New downtown event space Uncommon will be key to revitalization, BIA says

A new event space in Centretown will play a key part in downtown revitalization, the local BIA executive director says.

Uncommon, a new event space at Snider Place between Bank, Laurier and Slater streets, is open to the public, with a bar, food, bathrooms and sound and lighting.

SabriNa Lemay, executive director of Centretown BIA, told OBJ on Friday that the project is a collaboration between the city’s public realm and economic development team, Somerset Ward Coun. Ariel Troster, real estate developer Morguard, Senate Tavern owner Steve Ryan, and the BIA.

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It started last year, Lemay added, with a vacant space, $100,000 in funding from the city and a desire to create a community hub.

“We’ve always wanted to do something with Snider Plaza. We wanted to create place. We’ve been working closely with Morguard, who are huge community-building advocates within our city and the downtown core. Last year, the city came forward and said, ‘We have $100,000 if you want to put it to some placemaking.’ We decided to put it into Snider Plaza and create almost like a Tavern on the Hill vibe,” Lemay said.

Lemay said the space is designed to be a gathering place for the community, including a downtown worker taking a lunch break, friends getting together for a drink, or a business hosting an outdoor event. 

The BIA has worked to create a place where people will want to hang out, Lemay said, with wall art, music and, eventually, Wi-Fi, so it can also be a co-working space.

Uncommon’s food and drink space is in an old shipping container turned mini kitchen. It’s the brainchild of Ryan from the Senate Tavern and is designed to produce curated food items and serve an array of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. 

“Steve Ryan partners with our members to bring food in and he’s always open to collaboration. So if somebody wants to go in … to do something with a hot plate, the world is their oyster,” Lemay said.

While the kitchen space is currently only equipped to make small plates, Lemay said the BIA will be looking at ways to expand it next year.

Uncommon is also at the disposal of Ottawa businesses to use for events, for free. Choose a date, complete the form on the BIA’s website and “you’re good to go,” Lemay said.

This is the beginning of new projects for the area, Lemay said. The BIA has also recently launched its “street seats” pilot project, temporarily converting MacLaren, Florence and Frank streets into pedestrianized areas from mid-June to mid-October.

“If we do what we’ve always done, we’re going to get what we’ve always got. So we’re stepping outside of the box,” Lemay said of the project. 

Florence Street will cater to group activities; MacLaren Street will showcase the arts, in collaboration with the Urban Art Collective and Wallack’s Art Supplies and Framing; and Frank Street will offer various workshops such as culinary experiences in partnership with local restaurant Fauna.

As with any major project, Centretown’s revitalization has elicited concerns from residents, Lemay said, especially with issues surrounding homelessness.

“Anytime you pedestrianize (a street) or create a space like Uncommon, there’s a fear of congregation. I think what this is actually doing is bringing our community together and shedding light on the unhoused, who are a part of our community. We’re working with community groups,” Lemay said, adding that there will also be added security and cleaning teams as well as florists in Centretown’s spaces.

The addition of new spaces as well as the beautification of streets, including upcoming renovations to heritage buildings along Bank Street, will have a “snowball or ripple effect” throughout the city, Lemay said. 

“I heard this at the City Building Summit. ‘If the core of an apple rots, the entire apple does.’ Our core, our downtown, needs to be thriving … If our core is thriving, then (there is) more tourism. People want to be in our city,” she said.

“I think it means evolution and bringing life back into Centretown. It’s change. It’s evolution. It’s instilling hope, which I think is something that our businesses need more than anything,” she said.

“To actually have something physical to look at this summer, with the spaces and activation and beautification, I’m just so excited for our community,” Lemay said.