By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, August 25, 2017
The city wants to pave the remaining grass on the north side of city hall because the bills are piling up for maintaining it under regular assaults from the Rink of Dreams and big festivals.
Paving the 30,000 square feet of grass would cost between $450,000 and $500,000, city staff say, but would save annual re-sodding bills that have reached $21,500.
Awkwardly, the city recently approved guidelines for downtown developments that bang the drum for “soft landscaping” over and over again. Gardens and plants are more expensive and more work to maintain than “hardscaping” like asphalt and paving stones, but look, do we want nice things or not?
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-lets-pave-the-city-hall-lawn-to-save-on-upkeep-the-city-says