Plans to bring a new stadium to the capital are heating up between two groups who've pitched their own ideas about where to build a new sports and entertainment complex in Ottawa.
As the city gathers all the information needed to choose between the two stadiums, Ottawa 67's owner Jeff Hunt, who's behind one of the plans, says the future of his Junior A hockey team is also on the line.
Hunt is pushing council to approve a plan to revitalize Lansdowne Park and bring CFL football back to the capital.
The other group, headed by Ottawa Senators' owner Eugene Melnyk, wants to build a soccer-specific stadium and an entertainment village near Scotiabank Place, which would be home to a new Major League Soccer team.
But Hunt says his team also hasn't ruled out bringing soccer to Lansdowne.
"It's really not a complicated thing for the two sports to play in the same stadium," said Hunt.
"There really isn't any need for two stadiums."
Still, he says if the city decides to invest in Melnyk's plan, there's more at stake for Ottawa's sports community than failing to bring CFL back to the capital.
Hunt says approving the west-end sports complex could mean the end of Frank Clair Stadium and the Civic Centre, where the Ottawa 67's play.
"I hope it doesn't get nasty . . . I think we realize we're in a competition but whatever happens, we'll all move on," Hunt told CTV Ottawa on Monday.
As the city prepares to choose the plan that will benefit residents most, one city councillor says there's already evidence of what he calls 'backroom dealing.'
Coun. Clive Doucet says a council committee plans to rewrite the city's bidding process, which he thinks will favor Hunt's 'Lansdowne Live' proposal, and suppress other design submissions for Lansdowne Park.
"We're going to have a whole new procurement process, it looks like, to accommodate them," said Doucet.
The proposed changes to the city's procurement policy go before committee on Tuesday. The mayor sits on that committee and some city staff members expect those changes to pass quickly. Any changes will still need to be approved by council.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Natalie Johnson