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Hopkins says that hospital CEO Cameron Love, who was then chief operating officer, “publicly promised that the new Civic hospital would include underground parking and that ‘the ministry is willing to work with us’ to fund underground parking,” which could cost around $150 million, according to community stakeholders.
Instead, Hopkins describes the four-storey planned 2,500-space parking garage as “equivalent in size to the parkade at the Ottawa International Airport.” And that is planned for what is currently Queen Juliana Park, a site designated for a building of national significance and on federal land beside the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Rideau Canal.
Lessons learned from COVID-19 will be imprinted onto Ottawa’s newest hospital, with infection control and flexibility for the next pandemic built into the…