Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 30, 1982, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free november 1982 our downtown is incomplete Terence Moore the downtown building Boom of the 1970s did somewhere around on third of the Job of building Winnipeg a hew downtown Between Graham ave nue and the impressive number of new buildings put up during that extending from Colony Square and the Art gallery to the Bestland and Grain commission buildings on main Are so widely scattered and contain such a Small proportion of housing that they do not yet amount to the kind of densely heavily weather socially and economically magnetic downtown that Minneapolis achieved in the 1960s and Paul in the Winnipeg downtown strategy for the 1980s is the Core area which Aims to spread the benefits of downtown development to districts and buildings that were bypassed by the activity of the the twin Aims of strengthening and completing the new downtown and of attending to the social and economic needs of peo ple and districts on the fringes of downtown need not but the Core area strategy is being pursued in ways that make them the air Canada building is a Case in had it been As air Canada actually in one of the Many Large gaps that separate one development from another in the new downtown South of Graham it would have reinforced the existing of fice enlarged the Market for the supporting private services such As retailing and food and for Public ser vices such As transit and pedestrian it would have fitted fairly harmoniously with the existing architecture and perhaps encouraged other developers to build on other vacant or underused land in the District and fill in More of the but because of the political need of the provincial and Federal governments to show Concrete substance in the Core area air Canada was sent to Pioneer North of Portage the Public authorities efforts to give the air Canada building an ambiance As attractive As it could have had South of Graham entails the demolition of a Block and a half of Portage Avenue retail frontages for a it is most unlikely that air Canadas pioneering will draw other commercial construction on to nearby land while the District South of which is More attractive on its own merits for such still includes Large undeveloped in the interest of creat ing an economically aesthetic ally attractive and weather protected it is better that any such private projects should happen South of land North of Ellice ought probably to be used for the Large scale downtown housing developments it seems to be generally will be needed to help create the resident inner City population that will support inner City there is no sign yet that the air Canada project will make the land North of Ellice More attractive for residential it has taken off the Market a chunk of land that might have been use for some of the local amenities that would support the construction work of the 1970s in the District Between Graham and Broadway resulted from the planning efforts of the metropolitan conflicting development schemes have left Winnipeg Centre less attractive than Nicollet mall in the support of the provincial govern the Strong demand for new office and hotel space and the aggressiveness of a few development the Feder Al government pioneered the area with its Post started in 1953 and opened in the old bus depot was cleared off its Graham Avenue site in 1964 and replaced with the new development at Portage and the civic Centre and Public safety build ing opened in 1964 and the Centennial Centre opened in 1968 were the 1960s efforts to maintain downtown uses along main but partly because Steve Jubas City of Winnipeg would have nothing to do with projects of the metropolitan the under ground retailing mall that might have linked civic Centre to concert Hall was reduced to a Barren Metros underground shopping idea finally found takers after Lombard Square was developed at Portage and main at the end of the but even As the Richardson building and the Winnipeg inn were going metro was looking for the land that would be the new metro planners picked the area from Broad Way to Graham Between Edmonton and main aiming for a Conven Tion nursing along the compan Ion office and hotel scheme that be came Lakeview Square and studiously avoiding rival schemes advanced by mayor when the Schreyer government joined in financing the convention the new downtown was off and place Louis Beacon Hill Lodge and the House of York gave it a modest residential the new medical arts the Centen Nial the Royal Trust the credit Union buildings on Garry Street and a series of office buildings on Broadway fell in line with the metro As did Eaton refitting of its catalogue building to become Eaton but roughly As much work was done outside the perimeter metro had de the provincial governments Woodsworth the Triec development of Winnipeg the Art gallery and Lake views Rupert land Square and Colony Square All grew up outside Metros each for its own leaving the Central area with immense acreage of parking lots and on and two Storey buildings which still isolate the High density projects from each scatter the Market for supporting services and obstruct the development of weather protected pedestrian the Graham Avenue transit As a is still just a dream and the skywalk network exists just in bits and pieces not because they Are bad not because downtown Winnipeg is too Small a Market to support them but because the downtown was allowed to spread far from trying to bring about the new downtown that was the amalgamated City of Winnipeg made Triec the free gift of a parking garage and foundations for an office Tower in order to bring about development at Portage and the gaps in the new downtown and the gaps in the skywalk network represent Winnipeg unfinished business from the now the Core area partners Are assembling the East Yards site and considering what uses to put that land they talk of bring ing More government offices to the inner City in the footsteps of air Cana the air Canada the Bank of Montreal building and the Cargill or the space emptied by their will have to be filled before new private projects that might fill in the downtown gaps can be Antici on top of the Public authorities induce additional office construction North of Portage or on the East Yards the completion of the new downtown will be deferred for Many years and with it the Prospect of achieving in Winnipeg a downtown comparable to those of min Neapolis and Winnipeg can have a downtown As dazzling As those of the twin it could have such a downtown Al in proportion to the smaller metropolitan population and lower growth rate but As Good or better in physical design and Public Ameni ties if it had not squandered the Opportunity and dissipated the efforts of the the City and its Core area partners can learn from the successes of the Minnesota twin cities and from this cites incomplete Success of the 1970s to establish the Correct relationship be tween downtown development and improvement of districts in the Shadow of spreading downtown build Ings Over a wider area does not assist downtown redevelopment nor does it meet the social and economic and neighbourhood needs of Core area peo giant dam stirs loud opposition by Don braid special to the free press Edmonton except for Pup seals and maybe rated video every element to ensure a pitched Battle Over the environment is bubbling in a re Mote Corner of northeastern environmentalists from across the country Are rallying to resist the Al Berta governments plan to build an hydroelectric dam on the slave River near the Boundary with the Northwest the govern ment opted for the dam after rejecting Manitoba proposal for a Western Power they say it threatens native com a National a rare Spe cies of White and even the nearly extinct whooping whose Only known nesting ground is Only 50 Miles from the the environmentalists have the sup port of Many including some from the Alberta governments own environment theres noway they can come up with a dam that is economically viable and ecologically says Deirdre a scientist on the but the government is so determined to forge ahead that it ordered a jillion engineering study even before the project was approved by the Northwest and its own assessment Don braid in Alberta Larry the utilities minister who was replaced last week by an equally Tough customer named Bob insists with no Trace of embarrassment that Alberta needs the eco nomic the project will employ a Peak labor Force of and provide Man years of it will Supply cheap Power to the province through the projects collapsed Shaben says with total the engineering work will occupy the provinces depressed consult ing Alberta has been littered with underemployed engineers since the collapse of Energy Shaben is reassuring about the environmental he says the dam might actually improve the ecology of a major Delta thus improving the lot of native Hunters at fort As for those rare White their habitat will be flooded but pelicans show a heartening willing Ness to move elsewhere when Threa whooping cranes we too Are very concerned about says but we do not think they will be harmed in any Way by the the area where 17 pairs of cranes nest was named a site of extreme environmental importance by an International conference Only last sum but Shaben feels the Birds Are fat enough from the dam to be out of they do not normally forage in the he and Are not Likely to crash into Power at least one expert Ernie a biologist with the Canadian wildlife says that Only three Young whoppers survived the nesting period in and one of them was killed when it hit a Power line in these arguments do not have much Impact on the which has clearly decided to go ahead no matter what the conclusions of Public hearings now being there Are no we must do said economic development min ister Hugh Over it the opposition wont make any differ but the Alberta tories might be forced to take notice of one powerful the Federal which is upset by Albertas tactics and incensed by the threat to one of its National Wood Buffalo National a huge unspoiled runs along much of the Eastern Boundary of the All the studies agree that part of it would be permanently flooded if the dam is in a private letter to the Alberta Federal environment minister John Roberts warned in 1981 that Ottawa will not allow the land to be and will not change the Park boundaries to exclude the land under another blast at the Alberta tories came from an embarrassing John the former tory Environ ment minister in the Clark govern said the provinces decision to go ahead with the dam flies in the Teeth of everything we have been trying to teach Alberta is making a mockery of its own Public Fraser suggested during an appearance in Jack then Albertas Environ ment could Only say limply that he was surprised by his tory colleagues but the Alberta politicians Are feel ing feisty after their election Victory november because they know that most albertan support them on this and All other most people seem to feel that the alternative to a dam on the Remote slave is More dirty Coa fired generating plants near the they Are also sure that in these scary economic a Job is Worth More than a Don braid in the Edmonton journals political nip first Quarter score surpasses tories alter one year in a govern ment tries to underline its accomplish ments and play Down shifting blame for matters presumably beyond its opposition members have an easier task As they merely after there is no need to present alternative policies until the next elec Tion is it May not seem but that is the Way the game is while this year has been difficult for any group in Howard Pawley insists his government has been meet ing the Challenge with one of the Best performances in the that View has been supported by the latest report from the conference Board of which stated that Manitoba Economy has the Consol ing distinction of showing the smallest decline in activity among the prov no Pawley welcomed that re port As he listed the promises which have been included tangible items like interest rate rent controls and beef income stabilization along with More nebulous such As new Northern policies and restoration of the health care the Premier was equally proud of an improved critical Home repair pro a Community Day care Stan Dards refinancing of Mckenzie seeds and broadened Hydro develop noting that Only one Promise the upgrading of Manitoba forestry under the dome Arlene Billinkoff resources had not he also lauded the renegotiation of the Winnipeg Core area a freeze on tuition increase of the mini mum first contract increased Grants to school divisions and and assistance to communities where resource Indus tries suffered from Large scale he was proud of that the opposition Sterling Lyon told the tory annual meeting that the nip had promised to get the Economy moving and create but the employment rate had increased to per cent with More people out of work than a year conflict with the medical profession did not seem to improve the care he while the mortgage assistance plan was Only a Shell with no one receiving significant even worse was the handling of Man Tobas valuable Lyon main the Promise of immediate Hydro expansion had not occurred be cause the Dps attempt to drive hard bargains on projects which would have justified such drove away those economic opportunities the Western Power an aluminium smelter and a Potash top of the government had increased spending by almost 20 per cent and created a deficit of More than it was indicative of nip fiscal said finance critic Brian the payroll designed to counter Federal was inequitable and economically while the alleged rear ionization seemed to have Little where was the True strategy to turn around the harsh eco nomic As promised they also destroyed a constructive working relationship with the City of charged Urban affairs critic Gerry instead of easing municipal burdens and working for common this governments action resulted in in creased taxation and Lack of similar action occurred in the Rural said agriculture critic Jim Dow with the beef assistance plan coming too late with too Many restrict while farm bankruptcies were increasing despite promises to halt in government had stopped lending Money for land Pur chases and limited Sale of Crown this return to the Handson approach of years gone by was totally did the government do anything worthwhile not said Gary Fil the critic for housing and while results on housing and rent controls would not be known for some he believed the evidence to Date shows nip policies have been less effective than anticipate some of the much publicized Aid to education was with property taxes rising As a result something the nip had said would not they have done very Little and what has been done is Filmon those opposing views from the government and opposition Are understandable As each group tries to score a governments action in the first year tends to set the tone for the remainder of its since the tories Learned the hard Way that it is almost impossible to reverse that initial they understandably Hope the nip has already started to dig its own political then the opposition can move just As the nip did during the tory building up support and present ing alternative despite that it May be different this while the nip May not have turned around the harsh economic it has not done badly considering the current there has been nothing but the steady plodding May be the proper at Public opinion May not be wildly in favor of nip but is a recognition that Many problems Are beyond the control of a provincial that puts this administration in a much better position than the tories after their first that does not mean a Clear Road the four years in office Are like the four quarters of a football the nip has control of the Ball and despite some errors and Fum the opposition has yet to recover or there Are three More quarters to be the game is far from doonesbury have to paint Pimm i can to Pho but is All Iasso we touch it 1130 that All if i Pont f pay you Back 1iomiluomby next monday on Stock i i pm Upa put it in a paper i i ;