The Ottawa Soccer Stadium was a proposed open-air soccer facility in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It was part of a proposal to bring a Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...

 franchise to Ottawa by the Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

 organization.

Proposal

The stadium, projected to cost $100 million, was designed hold 20,000 for sports. One end terrace on the north end was convertible to a concert stage for outdoor concerts, and with field seating, the stadium could hold 30,000 for concerts. The field would have had a natural grass surface built to MLS and FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 specifications. Outside of the stadium there would have been five open-air soccer fields, of which one would be to MLS and FIFA standards and the others to community standards. The purpose of the external fields was for community use and the MLS team's practices.The architectural design was by Rossetti Architects

Rossetti Architects

Rossetti Architects is an architectural firm headquartered in Southfield, Michigan The firm is involved in the design of professional sports stadiums, institutions and commercial buildings.- Current projects :...

, architects of Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...

.

The stadium was to be located on City of Ottawa land to the south-east of nearby Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place

Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...

, in the west end of Ottawa, on Palladium Drive, west of Terry Fox Drive. The soccer stadium would share parking with Scotiabank Place. The land is currently frozen for development by the Ontario provincial government as it is on a floodplain

Floodplain

A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...

 of the Carp River. The land is currently used as a snow dump.

The proponents were Senators Sports & Entertainment, owners of the NHL's Ottawa Senators

Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...

. The stadium plans were announced on September 16, 2008 by Scotiabank Place CEO Cyril Leeder and SSE owner and chairman Eugene Melnyk

Eugene Melnyk

Eugene Melnyk is a Ukrainian Canadian businessman who now resides in Barbados. He is the current owner, governor, and chairman of the Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey club of the National Hockey League . He also owns the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors junior-age ice hockey club...

. Senators Sports & Entertainment is seeking funding from all levels of government for construction and operation of the stadium, and will operate a new MLS franchise there separately under private ownership. To support the initiative, SSE launched the "Bring the World to Ottawa" campaign seeking broad community support.

MLS expansion

While the MLS commissioner gave positive comments about the Ottawa proposal, MLS eventually granted expansion franchises to other cities, including Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

 and Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

.

Lansdowne Live

At the same time that the Ottawa Soccer Stadium proposal was made, the City of Ottawa was presented with the "Lansdowne Live" proposal to revitalize Lansdowne Park

Lansdowne Park

Lansdowne Park is a historic sports, exhibition and entertainment facility in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by the City of Ottawa. It is located along Bank Street and is adjacent to the Rideau Canal, in central Ottawa...

 and Frank Clair Stadium

Frank Clair Stadium

Frank Clair Stadium is a Canadian football stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street crosses the Rideau Canal.-Tenants:...

. A public debate went on both proposals, which would both require some investment on the part of the City. In February 2009, a public opinion poll conducted by The Ottawa Citizen, found that 79% of respondents preferred the Lansdowne Park Football facility option over the Kanata located soccer facility.

In April 2009, matters came to a head. The staff of the City of Ottawa presented a report to Council on the merits of the Soccer Stadium and Lansdowne proposals. The City held public hearings based on the report, which questioned the necessity of the spending, but gave a slight edge to the Lansdowne proposal. Councillors attempted to find out whether the SSE group would support sharing their stadium with a planned CFL franchise, but the SSE group rejected the possibility. Lansdowne Live proponents made it clear that an MLS team, or another pro soccer team, such as one in the United Soccer League

United Soccer League

The United Soccer League was a professional soccer league in the United States in the mid-1980s.After the demise of the second incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1983, four ASL teams founded the USL...

(USL) could play at Frank Clair Stadium.

On April 22, 2009, the City of Ottawa Council chose the Lansdowne Live proposal over the SSE proposal as its choice for an outdoor stadium. Since that time, the Lansdowne Live proponents and the City of Ottawa have been negotiating over a final plan. Melnyk released a press release expressing his disappointment and directed SSE staff to stop work on their proposal.