Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 23, 2000, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 local Winner re fkr May 2000 hog Industry May kill area dreams eyesore continued from Page a1 b groups want shift from heavy Industry by Aldo Santon a resurgent hog Industry May put an end to the Boniface com munits Hopes of turning the largely vacant Canada packers site into a residential and recreational play with the Industry expected to double in some Are questioning the merits of building housing and recreational uses on a site once dominated by the packing golfers might not mind the occasional whiff of a killing Plant but it be my first Choice for a place to said Marvel chairman of the Manitoba pork said of the Canada packers Hacault said the 170acre site is still ringed with companies that support the processing and packaging of a Public task Force on the site four years ago wanted to see the property become a transition area for the meat with the Southwest portion redeveloped for Industrial and recreational and Light Industry for the Northeast part of the the once Home to Canada pack ers and is bordered on two sides by residential communities arc Wood to the West and Windsor Park to the the site is ringed by Railroad attractive lure to heavy Indus try and associated industries on the Sites Northern and Eastern Borders Are Rothesay meat and located on the Eastern Edge of the site on Dawson just went through a this is an Aerial View of the Canada packers which a Developer proposed to demolish and replace with a residential and recreational million expansion and has another million expansion in the a kill Best Brand also located on Dawson on the Sites is also undergoing an Doug head of the cites plan property and development depart said while the site is Large and could accommodate a Range of Light Industry or recreational plans to include housing now May have to be despite the changes in the hog Indus try and the collapse of an ambitious redevelopment plan for the Resi dents and business groups in Boni face said they still believe a move away from heavy Industry is Best suited for the adjacent Monique president of the old Boniface said intensive meat Industry plants Are no longer appropriate for the the site is very close to residential development and we dont think it would be healthy for it to go Back to that kind of Mulaire Raymond of the Riel development said that group opposes any re intensification of the meat Industry in that Dan Vandal said the area should be rezoned from its current heavy Indus try use to Light Industry and possibly housing and Simard said the Riel development still favours the development proposal that fell apart last which called for the construction of a nine Hole Golf a 200unit seniors a 275unit condominium and Square feet of mixed use commercial and office that plan proposed the single family housing to ring the exterior of the just inside the rail lines that encircle the and adjacent to some of the existing facilities which produce the most offensive odour associated with the the portion of the site that Borders Archibald Street would have included the seniors housing a Farmers Market and commercial the Golf course would have run through the Centre of the and would have incorporated a series of storm water retention Ponds to serve the feed Plant is in no Rush to leave Canada packers site by Aldo Santon Ron Arnason knows All about getting involved in a land Deal with the City of eight years ago who founded super tech thought he had bought the old swifts site on Archibald Street where his company had been leasing space from the City since the late but Arnason said the City backed out of the he sued and Hes been there Ever they reneged on a commitment to sell us the Arnason said of the that was the basis of our state ment of Arnason since taken Over by landmark found itself part of the unfolding dispute Between the City and Developer a s Homes the City offered the entire 170acre site that makes up the Public Market including the former buildings of Canada swifts and the Public to a s according to confidential City Docu City staff said that Arnason operation didst belong there but they could not Tell a s Homes when super tech would be that was news to who said he was unaware that his company pres ence had been the subject of discussion Between the City and a s Homes Dur ing the past Arnason said he probably wont be Leav ing for another year or the City had Long hoped to develop the site but had been unable to attract a its an eyesore in the Middle of an Industrial area dominated by the stench of rendering the fire department considers the abandoned Canada pack ers Plant a fire trap and has repeatedly pleaded with the City to demolish by the end of december the City had received four competing after an internal the administration backed a consortium fronted by a s which proposed a nine Hole Golf a 275unit condominium a 200unit seniors and Square feet of mixed use commercial and office the a s group said it would Demol ish the buildings but expected the City to contribute million of the Esti mated million when the demolition was the City would Transfer title of the site to a which would then proceed with the at an april 1999 meeting of the property and development staff recommended that the City should pay up to million toward demolition Only after a s had spent an equal the Issue of whether part of the site would be needed for a works Yard or Grant Avenue Exten Sion As Well As the squatters presence addressed during final the staff which was never shared with the was adopted by property and development on april and by executive policy committee a week Council backed it on april 28 and ordered staff to negotiate a final but in the intervening none of the issues were the consortium had never agreed to the cites cos sharing proviso and throughout the negotiations insisted the million in Public Money be paid in stages while demolition was Bueti said the developers did ask about the possibility of the City waving the Cost of garbage tipping fees for the building but added the Issue was dropped and was never part of the groups last and the question of How much land the consortium was buying was never we sold this like an old used you see is what you get Doug Kalcsics would be privacy j Rad Timve suits with ties my 4 Days to opening jul Price new Price term Rote payment 60 48 new 60 48 Frattick Limo vk10riaday Spring carnival wi1hevfry its drive new comm few m 60 w a Vav open 6 Days a week where customers Send their friends Vickar i Nairn Ivi Ivi i i v it Vickar 964 Regent Chevrolet Oldsmobile Toni free Isoo 6619391 the property and development department has advised a s that the City is unable at this time to con firm precisely what lands Are available for conveyance to a states a confidential staff report prepared for the april 2000 meeting of the property and development correspondence Between the devel oper and City staff revealed that the Goff course be built if the Developer had to Reserve 30 acres that the City or might want for a works Yard some and there was no Point doing the project at All if an Extension to Grant Avenue the equivalent of a new Bishop Grandin one Day blast through the Centre of the the City says its prepared to give 170 acres and you develop a proposal for that and then the City says its actually Only going to be 120 acres but they expect you to proceed just the Bueti the lawyer said his clients believed the City was willing to resolve the out standing but in All that the City provided no answers to any of our City staff told a s it could take two to three years for the site to be rezoned from heavy Industrial to residential and and that it would also be 18 months to two years before the possibility of a major Grant Avenue Extension going through the Middle of the project could be Bueti As City officials never did say when the squatter would be evicted or when it would decide if it needed the site for a new works he to protect Bueti said the consortium members insisted that they be Given a 10year window after the buildings had been demolished before they would be required to take posses Sion of the land and Start we didst want to be put in a position where once we demolished the wed get title to a property and a Mas Sive property tax Bill but it would be years before we could still proceed with our Bueti although Peter de chair Man of the cites property and develop ment did not return phone Calls to the free press about the other City officials were not apologetic for the we sold this like an old used car what you see is what you said Doug head of the property and development Kalcsics said the City considered the 170acre site a troubled it had been Long abandoned by the meatpacking it was in the Middle of a diverse Community ranging from neighbourhood to Industrial and no one knew what the Best use for the site would when the City issued a request for proposals two years it did not attach a Price tag to the preferring to see what developers thought they could do with the he and he makes no apologies for All the uncertainties attached to the saying they were there from the beginning and All inter ested parties were aware of they were buying a Kalcsics said of the everyone knew that from the he said the consortium last demand that it be Given 10 years Grace before taking formal Possession of the site was the last weve gone Back to plan b Well demolish and clean up the site ourselves and get it ready for development and then see what we can do with Bueti said that perhaps that what the City should have done at the in its Clear the City was far from ready to put this land up for Bueti the City wanted a Developer to transform the image of yet they we rent willing to do anything to help us get buy 4wd get True new rugged Polaris air cooled engine new exclusive Shaft ride system lon travel rear suspension tight turning Macpherson strut lon travel front suspension intelligent on demand True 4wheel drive with thumb switch automatic transmission pvt Al wheel Hydraulic disc brakes Hydraulic rear Axle foot Brake new Magnus 325 4x4 Polaris ride the pest to Larin Man in i ;