I note from the morning paper that some government bodies here in Ottawa are excited at the notion of building a 65′ high  replica of the Stanley Cup. That’s about six to seven stories high. A site is yet to be found.

Obviously, such a cup won’t fit comfortably on a small downtown plaza, like the teapot with the revolving tree in front of Minto Place. I suggest it should go in a more visible spot.

Since the cup is named after Lord Stanley, and Lord Stanley’s full title was Lord Stanley of Preston (yup, true, I read it in the paper) then it could go somewhere along Preston Street. The Dow’s Lake end is out of the question, as the NCC wants that to be “natural” and even ruled out the gift of a Dutch windmill. The mid parts of Preston are all developed. That leaves the north end.

Most readers will know Preston is to be extended north of Albert, over the aqueduct, and connected to the existing intersection of Vimy Private (War Museum entrance) and the new Wellington Street. This extension is to be built as part of the very first phase of the DOTT – LRT project. So why not put it where Preston crosses the LRT line? It would be a short stroll from either the massive Bayview station or the LeBreton Station. It would be visible to motorist, tour bus, and transit traffic passing north-south and east-west. It would be accessible on major cycling routes (BikeWest, Ottawa River paths, north-south LRT corridor cycling route the Cyclopiste de Preston). As the buildings are not yet built along the street, the monument and adjacent buildings could be properly integrated. If the Ottawa bixibike system ever gets going, there would be a convenient tourist cycling route from the downtown to the War Museum to the Stanley Cup monument to Dows Lake (with a stop of gellato on Preston) and back to the downtown along the canal.

Sounds like a winner to me.