Snider Park Opens Downtown This Weekend
Centretown's new urban green space launches with food, art, and free WiFi. Ahh!!! Coffee will run a park café.
Centretown is getting a new gathering spot this weekend. Snider Park, a converted event space at 150 Bank St., officially opens June 13 with a pizza and taco festival from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The Centretown Business Improvement Area built the park as a community hub designed for people to meet, work outside, listen to live music, and grab a coffee. It'll have free public WiFi and host art installations and community events throughout the year.
Ahh!!! Coffee, the Hintonburg café run by Kyle Ratchford, will operate a "park café" inside — expanding its footprint downtown. Ratchford told the Ottawa Citizen the space represents "something new and fresh" for a neighbourhood that's been undergoing revitalization efforts.
The park is launching as a one-year pilot, though the BIA has said there's an intention to make it permanent. It's designed to function as a "third space" — somewhere between home and work where locals can settle in and connect.
The opening festival is free to attend. This is the kind of downtown activation Centretown's been waiting for.