Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 23, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B2 B 2 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015 CITY winnipegfreepress. com * 6- month subscribers save 5%. Savings may vary slightly depending on subscription term and location S U B S C R I P T I O N O F F E R On your newspaper subscription �� Save over $ 28 annually �� Enjoy smaller monthly payments �� Easy to budget for �� Consistent delivery without interruption if you forget to pay an invoice Cut your costs and save money by converting to EZ- Pay monthly! If you are a 6- day subscriber paying every 3months for your subscription you can save 10% regularly using EZ- Pay, our auto- renewal payment plan. Save 1O% winnipegfreepress. com / subscribe- new/ Call: 204- 697- 7001 | 1- 800- 542- 8900 Email: fpcirc@ winnipegfreepress. com CALL TODAY convert your subscription quoting promo code EZPAYBKS WHY PAY MORE? THIS IS NOT A PROMOTION. THESE ARE PERMANENT RATES! SOUTH Winnipeg get ready - 24 regional and local roads in the area are to be torn up and repaired this year. At an empty field at the corner of Pembina Highway and McGillivray Boulevard, Municipal Government Minister Drew Caldwell and St. Norbert Coun. Janice Lukes announced the official list of regional and local roads slated for repair in the area. As the provincial minister responsible for Winnipeg, Caldwell explained the timing of the announcement, which came months after the city's road- renewal plan had been revealed, stating it was about " timing." " There are signs up around the city, and projects are already underway, we hadn't just formally made the announcement for them and that is just due to time constraints," he said. Highlights include planned improvements on regional roads such as Osborne Street and Pembina Highway. Several back lanes, including those between Chancellor Drive and Waverley Street from Lake Lindero Road to Lake Crest Road, are also slated to be rehabilitated. Caldwell wouldn't commit to making similar announcements in other areas of the city, but said " they should." " I am not sure if we will be making announcements across the city, we should have a couple more," he said. Lukes noted the south was " a great end to start in." As for active- transportation components, a hot- button topic at city hall this month, Caldwell said it was in consideration for all the projects, but he couldn't outline which roads will see cycling infrastructure incorporated. Lukes noted some areas, such as Pembina Highway, are seeing the addition of buffered bicycle lanes. " Some are having upgrades, some are having brand- new pieces of infrastructure put in," she said, adding they will know by the end of the season how much they will be adding. More than 160 roads in the city are slated for repair this year, and 24 of those will be in southern region of the city. In total, the city is investing $ 103 million on local and regional road repair. The province will chip in $ 59 million from the Building Manitoba Fund. Some of the roads on the list set for repairs include: . Osborne Street from Corydon Avenue to Donald Street, and from Broadway to St. Mary Avenue. . Pembina Highway from Bairdmore Boulevard to Kirkbridge Drive and from Point Road to McGillivray Boulevard. . Autumnwood Drive from Cottonwood Road to Fermor Avenue. . Scurfield Boulevard from Dovercourt Drive to Waverly Street. . Rue Des Meurons from Horace Street to Carriere Avenue. Readers can find a full list of southern- area road repairs, along with a map showing all the planned local road repairs at www. winnipegfreepress. com. kristin. annable@ freepress. mb. ca Road renewals slated for south Winnipeg By Kristin Annable T HE once- notorious Merchants Hotel will soon begin its transformation from a crime hub to a place to learn and live. Rob Neufeld, executive director of the North End Renewal Corporation, said Winnipeggers should start seeing the first signs of the hotel's rebirth into a satellite campus of the University of Winnipeg along with housing when demolition crews and equipment begin to tear down the building on Selkirk Avenue next to the former hotel. " We're hoping to do the foundation work in the fall," Neufeld said on Wednesday. " We hope to complete the construction by December 2016." Prof. Jim Silver, who has spearheaded the Merchants Corner project, said the wrecking ball should come to the site next month to demolish the one- storey building next door to the Merchants Hotel. The former hotel building itself will be gutted inside, but the outside facade will be retained. " We're very excited about where we are now with the project," Silver said. " We hope to offer classes there for the January 2017 semester. It is a bit of a tight deadline, but it is doable." The building opened as a hardware and furniture store more than 100 years ago before converting into a hotel in the 1930s. During the last two decades, the hotel garnered a reputation for crime amid calls by neighbourhood activists for different levels of government to either shut it down or take it over. The hotel closed in 2012. Last year, the provincial government announced it was giving the project $ 11.1 million in funding, which includes a $ 2- million repayable loan. Plans call for the U of W's department of inner- city studies to hold classes during the day and the CEDA- Pathways to Education program to have high school classes in the evening. The project will also have 30 units of subsidized housing for students raising children. Silver said as part of the $ 12.8- million project, they had to raise the rest of the money needed through donations and a mortgage. " We have raised $ 1.8 million now," he said. " We had to raise $ 1.7 million for the financial package, but we have done that and more. That's great because the original package has a mortgage, and we'd like to eliminate that so we have more money to operate the building. We will continue to fundraise." Neufeld said donors can contribute to the project and get a charitable receipt by going to www. themerch. ca. kevin. rollason@ freepress. mb. ca Closed hotel finding new life North End renewal plan set to begin next month By Kevin Rollason RENDERINGS BY MISTECTURE ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS INC. The new satellite campus for the University of Winnipeg will include 30 subsidized housing units for students and their families. B_ 02_ Jul- 23- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B2 7/ 22/ 15 8: 04: 57 PM ;