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It’s easy to see why the thinkers and planners at city hall can’t give up the dream of a magical new Sparks Street. How can a pedestrian mall not fit into the exciting and vibrant downtown that they keep talking about? You know, the one where everyone rushes down by LRT to spend the evening doing, well, something.

But wait, isn’t that new NHL hockey rink coming? That seems likely, but even if the condo and rink plan works out, it will only constitute a modest increase in the population and attractiveness of the downtown, if you even consider LeBreton Flats to be downtown.

Sparks Street has to change. We know the status quo is a half-baked nuisance. The city has only two real alternatives.

The simplest plan would be to make Sparks a street again. In planner-speak, they would probably call that something like “reweaving it into the urban fabric.” As my colleague Tyler Dawson pointed out last week, Sparks is by no means the only bad street downtown. Queen, Albert and Slater streets aren’t exactly beauty spots.

Making Sparks a street again is not going to undermine the limited attractiveness of the area.

However, I think there is a better alternative.

What I would suggest is converting Sparks Street into Sparks Park.

What the city needs for Sparks Street is a fresh new idea that isn’t dependent on things it can’t control, such as the decisions of retailers and restaurateurs, or the whims of the federal government.

What I would suggest is converting Sparks Street into Sparks Park. Get rid of the crappy street trees and over-extensive hard surfacing and replace it with a linear park, an outdoor garden that would be unlike anything in Ottawa.