Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 18, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Focus a9 Lin i Phi m 2001 letters to the editor the free press welcomes letters from they must include the authors address and Telephone letters May be letters to the 1355 Mountain r2x fax email proposed downtown Arena Eaton demolition shortsighted i am extremely disappointed in the recent decision by elected officials to demolish the heritage buildings of Winnipeg in favour of the Short sighted financial redistribution of existing tax dollars toward our Down i am referring to the recent decision not to designate Eaton a historical building and proceed with the Arena construction on this Premier Gary doer has called this a move but in Many minds it does not embrace Forward Jane the City planner who has placed Canada in the playing Field of architectural has already referred to the belief in an Arena revitalizing the downtown As being a repetition of the planning mistakes made in the As mayor Glen Murray is much the advocate of is this is one quote i am sure he will not i am in favour of a downtown Arena As a Small component of a Down town revitalization but lets have some perspective on what an Arena can do we Are not building sky we Are replacing our Arena with a slightly larger both municipal and Federal govern ments Are doing their Best to Perpetu ate the myth that Winni Eggers Are both Levels Are backing a Pri vate sector development that offers Only a financial return on their invest and providing very Little that we dont already what we Are losing though is the warehouse aesthetic of the Eaton building that would be pre served and highly sought after in any other major North american it is that in Winnipeg the vast acres of parking Are valued higher than our historic contrary to Murray historical buildings can be brought to current code standards at a fraction of the Cost of building the same Quality of building one can place a sprinkler system in a building at a Cost of about a Square foot this goes a Long Way to alleviate fire and safety con Cerns that Are the focus of our National building this act of demolition shows that we Are clearly in the minor leagues with delusional dreams of something a mixed use redevelopment of the Eaton building that includes hous ing would offer Many spinoff benefits not accounted for in the Arena propos Al preserving for our children a heritage building that exemplifies the importance of our City As a leading Centre in Canada at the turn of the 20th Century we no longer hold such a Posi the potential economic Benefit supplied by the film Industry is Only present because of its interest in our heritage buildings As not their modern counterparts that fill every this film Industry has provided us with More civic Pride in the past five years than any government initiated people living and working Down town drive the 24hour Economy of downtown More so than the people vis iting medium to High density Down town housing costs the taxpayer less in the Long run than the requirements and maintenance of the suburban Infra Structure and support services and amenities for persons living and working downtown would increase convenience and diminish the need to congest streets to suburban malls and Bigboy an idealist like placed votes for both officials at the Helm of this Deal in the Hopes that politics can exist accountable to the people at All if i were More interested in the Bottom line than the Quality of what in get Ting for my i would have the private sector take Over the City and make these decisions with better return on my with the Speed at which this Deal is taking my fear is that the private Sec Tor is already running our if such development reference to Winnipeg being the Chicago of the North will be replaced with that strip mall in the i Hope we can do better than Ken Winnipeg raise Cash or let Arena proceed Winnipeg heritage lobby its time to put your Money where your Mouth if you want to convince huge proponent of our downtown that the new Arena at the Eaton site should be to show youre serious please put together a fund equal to the amount raised by True North and pre sent a plan for using this heritage building before councils next an artists rendition of the True North Arena and entertainment proposed for the Eaton building As seen from Portage if you cant do step aside and let the Arena the Eaton building has sat empty for nearly two years no one has shown an interest in doing anything with now that a group with some vision for our City has come you seem to be trying to kill any momentum it we have enough empty buildings we dont need another Capitol theatre when a group of Calgary business men had an interest in investing in our City and renovating the Lon closed Bank of Commerce opponents rallied under the heritage Banner and killed the suggesting they create some sort of millennium Muse this heritage group was so committed to the idea they even get their Grant applications in on the building still sits when Nick Hill wanted to move his furniture store to the location of the big 4 sales his bid was squashed in favour of a nonprofit initiative that is Only now getting under would not it have made sense to accept his initiative and put the largely government subsidized arts conserva tory in one of the Many other vacant buildings downtown the lobby wins i love that Winni Eggers have All these great ideas and appreciate our but we have to be i encourage everyone in favour of the new Arena to let their City Council lors know How they James Ham Winnipeg invest in own heritage first i find it interesting How Phyllis Lam Bert recently criticized Winnipeg for neglecting its heritage by tearing Down the Eaton considering her own family heritage that the Bell hotel on main Street has been in a state of decline for this hotel was the very beginning of the Bronfman family business and its Ren ovation and reuse would be a lot More feasible than re Purposing the newer and architecturally less interesting Eaton so perhaps before telling Winnipeg Gers to invest in their is Lambert could invest some of her own family Fortune into its own Grant Moore Winnipeg for cites Sake make Arena happen finally someone with some vision has stepped up to the plate for Winnipeg and its finally a reason to Hope that Winnipeg will have a flour Ishing downtown and a reason for the Young people of Winnipeg to stay around and watch it As an architecture student at the University of i am in sup port of saving and refurbishing win Nipges historic downtown but not in this where Are the proposals by these heritage activists on what else to do with the enormous empty Eaton building that just there Arent the Eaton building would stand As an enormous reminder of the state of our dying downtown for when someone like Mark Chipman Steps up with such a vision for your City and a vibrant you do whatever you can to make it happen and then you say thank enough for our cites just make it Kyle Morphy faculty of University of Manitoba Winnipeg or Birds you choose Winnipeg appears to be at a bit of a Crossroads with regard to building an Arena on Portage on one we have an agreement across All three Levels of elected the building owners and business there appears to be a financing and an Outlook of great positive effect on on the other we have a vocal group that would like to Block this project so that the Eaton building can be even though the second group is a bit weak on having an alternative and support from own ers and they Are enthuse Here is a proposal that can provide some fill for the gaps in their and allow some reasoned consideration of the after we dont want to cruise right past the Correct turn at the Crossroads on our freeway of Here it goes the Eaton building could be a Bird there Are numerous advantages to this including no need for consensus building or its hard to but these processes sometimes seem to bog Down and kill an excellent project for no Good most everything has some if the Arena proposal Falls nature could surely take its course to establish a healthy Bird population at the without any fur ther action Success is easily just like with so Many other vacant this new innovative use for the Eaton building could easily prevail due to Lack of any other viable competing in if the Arena it could be argued that the owners and government Are quite powerless to take any other course of capital investment would be mini the Only expense would perhaps be some plywood for the operating costs would be there would be no need for Light or heat and the utilities could be building insurance be Avail and no one would be willing to incur maintenance bus tour operators can Benefit from bringing in people from neighbouring towns and cities to View what would certainly be the greatest Monu ment to our ability to support innovation and investment in this great this would be our biggest Bird Sanctuary easily surpassing even the Capitol theatre and other empty heritage buildings or finally slated for nearby on Portage Avenue and in the Exchange if we get our Bird per haps we could establish some sort of Hall of Fame to celebrate the Success of this and similar perhaps we could even boast having the largest facility of its kind in Canada or North i wonder if this adventure might even survive to be appreciated by future the Only Revenue source could be fertilizer gathering of the fertilizer would be problematic Given the inevitable building safety issues that would of As with too much real estate in Down town this venture will involve property tax nonpayment and ultimate City perhaps for very Many this would apply to More of the surrounding properties As As a property owner near the Eaton i do have a vested i particularly care about the health of the a lot of Good has happened for the vitality of downtown in the past few but the Battle is far from Over just Check out the number of vacant storefronts still on Portage i do believe in preserving heritage buildings but not All of them can or should be i Hope that we can get past All of this argument and let the Arena proceed to give us some thing that we can be proud Don Sault East Paul Arena plan ignores future planning the cites plan to build a new Arena on the Eaton site is being enacted with out much consideration for the future planning of i am curious As to Why everyone local is so eager to tear Down a building that has Only been vacant for a year and a unlike Many derelict heritage this site has been maintained and is in Good senti ments about heritage the Eaton building is still a potentially useful part of the downtown other proposals need to be the idea of putting a facility that will be empty for half of the year right on Portage makes Little Why derail a growing commercial zone with a monolithic facility that will be permanently inaccessible to the majority of Winni Eggers after the original site proposed in the great Arena debate of 96 adjacent to the Winnipeg convention Centre is still just an unattractive chunk of pavement begging for Ryan Kinrade Winnipeg doonesbury by Garry Trudeau ;