Two weeks ago I had the privilege of touring the Ottawa Technical High-school –a heritage building that is currently owned by the school board but rented out to a variety of community programs.
As we walked around the building there were frequent excited nods as we discussed the potential of the under used space. With a central location, transit access, wheel chair accessibility, and a well maintained infrastructure (including some prized heritage features) the building has a lot going for it.
Currently the building houses a number of organizations that deliver programs such as continuing education, hospitality training, youth development, and second language teaching. There is also a large auditorium (that hosted Super Tramp in ’71!) that holds 1000 people, has near perfect acoustics, and an unobstructed view from every seat.
Two of the most promising empty spaces however were an old library, and an art room.
One of many rooms that open into the library
Both were perfect for either a group of artists or social
enterprises/non-profits. With some intentional community building between the many other tenants in the school some really interesting collaborations might also be sparked in the building.
A number of classrooms/board rooms are also available for the bargain hourly rate of $10-$15 that provide another great asset for organizations in the city.
Affordable office space and meeting spaces are often cited as barriers to social enterprise development – but on this tour I began to think the root of this problem was not in a lack of physical infrastructure, but rather a lack of access.
At Causeway we looked at our own building and saw that it was being under utilized and that we could all benefit by looking outward to partners who want to co-locate in our building. The Ottawa Carleton District School Board has started doing this as well. But how can we encourage other building owners to do the same? Especially those that don’t have the profit motivation to do so? And even if they do discover they have space they would be willing to rent at low cost, as is the case with the Ottawa Technical H.S., how can we help connect these unused spaces with the social entrepreneurs and non-profits who need them?
Art Room
Currently this falls outside of Causeway’s mandate, or even that of CISED, but perhaps this could be a social enterprise in and of itself? And perhaps, as the sector continues to grow in Ottawa, this is something that we need to address to ensure that great spaces don’t remain empty while great social enterprises are left without a home!
spark 
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