OBOT Member Blog Post
By Leanne Moussa and Michael Moffatt, allsaints event space
What makes Ottawa more than a well-functioning capital—and a city people genuinely want to live in? Is it defined by its institutions, or by the places and experiences that shape everyday life? And are we getting that balance right?
For us, to answer these questions requires reflection on how we each experience the city.
One of us born here, the other a transplant. We paint different pictures of our perfect Ottawa day. A round of golf and a pint with the boys versus a Sunday bike day with the kids and yoga in the park. We might seem unlikely partners—but when it comes to what we value in city-building, and how Ottawa can become a better place to live, we are aligned.
Our projects have always been community forward and our passion for giving old buildings new life has defined both of our careers. We are committed to helping Ottawa strike the right balance between preservation and activation.
This isn’t only because as residents we want to be in a lively engaged city, it’s also because we recognize the financial imperative of activating these spaces. With over 300 individually designated buildings and 20 conservation districts, heritage is a major driver of the 9.8 million visitors and $2.6 billion generated in tourism annually. [Ottawa Tourism]
We recognize these visits are in large part due to the advantages that a nation’s capital offers, investment in world-class institutions like museums and galleries, the ability to preserve heritage buildings and maintain pathways, parks, and rivers. But being a capital city can also stifle creative energy due to red tape, delays and stagnation. Just think of how difficult it is to get a new idea through a complex web of federal departments, the National Capital Commission, sometimes two provincial governments and depending on the project two municipalities.
If we want to build something better, we need to start smaller and closer to how people actually experience the city.
It’s the neighbourhood pub, the bakery, the ice cream shop and the corner butcher that matter in the day-to-day experience of both residents and visitors alike. And with 41,000 people or nearly 10% of the Ottawa workforce in the hospitality sector, it is in everyone’s interest to have a neighbourhood restaurant succeed. While we celebrate the impact of large partnerships such as Live Nation launching the History Ottawa venue, we believe successful smaller projects are equally necessary to ensure we grow a vibrant city. The kind of city we should aspire to be. A city with a soul.
To offer a tangible example, Brigid’s Well, a lively pub in the basement of St Brigid’s adjacent to the ByWard Market, has done more to revitalize that heritage neighbourhood than all the larger scale plans for the last decade combined. Yet, the owners are buried under restoration costs and the building is in rough shape.
Adaptive re-use is expensive, but losing these buildings also carries a significant cost, both social and financial. Recognizing this value, we need incentives and levers to make heritage restoration financially viable for the private sector. The ability to write-off restoration costs, or a property tax rebate for maintaining heritage spaces, are models already used in other municipalities that Ottawa must consider.
And on the flip side, although Government is good at restoration, their investments alone don’t often translate into the kind of inspired spaces people love, and the kind that bring visitors back. This is where partnership comes in. When governments work with entrepreneurs and purpose driven non-profits, projects become accessible and financially viable. Shining examples are the NCC River House and the operation of the Taverns (the Hill, the Falls, the Island and the Gallery). Our own example, in partnership with Park’s Canada, is High Tea on Laurier House Veranda which has driven an additional 700 visitors a month to that site. The moral – cultivating creativity in Ottawa is the key. And for that, we need more than government. We need people, energy and ideas.
This same dynamism can apply to community revitalization initiatives. Inspired examples include the OAG’s Alexandra Badzak’s Art District, which shows us we can foster a vibrant local public art scene that can redefine the way we experience our city. And The Other Hill, which encourages political debate in the capital to go beyond politicians, with conversations inspired by authors, artists and activists in the heritage district of Sandy Hill. These projects don’t fit neatly into top-down plans, but if encouraged to grow from the ground up, these are the movements that will transform our city.
Taken together then, if we want to build the tapestry of an inspired city, we must broaden what it means to be in Ottawa. Defining ourselves as a government town is not enough.
If Ottawa is to become a more vibrant and engaging city, the focus must be on the people and places that give it life and those willing to invest, create, and take risks at the neighbourhood level.
The role of institutions is not to lead every initiative, but to make space for that energy to take hold. Because in the end, a city is not defined by its structures, it is defined by how it is lived.
It’s time to do the unexpected Ottawa. Let the city flow.
Leanne Moussa is a community organizer and heritage developer who has built for-profit and not-for-profit organizations from the ground up. She is best known for the adaptive re-use of the former All Saints Anglican Church as an events space, restaurant and bakery. She currently serves as Chair of the charitable organization The Other Hill.
Michael Moffatt is an executive chef with nearly three decades in acclaimed kitchens in New York, Banff as well as establishing some of the best brands in the food & beverage industry in Ottawa. As a long-time Member and past-Chair of the Advisory Board at Algonquin College, he is passionate about guiding the next generation of cooks.
Together, they have joined forces to support Heritage and Hospitality projects through Mayet Strategic Consulting.