New Ottawa Water Park

Darcy McRae

Martha Ruiz

Agenda

• Story– Water Safari Park– Arrowhead Springs– New Ottawa Water park

• Issues

• Conclusion

• Recommendations

Stakeholders

• Tim Dodge

• Wilderness Tours

• Verne Capital Corporation– Mary Coldair

Water Safari Park

So what happened???

• 1997 - 1999

• Carp– Interchange of March Road and 417 highway

• $5-6 million required

• $500,000 unattainable

• No community involvement

Water Safari Park

Aerial Photo

Tim’s Thoughts

• Location– “when spending 5-6 hours [at a park], an hour drive is

not a big deal”

• Ottawa– “Ottawa is due for a [Water] park, you just have to

make sure it’s no too big in the beginning”

• West end of the Greater Ottawa area– “I have a strong belief in the west, unlike the east”

• Finance– “Sponsorship person wasn’t up to snuff”

Water Safari Park

Stakeholders

• Verne Capital Corporation– Mary Coldair

• Birmingham Development Corp– Mike Nutella– Frank Casino

• Community Activist– Mel Botswana

Arrowhead Springs

At a Sens game…

• Mary Coldair tells Frank Casino about new project• Not a Water Park but a FEC (Family

Entertainment Center)• Go-Kart, mini-golf course, reptile zoo, etc• 52 acres in Arrowhead Springs, Cumberland.• North of Hwy 174, south of Ottawa River and east

of the village of Boise.

Arrowhead Springs

So what do we do???

• Mary hires old student Mike Nutella• Mike starts working at Birmingham

Development Corporation• Mike’s job: put idea into paper and get

park off ground• Frank is supposed to take over once park is

running• First step is to talk to City Planners

Arrowhead Springs

But UH-oh… ZONING!!!

• First problem is zoning

• Existing zoning is “Country Residential”

• Application for re-zoning needed

• Proposed zoning is “Rural Recreational/Commercial”

• Land is bought on the condition that re-zoning application is approved

Arrowhead Springs

First some HOMEWORK…

• Site plans, engineering plans and budgets were developed

• Needed to have a series of studies done first

• Water samples, traffic flow, noise impact, soil, air quality, etc.

• BUT…DID THEY REALLY DO THEIR HOMEWORK????

Arrowhead Springs

A costly mistake….

• Talked to politicians and got support.

• Up to this point city planners and mayor on side

• Advised to to talk to community

• Talk to people in Boise = supporters

• However, DID NOT TALK TO CUMBERLAND VILLAGE

Arrowhead Springs

Opposition arises…

• Community finds out about proposal

• They are NOT VERY HAPPY

• Idea may be ok but “NOT IN MY BACK YARD”

• Decide to fight back to stop approval.

• Hired two lawyers and a city planner to do further research on those studies.

Arrowhead Springs

What was their “beef”…• LAND – improper use of land

– 100 year old flood plains– Clay couldn’t hold septic beds– Land was eroding, giving in to river– Conservation authority did not approve– Ecosystems in danger

• TRAFFIC – a safety hazard– No safe access = left turn dangerous– Heavy traffic increase already high accident rate– No remedial measures proposed

ex. Traffic lights, stop sign, exit ramp, etc.

Arrowhead Springs

More “beef”…

• Go-Karts – not a FEC– Hiding real purpose under the façade of a FEC but

really it was Go-Karts– Noise travels, very noisy– Old lady: “I didn’t come to the country to spend the rest

of my days with a go-kart next to my home”Community activist

• Didn’t talk to community!!!!!– Township seemed to be hiding project– Didn’t address issues brought up by community

Arrowhead Springs

More “beef”…

• Didn’t do their homework– People around that area already had problems with

water, land, etc– “Had they done their homework, they would have

realized this is not the right place for that plan”Community activist

• Contradictions– Projected # of visitors did not match # of parking lots– Claimed it was seasonal but wanted to extend period of

operations.

Arrowhead Springs

So what happenned???

• Mel Botswana = opposition leader• Signed petition to opposed it with over 100

signatures • 90% of community opposed plan• Too much opposition from community• Stopped application for re-zoning

– Will not proceed with project due to pressures against it.

• “If the community doesn’t want us to be there, we don’t want to be there”

Mike Nutella

Arrowhead Springs

Reasons for failure

• NIMBY’s !!!!!!!– Had irrational concerns– Didn’t wait and listen to answers– “Democratic abuse of power”

• Didn’t do their homework– No market research on Cumberland

• Actively oppose project • High income = potential to oppose = can sue

• “Succumbed to pressure”, Mike Nutella

– City planners, politicians, management, etc

Arrowhead Springs

Where are they now…

• Plan dropped completely

• Mike resigns and leaves Birmingham Development Corporation

• Birmingham actively looking for a new land site for project

• Frank will take over Mike’s job

Arrowhead Springs

Stakeholders

• Birmingham Development Corp.– Frank Casino

• Tim Dodge

New Ottawa Water Park

What’s going on now???

• December 1999 – present

• Tim Dodge sells land for a significant loss– “had enough of it”

• Birmingham– Already zoned land– Re-financed the land– Re-developed a site and engineering plan

New Ottawa Water Park

Issues

• Location

• Financing

• Design

• Market analysis

• Management

Conclusions

• Location– Access– Room for growth– Type of land

• Financing– Big player on side

• Design– Mix of rides

Conclusions

• Market Analysis– Communication with community/groups– NIMBY’s– “Does Ottawa want a Water Park, absolutely!”

Don Jersey

• Management– Lack of planning

Recommendations

• Financing– Get a big player on side– Pre-sell everything– Multi-scenario projections

• Market Analysis– Focus on families

Recommendations

• Community– “Talk to community groups run by young

parents, get them on side. Granola [nuts and flakes] groups are always opposed.”

Don Jersey

• Management– Assume the worst– Best practices

Thank you