City spending $660,000 for new security bollards at Ottawa City Hall

Twenty-eight new security bollards are being installed outside the Lisgar Street entrance at Ottawa City Hall. (Josh Pringle/CTV News Ottawa)

New bollards are being installed along the Ottawa City Hall entrance on Lisgar Street, to address concerns the security barriers were "spaced too far apart" outside the main City of Ottawa building.

The $660,000 construction project started last month to replace the security bollards located outside City Hall along the short-term parking and drop-off loop at the entrance.

Staff say the bollards are replaced following an assessment that the former security posts were "insufficient in meeting the required security standards" for City Hall.

"This decision, made by Facility Services in collaboration with Corporate Security, was based on a risk assessment at City Hall," Dan Chenier, general manager of Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services, said in a statement to CTV News Ottawa.

"The assessment identified that the green bollards that previously existed along the Lisgar loop area were spaced too far apart."

Chenier says the new bollards align with recommendations from the 2019 Audit of Corporate Security by the auditor general's office.

It will cost $330,862 to purchase the 28 new bollards and $336,681 to install them along the Lisgar Street entrance.

"While none of the newly installed bollards are retractable, a few are removable to facilitate maintenance access," Chenier said. "At present, no further bollard installations are planned elsewhere around the building."

The new bollards along the Lisgar Street entrance are the latest security measure enhancements at Ottawa City Hall.

The city installed 50 security bollards around the perimeter of Ottawa City Hall along Laurier Avenue in 2018, at a cost of $590,000.

In 2020, the city installed security gates at the two entrances to the Council Chambers foyer outside Jean Pigott Place. The city spent $149,100 to install the gates.

The security measures implemented in 2020 require the public to pass through security before attending meetings, and several items are prohibited including noisemakers, signs and banners, sharp objects and firearms.