The future of the Baseline-Merivale corridor

Good morning — and welcome to what we hope will be the first of many Nepean newsletters.

For a community as large and fast-growing as Nepean, it’s surprising how little dedicated local news coverage exists. It has now been more than a decade since the last print community newspaper serving the area stopped printing, leaving a gap in neighbourhood storytelling and civic information that has never really been filled.

As someone who grew up in Nepean and has spent most of my life here, I’ve seen firsthand what happens when those local connections start to fade. There are incredible community associations, volunteers, small businesses and residents doing meaningful work across this part of the city — but too often there hasn’t been a consistent place to share their stories or follow the decisions shaping the neighbourhood’s future. That’s something we hope to change.

We’re launching this newsletter at an important moment for the area. Along the Baseline and Merivale corridors — the focus of today’s main story — the city is planning for significant redevelopment over the coming decades. Aging plazas could be replaced with new housing, transit improvements are on the horizon, and residents are already asking what intensification will mean for greenspace, traffic and the character of surrounding neighbourhoods. These are conversations worth following closely, and worth having locally.

This is a new venture, and we’ll be growing it gradually over the months ahead. We have plans to focus on other parts of Nepean as well, including Bells Corners, Craig Henry, Centrepointe, Carleton Heights, Qualicum/Graham Park, and Barrhaven. 

 If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing it with friends and neighbours in Nepean and encouraging them to subscribe. And if there’s a story we should be covering, I’d love to hear from you.

Let’s get to it.

— Charlie Senack, Ottawa Lookout managing editor

Have a story idea or editorial questions? Contact [email protected]

By Charlie Senack 

When Nancy Wilson was in middle school, Merivale Road was still a dirt road.

There were cow pastures where plazas now stand. Merivale Road's first shopping centre, the Lancaster Shopping Centre, had just opened with an IGA grocery store and pharmacy. Houses lined sections of the street before they were gradually relocated deeper into St. Claire Gardens, and development began to take over.

“It was a neighbourhood road,” said Wilson, who is co-president of the City View Community Association. “People lived along it. There were homes all along their. It was a working-class neighbourhood.”

Over time, that began to change. Farms were sold to developers. Minto began building Parkwood Hills. Miracle Mart and Pascal’s Hardware opened in the Meadowlands Mall.  Restaurants appeared and disappeared. Parking lots replaced fields. What had once been envisioned as a residential corridor slowly evolved into one of Ottawa’s busiest commercial strips — but without the kind of long-term planning framework newer suburban centres typically receive.

Back then, said Wilson, Merivale functioned as more than a shopping destination. It was somewhere people gathered, took classes and ran into neighbours. But after decades, it needs a do-over. 

🐔 Proposed Chick-fil-A location: A site application has been submitted to the city to build a new fast-food restaurant at the current site of the College Square Beer Store. If built, it would be the third location in Ottawa, with the other two in the Rideau Centre and at Tanger Outlets in Kanata. Read more. [CTV]

⛸️Ice rink expansion: The Ben Franklin ice rink is getting an upgrade. Built in 1987, the refrigeration pipes have aged, leading to leaks and higher maintenance costs. The new system is expected to improve efficiency and could extend the skating season. 

🌳 Tree cutting: If you see National Capital Commission crews cutting branches in the Bel-Air/Copeland Park neighbourhoods, they are addressing the widespread presence of glossy buckthorn, an aggressive invasive species, which, if left unmanaged, prevents native plants from thriving. 

🚗 New Nepean drive-thru: A proposal has been submitted to the city to redevelop the corner of Merivale and Viewmount with a new gas station and drive-through restaurant, which the Lookout has learned could be a KFC or Starbucks. But the community is raising concerns about traffic safety impacts as it’s already a busy corner next to a high school. Read more. [CTV] 

🏡 Supportive housing: Clients have begun moving into a first-in-Canada supportive housing project run by Salus in the Skyline community. There are 54 units that will house older adults dealing with mental health and addictions issues. Take a look inside. [CBC]

🏗️ CityView storm sewers: College Ward Coun. Laine Johnson has brought forward a motion to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee, which asks the city to look into whether storm sewers in the neighbourhood could be covered in part by the federal and provincial governments. 

🧶 Community craft groups: Small weekly craft gatherings in Nepean are helping residents build friendships, share skills and feel more connected to their neighbourhoods. Organizers say the sessions have become informal support networks — particularly for newcomers adjusting to life in Ottawa. Read more. [Nepeanville]

💉 Bells Corners treatment centre: Ottawa's second Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub has opened on Robertson Road. Staffed by registered nurses and social workers, it offers 24/7 withdrawal management services with eight beds and accessible showers. Read more. [CBC]

💡Greenbank municipal transformer station: A community information session is being held on April 28 to discuss new hydro infrastructure. A proposed 27.6 kV station would be located on Greenbank Road, approximately 450 metres south of Hunt Club Road, within the existing hydro corridor in the Greenbelt. The project is being advanced to support long-term growth in the area—including major federal development at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Fallowfield campus—and to strengthen grid resilience during extreme weather events. 

🇨🇦 A community leader: Behind many of Barrhaven’s biggest neighbourhood celebrations — including the annual Canada Day festivities at Clarke Fields — is longtime volunteer Darrell Bartraw, who has spent years helping organize festivals, car shows and family events that bring residents together. Read more. [Nepeanville]

🚧 Rebuilding Amazon: Last month, the company began dismantling the structure of its five-storey, 3.1-million-square-foot warehouse at a 75-acre site on Bill Leathem Drive, after it began sinking. Read more. [OBJ]

👮🏼‍♀️ New police station’s escalating costs: Unfavourable soil conditions have added millions to the price tag of the Ottawa Police Service’s future Barrhaven police station, but the project remains under budget. Read more. [CBC]

WoRun: West Ottawa Run Club | Whiprsnapr Brewery | Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. | Social run, beer afterwards | Free

Outdoor and Adventure Travel Show | Nepean Sportsplex | Apr. 25-26 | Something for every otudoor person, with free parking available | Free

Comedy Nights at Barley Mow Merivale | Barley Mow | Apr. 27, 8 p.m. | Open mic night with Ottawa’s best comedians | Free

Ottawa Orchid Show | Algonquin College | May 2-3 | Learn more about orchids the annual sale and showcase | Tickets $12

ACES Used Book Fair | 170 Stoneway | May 2 | Used book sale to support the school | Free

Big Barrhaven Garage Sale | 5 Alberni St. | May 9 | Last year, 850 locations registered; it promises to be a huge event this year | Free

Family Paint Party | Broadway Bar and Grill | May 9, 3-5 p.m. | Come be creative with drinks | Tickets $48

Barrhaven Ribfest and Poutine | 93 Houlahan St. | May 15-19 | Poutine, ribs and a new layout, what’s not to love? | Free to attend

Ottawa Kitab Book Fair 2026 | Nepean Sportsplex | May 16-17, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. | Discover Arabic books and culture | Free

Riley’s 5 km Walk for Cancer | 30 Wessex Rd. | May 24, 11 a.m. | Register and donate to help support cancer research

Have an event in Nepean or Barrhaven you want added? Email [email protected] and mention the Nepean newsletter

When food editor Ralf Joneikies first visited Tokyo Crispy on Merivale Road, he was not able to eat there. Why? They were already at capacity with a line out the door.

Luckily, he tried again and reported back with a rave review of their katsu, which you might think of as schnitzel.

Read more here.

By Charlie Senack

For decades, Bells Corners has grown by adapting to the changing times—new highways, waves of suburban housing development and the rise of big-box retail. Each shift reshaped the community, pulling it further from the small rural stopover it had been in the 19th century to a major commercial node built around traffic and evolving consumer needs.

At the center of that evolution has been Robertson Road. It is currently undergoing a study which aims to create safer spaces to walk or bike, better transportation options, and increased gathering spaces.

Read more.

This account originally appeared in the Ottawa Citizen’s history section on Feb. 23, 1929. 

In August 1870, a massive wildfire swept across parts of Carleton County, leaving destruction in its wake and reshaping communities along what was then the rural edge of Ottawa.

At the time, Merivale was still known as Merivale Corners, a small farming settlement surrounded by fields, barns and scattered homes. Residents knew the fire was approaching and did what they could to prepare — hiding valuables in root cellars and helping neighbours move livestock and supplies to safety as flames pushed steadily closer.

By late evening on Aug. 18, the fire reached the district. Thick smoke and glowing skies made for what one local boy later described as a terrifying night. Buildings across the settlement were destroyed, including a hotel, carpenter and blacksmith shops, and several homes. While some families managed to save their houses, many lost fences, hay and farm materials essential for the coming winter.

One story from the fire became especially well-known locally. A farmer named John Draffin had brought a prized team of horses into town earlier that day. Even after being offered $300 for them — a considerable sum at the time — he refused to sell. That night, realizing the danger had returned, he sent the horses back toward the family farm for safety. Startled by the unusual conditions, they ran into the flames and were lost.

The fire produced strange and dramatic scenes elsewhere as well. Burning sheaves of oats were lifted by heat and wind and carried across the Rideau Canal, igniting buildings on the opposite bank near Black Rapids. Byers’ Hotel was among the structures destroyed as the fire spread.

For residents caught between the advancing flames and the surrounding swamps, escape was not always straightforward. One young local, David Mulligan, cut across marshland on his way home and nearly ran into a large bear before continuing through the smoke. Minutes later, a deer rushed past him in the same direction — another sign of how quickly wildlife was fleeing the advancing fire.

By the next morning, the immediate danger around Merivale had passed. But the blaze left behind damaged farms, burned infrastructure and a lasting memory of one of the most dramatic natural disasters to affect the early rural communities that would eventually become part of Ottawa.

It won’t be long before the fountain outside Ben Franklin Place looks like this!