‘Ottawa’ City of Ottawa Loses Appeal Over Lansdowne Soccer Dome Relocation
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld an arbitrator’s ruling that the City of Ottawa must pay $2.24 million to Coliseum Inc. for breaching a contract to relocate a soccer dome from Lansdowne Park.
Coliseum Inc. sued for more than $6.5 million after it was forced to move its dome from Frank Clair Stadium due to the Lansdowne Park redevelopment.
City officials had agreed to help Coliseum relocate its dome to a University of Ottawa field but the plan fell apart. The 2012/2013 indoor soccer season was cancelled for thousands of players.
The city appealed the 2014 ruling and had it reversed by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, but Coliseum appealed that decision to the higher court.
In making its decision, the appeal court found the arbitrator’s decision was “reasonable” and that the Superior Court judge should not have reversed the decision.
The court reinstated the original award of $2.24M in damages and has also awarded Coliseum an additional $36,000 in legal costs.
While the city could appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada, city solicitor Rick O’Connor said in a note to city councillors the standard to appeal to that court “is very high.”