Building owners oppose plan to close concourse beneath Winnipeg's iconic Portage and Main
CBC
An organization representing property owners around Portage Avenue and Main Street says it opposes a city plan to close the underground concourse.
In a letter sent to Mayor Scott Gillingham and councillors on Thursday, the Building Owners and Managers Association of Manitoba warned the city is rushing to a decision that will hurt its bottom line.
Three of the five property owners around the intersection have said they support Mayor Scott Gillingham's proposal to open the intersection to pedestrians for the first time since barricades went up in 1979.
The Manitoba Métis Federation, which owns the former Bank of Montreal Building at the southeast corner, also said it supports the plan to close the city-owned circus beneath the intersection.
All other property owners have reserved comment on the question of the fate of the concourse, until now.
"I think we have a consensus position that more information needs to be provided to council before they make a rash decision on decommissioning the concourse," Tom Thiessen, executive director of the association, said in an interview.
Richardson and Sons, which owns the Richardson Building, and Harvard Developments, which owns 201 Portage Ave., have both expressed support for reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians.
Richardson and Sons declined to comment on the BOMA letter, while Harvard did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Bell MTS, which owns a tower at the southeast corner, also declined comment. Artis Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns the office tower and Winnipeg Square mall at the southwest corner of Portage and Main, did not respond to requests for comment.
Harvard, Artis and Bell MTS are all listed on the BOMA website as members of the association. Also a member is BentallGreenOak, which manages the Richardson Building.
In an email statement, Gillingham said all the owners told him "they support opening the intersection to street-level pedestrian crossings.
"A few of them needed time to consider plans to close the underground concourse, and I promised we'd have further talks about how to ease the transition."
Gillingham announced he favoured opening Portage and Main to foot traffic, after a city report estimated work to replace the waterproof membrane under the intersection would cost $73 million, and take up to five years — work that would need to be repeated in another few decades.
A rough estimate of $20 million to $50 million would be required to decommission the concourse. A further $13 million would be required to demolish the barricades and install pedestrian crossings, along with other upgrades.
Just hours after the United States announced it had attacked oil-rich Venezuela and captured its president Nicolás Maduro, the wife of a top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Canada on social media.
The B.C. Geographical Names Office (BCGNO) is considering rescinding the name "Trutch" from four more locations across the province over their namesake's racist legacy.
An audit of Hamilton’s outdoor shelter project found that when it came to constructing the shelters, “urgency overrode the importance of due diligence and good governance.”
Stellantis says it will phase out plug‑in hybrid (PHEV) programs in North America beginning with the 2026 model year.
Some Calgary city councillors are throwing cold water on the idea that an Enmax-like corporation, owned by the city, should oversee its water system in the future.
A British Columbia woman with a neurological disorder says she's looking forward to finally getting her mobility device back from a Toronto ride-hailing driver, who didn’t return it after she accidentally left it in his car in October.
The Kitchener Fire Department wants homeowners to purchase a carbon monoxide alarm as soon as possible after a new Ontario law requires on every floor of a home or existing multi-unit residence to have one.
Like many others who have been drawn in by the steamy hockey drama series, Cameron Cassidy has watched Heated Rivalry multiple times over.
The Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation is ending its one-on-one healing services after eight years in operation to refocus on building long-term capacity for healing initiatives in the North.
There was disappointment on the streets of Caracas on Friday as only a handful of prisoners emerged from the Heilcoide and other prisons, despite a promise from a major regime figure that a "significant" number of people would get their freedom.
Fourteen million — that’s how many digital checkouts the Toronto Public Library logged last year.
Some archivists and librarians say there are ways to preserve old and outdated books, amid controversy about a London high school’s decision to purge thousands of titles from its library.
New video emerged Friday that was filmed by the U.S. immigration officer who fatally shot a woman in her car in Minneapolis, revealing new angles of the incident as well as audio of the crucial seconds before the encounter turned deadly.