Ottawa may have to sell aging facilities as $3.8 B infrastructure gap grows

Inside the Belltown Dome near Britannia Beach, the hockey rink feels almost abandoned. The ice has melted, and the boards are bare. Now, the heritage facility could be torn down because the city lacks the funding to fix its failing infrastructure.

The small covered rink in Grandeur Park has served generations of west-end families, hockey players, ringette teams and community groups since it first opened in 1979. It was never a major arena — it was intentionally built to be small and community-focused.

The city has determined there is no business case to replace the facility under current policies, which favour larger multi-pad arenas. Short-term options include keeping an outdoor rink slab, adding basketball, or creating new park amenities. Longer-term possibilities include a community building or gymnasium, but there is no immediate funding attached.

For Alex Cullen, a former city councillor, former MPP and current president of the Belltown Community Association, the dome is a warning sign of what can happen across the city if investment in infrastructure isn’t prioritized before it’s too late.

“It’s going to be torn down because the pipes rotted out. Because they refrigerated the rink, and according to the new policies the city has, there’s no business case to replace this,” Cullen said in an interview with the Lookout outside the spaceship-looking arena.

The Belltown Dome is one example of a much larger problem now facing Ottawa City Hall: the city does not have enough money to repair, replace and maintain the infrastructure it already owns.

A new 10-year Long Range Financial Plan for tax-supported capital assets says Ottawa faces a major funding gap for roads, parks, buildings, recreation facilities and other public assets.

Even after narrowing the scope to priority needs, city staff estimate Ottawa is short roughly $143 million annually. When broader needs such as facility replacements, accessibility improvements, climate resilience and modernization are included, the annual gap grows to about $229 million.