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If you’ve lived anywhere in West Ottawa, chances are you’ve spent time at Ben Franklin Place. The former Nepean City Hall — now home to the Centrepointe Library and Meridian Theatres — has long served as one of the community’s central gathering spaces. 

High school graduations fill its halls every June, New Year’s Eve celebrations once brought crowds each winter, and for decades, residents have laced up skates at one of Ottawa’s first refrigerated outdoor rinks.

But nearly four decades after the civic complex first opened, many residents say the area surrounding it is on the verge of its biggest transformation yet.

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