Home- The Moore Farm Estate Gets a New Lease on Life
- Rehabilitation Work at Rideau Hall -
Front Façade of the Mappin Wing - Work at Mackenzie King Estate's Moorside Cottage
- Sussex Drive Reconstruction Project (George Street to St. Patrick Street)
- Jacques-Cartier Park is Getting a Facelift!
- Rehabilitation and Construction Work on the Capital Pathway
- Jacques-Cartier Street Improvements
- The Rockeries and Hillsdale Park Landscape Study
Despite the achievements of the last century, the NCC still has much to do as it continues to build the Capital on behalf of Canadians. People who make the pilgrimage to Canada’s Capital Region expect their Capital to be beautiful and impressive, meaningful and alive.
In the National Interest
As a major land- and property-owner in the Capital region, we have opportunities and responsibilities to use and develop our lands in the national interest. Our mandate states that the NCC will, among other things, “prepare plans for and assist in the development, conservation and improvement of the National Capital Region in order that the nature and character of the seat of the Government of Canada may be in accordance with its national significance….” What that means in practice varies widely.
NCC Development Projects
On occasion, the NCC builds a facility that will contribute to the overall vitality or meaning of the Capital. An excellent example is the Gatineau Park Visitor Centre (opened in December 1999).
Public/Private Development ProjectsThe NCC enters into long-term commercial ground leases with the private sector in return for the development of certain lands. We set the guidelines in terms of land uses and designs (especially when heritage considerations are involved) but the development is financed by industry. These projects aim to make meaningful and productive use of NCC lands, for example by bringing new life to heritage properties or revitalizing old neighbourhoods with new uses. The restoration and redevelopment of the Chambers Building in 1994–1995 (now the NCC headquarters) is an excellent example of how this can work.
Influencing Developments in the Capital RegionThe NCC works with various levels of government to introduce a Capital perspective to their projects (for example, working with the City of Ottawa to establish height guidelines for new buildings erected in the vicinity of Parliament Hill).
NCC Rehabilitation Projects
The NCC also works to ensure that its assets are highly maintained and that public health and safety are protected accordingly. The management framework for this work is called lifecycle management.
Lifecycle ManagementWise home-owners keep a kind of checklist in their heads that says they are going to have to replace the roof in ten or fifteen years; the kitchen may need renovation in the meantime; and someday they want to build a gazebo in the garden. The householders then look at their income and schedule the work accordingly. Professional property managers call this kind of planning lifecycle management — planning for an ongoing cycle of maintenance and repairs (large and small) and development.
Basically, that is what we do in relation to our properties, except that we have hundreds of roads, bridges and buildings to think about and not just one house and garden. The program by which we plan and schedule work on our assets — in rare cases to build them, and commonly to rehabilitate — is called the Multi-Year Capital Construction Program (MYCCP). This is the framework within which we plan the lifecycle management of our properties. The key phases of this continuous program are
- design
- construction
- maintenance
- repair
- rehabilitation
- redevelopment
Related Links