Ottawa Soccer Stadium - Lansdowne Live

Lansdowne Live

At the same time that the Ottawa Soccer Stadium proposal was made, the City of Ottawa was presented with the "Lansdowne Live" proposal to revitalize Lansdowne Park and Frank Clair Stadium. A public debate went on both proposals, which would both require some investment on the part of the City. In February 2009, a public opinion poll conducted by The Ottawa Citizen, found that 79% of respondents preferred the Lansdowne Park Football facility option over the Kanata located soccer facility.

In April 2009, matters came to a head. The staff of the City of Ottawa presented a report to Council on the merits of the Soccer Stadium and Lansdowne proposals. The City held public hearings based on the report, which questioned the necessity of the spending, but gave a slight edge to the Lansdowne proposal. Councillors attempted to find out whether the SSE group would support sharing their stadium with a planned CFL franchise, but the SSE group rejected the possibility. Lansdowne Live proponents made it clear that an MLS team, or another pro soccer team, such as one in the North American Soccer League (NASL) could play at Frank Clair Stadium.

On April 22, 2009, the City of Ottawa Council chose the Lansdowne Live proposal over the SSE proposal as its choice for an outdoor stadium. Since that time, the Lansdowne Live proponents and the City of Ottawa have been negotiating over a final plan. Melnyk released a press release expressing his disappointment and directed SSE staff to stop work on their proposal.