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O’Grady said that as a result of her email, more than 800 festival-goers signed a petition last weekend in support of the festival returning to Confederation Park. “That’s an overwhelming positive response,” O’Grady said.

“Now I have to take that back to my board and work on strategy going forward.”

Last year in the plaza, the festival drew smaller crowds for its main stage shows than it did in past years at Confederation Park. From 1989 to 2017, the festival made full use of the park, which holds several thousand more people compared to the plaza.

In her email, O’Grady called Confederation Park “a beautiful setting by the canal and among the trees in a safe, urban environment that is easily accessible by bus, bike, and on foot.” She also lauded the sound quality in the park and its proximity to the festival’s indoor venues at the National Arts Centre.

O’Grady said Nussbaum did not categorically say that the jazz festival would not return to the park. But she did say that negotiating the return of the festival to the park “is going to be a bit of a battle, is my understanding.”

Dominique Huras, an NCC strategic communications advisor, said the NCC is planning a review of its Core Area Sector Plan, which includes Confederation Park, and that the review would involve widespread consultations.

“Over the years, Confederation Park has been a victim of its own success,” Huras noted. The park has deteriorated “as a result of its overuse by special events combined with activities that are not always suitable for the park’s features,” she continued. In particular, the park’s trees, some of which are rare and endangered, are suffering from soil compaction because of the many large-scale events that take place in the park, Huras said.

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Twitter: @peterhum