Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 29, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B3 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM B 3NEWS I CITY IN the heart of Winnipeg’s Exchange District lies the historic Gault Building. Erected in 1900, the heritage-status brick warehouse is now better known by the name of its longtime occupants, and recognized from afar by the roof- top fencing spelling out its iconic mon- iker: Fartspace. Hang on, that can’t be right… Fear not — no rogue Banksy-type scaled the six-storey building’s fire es- cape to prank the downtown. The mys- terious addition to the iconic ‘Artspace’ sign, which bubbled up on social media this week, was sanctioned by the execu- tive team. Just don’t expect them to snitch on the artist. “I don’t know how much I can tell you,” Artspace executive director Eric Pla- mondon laughed over the phone Tuesday. “It’s a public art piece that kind of came out of the culture of Artspace lending both the insides and the out- sides of the building to people who have creative ideas and want to make sure the exchange district is a creative cam- pus that has dialogue with community.” For the next four weeks, the exchange district is part-host to a month-long Nuit Blanche exhibition, meaning those with a “curious eye” might be rewarded, said Plamondon. In the spirit of having eyes and ears open, Plamondon said the historic arts building offered up its rooftop for an uncomplicated chuckle. “Someone came and said: ‘We want to do this thing and it’s not complicated, it’s not highbrow art, but we think it’s cute and funny, would you be down?’” Plamondon explained. “And if somebody sees it, has a gig- gle, then it’s 100 per cent worth it.” Plamondon said the building — which belongs to the Crown, and thereby the public — is intended to “allow space for art to exist and be created” both in its galleries and theatre, and in its facade. Artspace doorways are being pre- pared for a public exhibition, window displays are frequently transformed into exhibit spaces — so why not the roof, too? Plamondon said the fencing on which the sign hangs is some of the last ori- ginal rooftop fencing in the Exchange, and certainly the last used to advertise the building’s purpose; drawing extra attention to the iconic fence is an added bonus to a well-meaning laugh. julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jsrutgers Lowbrow humour makes debut on Exchange rooftop JULIA-SIMONE RUTGERS This was different than a Winnipeg Blue Bombers game, held in an open-air stadium. The SARS-CoV-2 virus trans- mits more easily indoors, especially when masks are sporadically removed and people are squeezed together. When almost everyone in the build- ing is fully vaccinated (and they were, except for children under 12), the likelihood of transmission is dimin- ished. More importantly, if the virus does spread between fully vaccinated people, the chance of someone becom- ing severely ill is significantly reduced. That’s what the scientific evidence from around the world has shown. Manitoba is now putting that science to the test. Public health officials will have a pretty good idea 10-14 days after Sunday’s game (the typical incubation period) how much transmission, if any, occurred. If there were breakthrough cases linked to people in attendance, it would get picked up through contact tracing. This is an important litmus test. If 15,000 mostly vaccinated people can gather in a hockey arena wearing masks (most of the time) and there are few, if any, infections, it would signal a real breakthrough in the ability to return to normal life. It wouldn’t mean we are ready for post-pandemic living but it would be a significant step towards getting there. It would show vaccinated people can gather safely again in large numbers, businesses and not-for-profits can resume operations and tax revenues can flow to government coffers to pay for health care, education and other important front-line services. Sunday’s good ol’ hockey game was the best game you could name. It was also the most visible sign yet of how close we are to returning to normal life. tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca BRODBECK ● FROM B1 MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The executive director of Artspace doesn’t think anyone should raise a stink about the F added to the building’s rooftop signage. Winnipeg sets September weather record as outdoor businesses see sizzling sales SWEET HEAT L EAVES are changing colour and kids are in school, but it feels like mid-summer to Steve Wood. The director of golf operations at St. Boniface Golf Club is still seeing a large number of custom- ers. The club typically sees around 5,000 rounds of golf in September. This year, there have been about 6,500 games in 28 days. “We’re still packed, right from our first tee time... to the end of the day,” Wood said. “The daylight is shrinking, but we’re... putting through a lot of players.” He attributes the course’s recent success, in part, to the warm weather. “For us, to be reaching the temperatures we’re reaching cur- rently, it just hasn’t slowed down,” he said. This is not Winnipeg’s hottest September on record, but it’s easily in the Top 10, said Natalie Hasell, a meteorologist for Envi- ronment Canada. The daily high hasn’t dipped below 14 C all month in Winnipeg. On Tuesday, the city broke its daily weather record for Sept. 28 at just over 29 C, beating the 28.9 C records of 1897 and 1905. “We... see a lot of variability in the fall,” Hasell said. “As systems cross the region, we see huge tem- perature changes.” The average temperature in Win- nipeg this month is 15.3 C, Hasell said. It was 17.6 C in 2009, which holds the current record. Guido Cerasani, owner of Shoot- ers Family Golf Centre, is enjoying the weather — and the business it’s bringing. There’s been a 25 to 50 per cent increase in daily sales at the busi- ness on north Main Street. “We’re seeing record numbers in golf just because of COVID,” he said. “We had a great early spring, and now we’re having a great fall, so all the cards are in the favour of golf in Manitoba.” The warm temperatures also mean folks are still craving patio dates, Cerasani said. “The best part about it now is there’s no wasps,” he said. Assiniboine Park has been busy this month, said Laura Cabak, communications manager for the Assiniboine Park Conservancy. The zoo has seen a 50 per cent increase in visitors, she added. “Some of that is likely due to weather, but there are other variables at play,” she said, add- ing Manitoba was in a different stage in the COVID-19 pandemic last September. Trail usage is up, as it’s been since the beginning of the pandem- ic, said Anders Swanson, executive director of the Winnipeg Trails Association. However, September’s heat likely isn’t playing a big role, he said. “(It’s) usually having to do with infrastructure and (people’s) own personal lives,” he said. Danny Blair, co-director of the Prairie Climate Centre, said in Winnipeg, September has warmed at a rate of 0.44 C per decade, meaning it’s warmed over 2 C since 1970. “The temperatures we are expe- riencing this September are very much in line with the long-term trend in our temperatures... which are very much related to climate change,” he wrote in an email. Even so, no particular spell of weather is caused by climate change, he said. gabrielle.piche@freepress.mb.ca GABRIELLE PICHÉ JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS People on jet skis take advantage of Tuesday’s record-setting temperature by going for a tour on the Red River near the Disraeli Freeway. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Ed Hume and his grandson enjoy a sunny a walk in Assiniboine Park. JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A cyclist rides over the Disraeli Freeway Bridge. B_03_Sep-29-21_FP_01.indd B3 2021-09-28 10:12 PM ;