deachman: does the byward market really need a shiny new food court?
4 minute read
jill anguaya, owner of tickled pink in the byward market building, wonders what will happen to businesses like hers when the building is redeveloped.
bruce deachman
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postmedia
jill anguaya is anything but tickled about the city of ottawa’s plans to redevelop the historic byward market building.
i can’t say that i blame her.
anguaya runs tickled pink, a gift shop inside the market hall at 55 byward market square where tourists and locals have for years picked up all manner of toys, dolls, games, crafts, clothing, costumes, cosmetics and more. she’s owned the business since 2012, but it’s been there for more than 30 years.
her husband, jacinto, incidentally, runs another shop in the building — quichua world market — selling crafts, textiles and jewelry.
by any reading of the city’s byward market action plan redevelopment strategy, though, the anguayas — and many other longtime tenants — could find themselves without a home when their building is “reimagined.”
“when i read the plan,” says jill, “i just thought: where do shops like mine fit into this?”
it’s a fair question. because if the answer is nowhere, ottawa risks turning one of its most historic civic spaces into something the byward market already has plenty of: places to buy and eat food.
the plan for the roughly $40-million redevelopment envisions something quite different from the jumble of stalls, shops and cafés that now fill the building. one report says the market hall “is not being utilized to its highest and best potential.”
what apparently will unlock that potential is a curated food-focused destination.
rendering of byward market square interior concept shown to a city council committee.
hobin architecture/city of ottawa
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handout
renderings show the main hall transformed into a brighter, more open public space — part market, part event venue — with rotating food vendors, a specialty grocer at one end, a bakery at the other, and two full-service restaurants upstairs.
in other words, something resembling a modern food court.
what’s not to love?
well, for starters, the fact that many of the existing tenants will likely be gone — even those that already provide food and a place to sit and eat.
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when the building was last renovated in the late 1990s, tenants who wished to return were guaranteed a spot once the work was completed. not this time.
the city’s own business and tenant support strategy report notes that some businesses will have to “permanently relocate or cease operations.” the relocation assistance being offered reads like something drafted by a committee determined to promise as little as possible. tenants may receive “relocation advisory support,” including information about other commercial districts, and the possibility of working with a broker to find space “within defined radii.”
if the support you’re being offered includes “defined radii,” i’d suggest you’re on your own.
by my count, there are already nine food vendors in the building. those are surrounded by numerous other restaurants, coffee shops and cafés throughout the byward market. is the absence of a mall-type food court really what ails the district?
to be fair, the market could use more places where people can simply sit — without feeling rushed or having to buy a full meal. but it’s not clear that replacing existing businesses is the only — or best — way to achieve that.
even some of the market’s best-known food businesses may face challenges fitting into the new proposal. take le moulin de provence, which famously earned international attention when then-u.s. president barack obama dropped in for a cookie in 2009. much of the bakery’s production currently happens on the second floor — space the proposal appears to earmark for one of the new restaurants.
and is there even a reliable business model for a second-floor restaurant in the market building?
there’s no question that the century-old building needs refurbishing — the city in 2023 identified $5.7 million in immediate renewal needs and a further $6.5 million for upgrades over the next 20 years.
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but fixing a building and redefining what belongs inside are not the same.
maybe that can be worked out. maybe not. but if the byward market’s most recognizable bakery might struggle with the proposed blueprint, what chance does tickled pink have?
city council recently approved the overall revitalization framework and millions of dollars for design work for the byward market, including $2.7 million for 55 byward. the final shape of the building, and who will be allowed back inside, isn’t settled yet. but it’s fair to ask whether, in pursuing a new space where people can sit and enjoy a snack or meal, the city is preparing to push out tenants who for years have been doing exactly that.
others, including tickled pink, quichua world market, canada in a basket and adaawewigamig, aren’t food vendors, but they have been part of the fabric of what a public market is supposed to be. they’re the places where people browse, linger and discover something unexpected. they’ve endured the good times and bad, the busy seasons and slow ones. they’re employers, providing a living not just for their own families, but for others as well.
where do shops like jill’s fit in?
if the city’s answer is not here, ottawa may get a shinier, brighter market building. but it will also get something else: a place with fewer surprises, fewer independents, and a little less of the character that made the byward market worth visiting in the first place.
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