Chateau Laurier: Do the right thing

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The only thing the owners of the Fairmont Chateau Laurier could do worse is slap a Trump sign on the venerable Lady on the Rideau.
Nobody I know likes the new design. Nobody, at least, in Ottawa.
And yet, their proposed monstrosity of an addition to the grand hotel is slated for construction as early as this fall.
The owners will tear up the backside of the building, blocking traffic for months, and months, keeping their customers awake half the day and night for something that has the aesthetics of the Trump Border Wall. Or an Amazon warehouse.
To be fair, this reno idea has been bopping around Ottawa for years, probably ignored by people because they were distracted by the LRT fiasco and the anxiety inducing talks to put a hockey arena on LeBreton Flats.
The delays of these projects have demonstrated the absolute ineptitude of the National Capital Commission and Ottawa Council and have cost taxpayers millions.
So it's understandable that Larco Investments, who own the Chateau, have become really frustrated. Dealing with the NCC is like dealing with a teenager with ADHD and your passive aggressive mother-in-law at once. Most of the people on the NCC don't live here; mostly they just swan in to make everybody's lives difficult. I had my own experience with the NCC as part of the movement to get a firefighters' monument constructed here. After years of dealing with them, the firefighters finally got their monument, but the NCC made them put it in a parking lot in front of a condo, close to the Bluesfest site where patrons use it to for two weeks a year as a public urinal.
So it's true, Ottawa is a bad place to do business, with all its red tape and multiple jurisdictions. And Larco did do public consultations. Unfortunately, Larco didn't listen.
They took the NCC's directive to make it something other, more modern, without the turrets and the copper, but they missed the entire point of making it compatible with the existing structure, and its wonderful historical surroundings: The Parliament Buildings, the Conference Centre, the locks of the Rideau Canal. The current design is little better than the dilapidated garage it's meant to replace.
The new design looks more like the fortress down the street, the horrendous American Embassy which is little more than a gigantic barricade, shuttered and unwelcoming, seeming more like a detention centre than an inviting place for wayward American patriots.
It's so sad to see the Chateau, beloved for high tea and sophistication as well as wild political conventions reduced a mullet: party in the front, business in the back.
A reno like this could have been uplifting, even awe-inspiring.
Now it's been reduced to a business decision. Nothing more, nothing less.
Larco is clearly unmoved by the wishes of the people of Ottawa who cherish the Chateau. For us, it's a link between past and present, a reminder that people can dream big dreams.
The Chateau will always be more than a hotel. It's the heart and soul of the city.
Larco should do more listening and less bean counting because this decision will come back to haunt them.
It will mean one less wedding, or conference, one less drink at the bar, or lunch on the balcony.
One fewer person who will want to stay in residence at the Chateau.
Death by a thousand cuts plus construction.

So here's an olive branch.
Take a pause, reconsider, listen to the Friends of the Chateau Laurier, a group of highly influential people who will become former users of the hotel. Throw away this drawing and start over.
Or take some advice, which will cost you nothing.
It's better to wear the white hat than the black. This hotel will be here for another century, long after your employees take their buyouts.
Do the right thing.
As for City Council, shame on the councillors who are refusing to share how they will vote tomorrow. And good for the ones who are joining the battle, showing their loyalty to this community and its legacy.
Shame on the Mayor, the guy who brought us the LRT and the LeBreton fiasco. I guess Mr. Neutral sees this as a win, or a much-needed box to be checked.
We, the taxpayers have no use for you, sir.
Save the Chateau, or face the music because one bright and shiny day, you will be Mayor No More.
You know the saying, fool me once....

To show your displeasure for this whole mess, and urge City Council to revoke the Chateau's Heritage Designation, please write to your councillors, and your Mayor. Time is of the essence.

 jim.Watson@ottawa.ca, matt.Luloff@ottawa.ca, jenna.Sudds@ottawa.ca, BayWard@ottawa.ca, keith.Egli@ottawa.ca, diane.Deans@ottawa.ca, mathieu.Fleury@ottawa.ca, rideaurockcliffeward@ottawa.ca, catherine.Mckenney@ottawa.ca, capitalward@ottawa.ca, jean.Cloutier@ottawa.ca, stephen.Blais@ottawa.ca, george.Darouze@ottawa.ca, carolanne.Meehan@ottawa.ca, jan.harder@ottawa.ca, tim.Tierney@ottawa.ca, laura.Dudas@ottawa.ca, Glen.Gower@ottawa.ca, Rick.Chiarelli@ottawa.ca, jeff.Leiper@ottawa.ca, Riley.Brockington@ottawa.ca, scott.Moffatt@ottawa.ca, allan.Hubley@ottawa.ca, eli.El-Chantiry@ottawa.ca.