Carling Campus

The Carling Campus is a 148.79-hectare (367.7-acre) site containing Federal government buildings in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The site, located at the intersection of Carling Avenue and Moodie Drive, consists of 11 interconnected buildings with a total of 207,000 square metres (2,230,000 sq ft) of space.[1][2]

The property was acquired by Public Works and Government Services Canada from Nortel in December 2010, and will house the National Defence Headquarters.[3]

During the peak Nortel period of the 1990s, the research and development conducted at the Carling Campus was a catalyst for numerous high-tech spin-off and support companies in Ottawa. This development began changing Ottawa's reputation as a boring government town and the campus even came to represent the city's aspirations of becoming a technology hotbed like Silicon Valley.[4]

History

Carling Campus in the Nortel days

Northern Electric originally acquired the site for their Northern Electric Research and Development Laboratories and built two small research buildings in 1960. In 1971, Bell Canada and Northern Electric combined their R&D organizations and formed Bell-Northern Research, headquartered at the Carling site.[5] Starting with just 42 engineers, the site was quickly expanded to house 800 people 5 years later.[6]

Nortel assumed a majority share in Bell-Northern Research in 1996, and the site became part of the Nortel R&D organization.[7] At its peak, the campus had some 10,000 employees, even hosting North America's largest recreational softball league.[4]

After Nortel went bankrupt in 2009, its research divisions were sold to Avaya, Ciena, Ericsson, and Genband, while the real property was purchased by Public Works and Government Services Canada for CDN$208 million.[1] The site is intended to become home to 8,500 staff members of National Defence headquarters that are scattered across 40 different locations across the National Capital Area. The renovations to accommodate the Defense personnel are projected to be approximately CDN$506 million, staged over 6 years.[3]

In 2013, it was reported that electronic eavesdropping devices were found at the Carling Campus, and that Nortel had been the target of industrial espionage for nearly a decade before its bankruptcy.[8] This security concern even caused DND to reconsider its move to the site,[9] but federal officials later said they never found any bugs during a sweep.[10]

Features

Amenities on the site include parks and patios, fitness centre, sports fields, parking for 5,925 cars (including a 480 car parkade), and access to forested lands of the Ottawa Greenbelt.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Nortel to Sell Ottawa Carling Campus to Public Works and Government Services Canada". News Releases. Nortel Networks Corporation. October 19, 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  2. ↑ Bruce Campion-Smith (April 24, 2013). "Plan for Pentagon-style defence hub at former Nortel campus falters". thestar.com. Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Carling Campus Initiative". Major Construction Projects. Public Works and Government Services Canada. 2014-01-24. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Steve Ladurantaye (October 24, 2010). "Demise of Nortel campus ends Ottawa's high-tech dream". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Massey, David (2005). "Northern Electric - A Brief History". Bell System Memorial. The Porticus Centre. Archived from the original on 26 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  6. ↑ "1940 to 1969". History of Nortel. Nortel Networks Corporation. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "1970 to 1999". History of Nortel. Nortel Networks Corporation. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  8. ↑ David Pugliese (September 30, 2013). "Mysterious listening devices found at future headquarters of defence department". Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  9. ↑ CTVNews.ca Staff (September 30, 2013). "DND may abandon $1B move to former Nortel site because of surveillance bugs". CTV News. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Doug Hempstead (December 13, 2013). "DND off to Nortel earlier than planned". News Ottawa & Region. Ottawa Sun. Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "User/Investor Opportunity". Sales brochure. DTZ Barnicke Limited/CRL Network.com. Retrieved 24 April 2014.

Coordinates: 45°21′N 75°51′W / 45.350°N 75.850°W