had sparked the City to ask for private proposals to rejuvenate the site. A proposal was received to convert most of the lands into a residential development, retain the Aberdeen Pavilion and Civic Centre and return money to the City of Ottawa. Because of a public outcry, the redevelopment plan was abandoned, and the property transferred to the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, keeping the property in the public domain. The Aberdeen Pavilion received a facelift and parklands in the north-east quadrant were improved, but the rest of the site was left "as-is". After the Food Pavilion was torn down, the SuperEx itself was looking for another site, and the fair commission agreed to leave after its lease expired. Park review In October 2007, the City decided for a second time to initiate a redevelopment of Lansdowne Park. This was partly due to the condition of the lower south grandstand of the stadium, which had been found to have structural problems. Ottawa mayor Larry O'Brien suggested that local developers be invited to submit proposals to redevelop the area. Ottawa councillors Peter Hume and Clive Doucet opposed the idea and proposed a design competition for the site, which Council approved, entitled "Design Lansdowne". By January 2008, a web site was set up for public consultation. The goal of the public consultation would be a report by the City which would detail what the future Lansdowne Park was to contain. A request for proposals would then be made for bidding by outside developers, who would construct the project, under a "right to develop" contract. The Ottawa Regional Society of Architects criticized the plan, suggesting it was not a true design competition. In the City process, developers would hire architects to build to their specifications, while a 'true' design competition would see design firms and architects create designs first, which would then be judged by a jury to determine the best solution. The City would then put out tenders for construction. Public consultations for the first stage were concluded by May 2008. City of Ottawa staff then began developing a report for Council. Before completing the Request for Proposal, the Design Lansdowne process was suspended in June 2008 while studies were done whether the Stadium and arena were worth saving. It was determined that the Civic Centre and the main grandstands of Frank Clair Stadium were sound, but the lower south-side grandstand of the stadium,