement on purchase of land at LeBreton Flats
The National Capital Commission (NCC) has announced it has signed an agreement with the Ottawa Senators for the purchase and sale of approximately 11 acres of land at LeBreton Flats. The NCC says the agreement with Capital Sports Development Inc. is a key step in bringing a major events centre and arena district, including mixed-use development, to the area. 'With the agreement of purchase and sale finalized, both parties can proceed with next steps in the project,' the NCC and the Senators said Monday in a joint statement. 'These include zoning, design and approvals, as well as decontamination of the land parcels to prepare for construction.' Distance to LeBreton Flats from Parliament Hill The new arena at LeBreton Flats would be situated much closer to downtown Ottawa. Canadian Tire Centre is 27.1 km from Parliament Hill whereas LeBreton Flats is only 2.1 km away. The Senators and the NCC initially reached a memorandum of understanding in June 2022 to develop a new event centre along Albert Street, between Preston Street and City Centre Avenue. Michael Andlauer and his group purchased the Senators in September 2023, and the NCC extended the memorandum of understanding to September 2024 to allow for negotiations with the new ownership group. The NCC and the group representing the Ottawa Senators announced an agreement in principle last September regarding the sale of land at LeBreton Flats, with the ultimate goal of bringing an NHL arena to the site, along with other development. The two sides have been in negotiations for nearly a year. 'The promise of a major events centre will provide a lively and convenient attraction for residents and visitors, inject new energy and excitement into the core of the Nation's Capital and further catalyze the development of LeBreton Flats,' said NCC CEO Tobi Nussbaum in a news release. 'This agreement builds on the two previous real estate transactions completed by the NCC since 2022 on the Building LeBreton project that will see over 2000 new housing units along with new retail and commercial spaces built on the site.' Senators rink A rendering of what a new Ottawa Senators arena on LeBreton Flats could look like. (Capital Sports Development Inc.) No details about the agreement have been disclosed. 'We are pleased to reach an agreement of purchase and sale with the NCC to take the next step in this process,' said Ottawa Senators President and CEO Cyril Leeder in a news release. 'There are still many more hurdles to clear and we look forward to working with the NCC and other stakeholders to achieve our shared vision of creating an event centre at LeBreton Flats that can be enjoyed by our Ottawa-Gatineau community.' Leeder said earlier this year that fans could start to see progress at LeBreton Flats over the next few years, but could still be several years before the Senators drop the puck for the first game at a new arena.
RNZ News
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Kerikeri's world-class events facility, the Turner Centre, turns 20
Turner Centre general manager Gerry Paul. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Twenty years ago a dream of building a world-class performing arts centre became reality in a small Far North town. But how did Kerikeri end up with a venue the envy of cities many times its size? Gerry Paul, the current general manager, recalled his surprise when he first saw the Turner Centre. It was 2017 and he was a travelling musician on tour with singer-songwriter Mel Parsons. "I remember driving into Kerikeri, what I thought was a reasonably small town, and seeing this massive events centre. And I was like, 'Wow, these guys are lucky'. Little did I know a few years later I'd be up here running the place. Careful what you wish for, eh?" While that initial surprise may have worn off after three years in the job - following a stint running Wellington's popular CubaDupa festival - Paul said he still found it remarkable. "For a town under 10,000 people, to have a 400-seat theatre and an event centre that can accommodate 1000 people is just amazing. It's probably one of the very few towns around the world that [has] a facility of this size for the population." With the Turner Centre widely regarded as the best performing arts venue north of Auckland , many touring groups bypassed Whangārei and headed straight for little Kerikeri instead. "It's meant that we've had access to performances that you would never otherwise get in a small town. The capability of the stage and the capacity of the fly tower and the rigging system means we can bring up the likes of the Royal New Zealand Ballet or the Symphony Orchestra." The Kerikeri-based Northern Dance Academy performs The Nutcracker in 2015. Photo: Peter de Graaf The other thing that made the Turner Centre unusual was that it was planned and paid for by locals, not by the council or government. "That's a big part of the Turner Centre story. The whole building was built and fundraised by the community. So there's a real investment in the place, and that's why we see it so well attended." The dream began in the 1970s when arts enthusiasts John Dalton and Doug Turner were putting on shows in the Memorial Hall, a possum-infested former fruit-packing shed. As the population, and interest in the arts, grew in the 1980s, they decided something bigger and better was needed. Doug Turner in 2011. Photo: Peter de Graaf Aided by fellow volunteers they spent the next two decades planning, lobbying, cajoling and fundraising. What was initially known as The Centre at Kerikeri was opened on 5 August, 2005, by then-Prime Minister Helen Clark. Its bold design, by local architect Martyn Evans, included a distinctive swooping roof to create space for stage machinery. The roof also gave the centre its early nickname, 'the ski ramp'. John Dalton died in 2012 followed by Doug Turner just late last year. The venue was renamed the Turner Centre in 2011; the main auditorium had already been named after Dalton. The centre's distinctive roof led to its nickname, 'the ski ramp'. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf Turner's daughter, Susan Corbett, said he father would have loved to see this weekend's 20th anniversary show. "He would have thought it was absolutely wonderful. And he'd be very pleased to see that everything that he and John dreamt about all those years ago has come to fruition, and is still happening - and in very exciting ways with Gerry keeping things moving on." Corbett said her parents owned Kerikeri's Cathay Cinema for 35 years. They would host art exhibitions and plays at the cinema before joining Dalton organising shows in the Memorial Hall. Corbett said their legacy showed the value of dreaming big. "Why not dream big? And it's just as well they did, because we probably wouldn't be able to afford it today. Their dream has happened, and the community has got this wonderful asset because of it." Scene from Kerikeri Theatre Company's The Sound of Music in 2021. Photo: Peter de Graaf In total, building the two stages of the Turner Centre - The Plaza event centre was completed in 2012 - cost around $20 million. Gerry Paul said a commercial building expert had told him building the same venue today would cost more than $100m. Operating a large venue in a small town was not without its problems, however. In 2024, with rising maintenance costs and the after-effects of the Covid pandemic threatening to overwhelm the Kerikeri Civic Trust, the Far North District Council took over ownership of the building. The trust was still responsible for equipment, staff and programming. In the past year Paul said the centre had been used by 43,000 people, had 558 bookings, and given away 5000 free event tickets to youth. A shift since 2022 towards greater inclusion had included a series of "pay what you can" events and initiatives such as community kapa haka . Bay of Islands College cultural group Te Roopu o Pewhairangi performs at the Turner Centre's 10th anniversary celebration in 2015. Photo: Peter de Graaf John Oszajca, a US-born actor and singer-songwriter who now lived in Kerikeri, said the town was "incredible lucky" to have a venue like the Turner Centre. Now the president of Kerikeri Theatre Company, Oszajca said he had performed at the centre as a musician and actor, as well as bringing plays to life on the stage. One of his personal highlights was co-producing the musical Little Shop of Horrors in 2024. He said the venue had become a second home to him. "I think having high-calibre performing arts, which you couldn't have without a venue like this, makes the quality of life notably better. It's one thing to live in a beautiful town. It's another thing to live in a beautiful town that has amenities, and it's another thing again to live in a town that offers inspiration to the people that live there, both as artists and as patrons." The centre had also served as a springboard for young performers who had gone on to forge careers in the arts. One of those hoping to follow in their footsteps is 17-year-old Jack Laird, a Year 13 student at Kerikeri High. Laird had just played the part of Scuttle the Seagull in the Little Mermaid; this Saturday he would be one of more than 100 performers taking part in the centre's 20th anniversary show. On this occasion he would be playing drums for hard rock band Bandwidth Riot, winners of the recent Far North Smokefreerockquest. Having a venue like the Turner Centre meant a lot to Kerikeri youth, he said. "It's so nice to have that venue, that outlet, to be creative and just give us a voice. I don't know what we'd do without the Turner Centre." Also performing in Saturday night's anniversary show would be the Bay of Islands Singers, Kerikeri Theatre Company, Taylah Barker from Fly My Pretties, a duo from Americana folk band T Bone, local rocker Merv Pinny and Ngāti Rehia Community Kapa Haka, with local legend Troy Kingi the headline act. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
