Bruce Firestone facts for kids

Bruce Firestone (born December 4, 1951) is a Canadian businessman and writer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is best known for starting the modern-day Ottawa Senators professional ice hockey team in the NHL. He also used to be a part-owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders CFL football team.

Bruce Firestone's Business Journey

Bruce Firestone studied engineering and urban economics at universities in Canada and Australia. He earned his Bachelor of Civil Engineering degree from McGill University in Montreal. He then got his Master of Engineering-Science from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Later, he completed his PhD in Urban Economics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

After his studies, Firestone joined his family's business, Terrace Developments, in the early 1980s. He helped develop commercial buildings in downtown Ottawa and Bells Corners. He also started a newspaper called the Ottawa Business News, which is now known as the Ottawa Business Journal.

Starting the Ottawa Senators

In the late 1980s, the NHL wanted to add more teams. Bruce Firestone, who was then president of Terrace Investments, saw a big opportunity. He put together a group to bring an NHL team to Ottawa.

His idea was to use the new hockey team as the main attraction for a large new business area west of Ottawa. He planned to build a new arena there. This would make the land around it much more valuable. He hoped to sell land and earn money from new businesses to help pay for the team.

Firestone's group successfully won a new NHL team for Ottawa, along with the Tampa Bay Lightning. A key condition was that they had to build a new arena that met NHL standards.

Challenges with the Arena

The chosen location for the arena was on undeveloped farmland. This caused some disagreement, as many people did not want the farmland to be paved over. Eventually, the local government agency allowed the arena to be built. However, they did not allow the surrounding lands to be developed as Firestone had planned.

Also, the Government of Ontario required that Firestone's company pay for all the necessary roads and services, including a major highway exit. These extra costs made it hard to find enough money. Because of these challenges, Bruce Firestone had to give up ownership of the Ottawa Senators. The team's ownership was taken over by a partnership led by Rod Bryden. Firestone left the organization so the team could continue to move forward. The arena is now known as the Canadian Tire Centre.

Other Business Ventures

After leaving the Senators, Firestone became the chairman and a part-owner of the Ottawa Rough Riders football team. He stayed with the team for one year before it was sold to Horn Chen. After that, Firestone went back to working in real estate development.

In 2004, Bruce Firestone started Exploriem.org. This is a Canadian non-profit organization that helps new business owners and start-ups. Exploriem offers business model competitions, funding, and advice. It also provides free office space to help new businesses get started in Ottawa. Exploriem works with other groups like OCRI (Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation) and Algonquin College.

Firestone has also shared his knowledge by being an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. He is also a commercial real estate agent. He wrote a book called "Don’t Back Down: The Real Story of the Foundling of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators and Why Big Leagues Matter" in 2015. This book tells the story of how he founded the Ottawa Senators.

Bruce Firestone's Family Life

Bruce Firestone has five children with his wife, Dawn Macmillan.

Awards and Recognition

• 2012 - Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame

See also

• Ottawa Rough Riders
• Exploriem
• Ottawa Senators
• Cyril Leeder
• Randy Sexton