Julian Armour, shown here in February 2007, launched the original concert hall project and led it until he left the Ottawa Chamber Music Society in March 2007. (CBC)

The man who first dreamed up a recent plan to build a community concert hall in downtown Ottawa has launched a new version to replace the one that failed earlier this spring.

Julian Armour, who resigned abruptly as artistic director of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society last year, is leading a group called the Friends of the Concert Hall, which released its new plan Monday.

The group includes many people involved in the previous plan. The new proposal again calls for the concert hall to be built as part of a residential and commercial development at 150 Elgin St., and the group said it has been in talks with the site's developer, Morguard.

The original project was started and led by Armour until in March 2007, when he left the society he founded. It was backed by funding commitments from all three levels of government.

However, organizers were unable to raise enough private money by a deadline agreed upon by themselves and the City of Ottawa, and after several earlier deadline extensions.

Since the deadline, the city money has remained set aside for a city arts facility, making another concert hall project a possibility. However, a deadline has passed for the federal money tied to the original project and it's no longer available.

The new plan includes a fundraising drive that will kick off in September.

Naomi Ridout, a member of Armour's group, said the drive will focus not just on finding a large naming sponsor, but will also seek support in the form of smaller donations from members of the community, who have been asking how they can help.

"We’re saying that now we’re open for business," she said. "We would like them to join as members, as a really positive indication of support."

The group, which includes representatives from the Ottawa Choral Society and the Ottawa Jazz Festival, is promoting the concert hall as a venue for all kinds of music, not just classical.

The Ottawa Chamber Music Society had tried to do that, but had trouble because of the society's name: many people didn't realize it would be open to all music.