NCC process makes it virtually impossible to put new Civic on Experimental Farm field number 1

The National Capital Commission was given an unenviable task by boss Melanie Joly. 

Take over the controversial discussions on finding a new location for an expanded Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital, consider all federal land available and report back in six months, the minister of Canadian Heritage said in May.

Oh, and don't forget to check in with the public. Talk to you in November.

The NCC got moving. On Monday, it revealed 12 possible locations and criteria for site selection that takes in the hospital's needs, of course, but also the interests of Ottawa the capital, as well as Ottawa the municipality.

Public consultations will be held next week, with NCC CEO Mark Kristmanson urging the public to participate.

"In this particular case, nobody knows better about these sites than the people who live around them, so we do want to hear from them," he told the media following a six-hour meeting of the NCC's board of directors.

Terrific! But all these criteria and consultations are likely going to make it politically impossible for the evaluation committee to choose a key site on the Central Experimental Farm's field number 1, the favoured location.

Field number 1 almost certainly off the table

And here's why.

First, the criteria. The selection committee must consider the impact on cultural resources, including national historic sites; the impact on publicly used greenspaces and recreational pathways; the impact on existing federal government operations, including buildings and research operations; and the impact on agricultural lands.

Turns out the 130-year-old farm is a national historic site, beloved inner-city greenspace, undertakes (sometimes) internationally renown research and is, well, agricultural land of a very unique sort.

And while other criteria actually work in favour of locating a new Civic at the farm — its size supports the hospital's needs, there's emergency access to arterial roads and highways — it's the public consultations that will make it all but impossible for the farm to be chosen as the recommended location.

Kristmanson wants residents to get involved in these discussions. Indeed, Joly called the review because the hospital didn't consult with the public at all before working out a behind-closed-doors deal with former MP John Baird in 2014 to hand over 24 hectares (or 60 acres) of the farm. The proposed land is a key research field and the location of the second-oldest research agricultural land in the world, which contributed to work that won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

To say the decision has been controversial is an understatement. So unless something very unexpected happens, the public consultations will show a majority don't want the hospital on the farm — or at the very least, not on field number 1, the prime research land first proposed.

After claiming to take the public consultations seriously, the NCC can hardly then ignore the public.

Some sites not realistic

But what then?

There are three other farm sites included in the list of 12, including one at Merivale and Baseline roads not previously on the shortlist. To those wanting to protect the farm they'd be more palatable than field number 1, but not by a lot.

The existing Civic campus? There's the not-insignificant issue of where to put all those pesky patients while redeveloping the site.

Mayor Jim Watson, who is a non-voting member of the NCC board, said he won't interfere in the process but admitted he thinks the four sites on or near West Hunt Club Road are too far from the inner city, while being too close to the Queensway-Carleton Hospital. Makes sense.

Lincoln Fields is an interesting idea, especially if the feds are willing to buy the languishing mall there (which no one is proposing). It's on an arterial road with fairly good access to Highway 417 and transit, although a tad west of what many think of as the core. It's also an oddly shaped parcel of land and locals won't lose their greenspace without a fight.

The hospital's development … is based on a certain land requirement and we don't question that.- Mark Kristmanson, NCC's CEO

The Booth Street complex is certainly central, but is less than half the size of what The Ottawa Hospital is looking for.

NCC to consider 60 acres for Civic

The hospital has done a poor job of explaining why it needs 24 hectares, when there are many examples of urban hospital complexes built on much less. As for officials' claims that provincial guidelines recommend new hospital sites be about 24 hectares, well, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care says it "does not have guidelines regarding size requirements for hospital sites."

But the size of the Civic campus is not in question here, or at least not much. 

"Our starting point is to respect as much as possible the hospital's preferred model," said Kristmanson. "The hospital's development … is based on a certain land requirement and we don't question that."

The selection committee will still ask the hospital to validate its space requirement and to provide more details, "but essentially it's not challenging what the hospital has said."

It's possible the hospital's size will be tweaked with better-designed parking structures, for example, but it's hardly going to shrink from the 24 hectares being sought to the 10 available at Booth.

That leaves Tunney's Pasture. There's plenty of space there, but also 10,000 federal public servants. Where will they go and who will pay to relocate them? Sure, there's an LRT station right on the site, but it's not clear how emergency vehicles will travel effectively between the highway and Scott Street.

With no perfect property on offer, it'll be fascinating to see how the NCC deals with the challenges presented by all these sites.

But one thing is all but certain: field number 1 is saved.