After months of public consultations and feedback, a vision is starting to take shape for the land that houses the old Public Safety Building and civic parkade.
Dubbed the “Market Lands,” the area once served as a hub for commerce and trade in the late 1800s.
The block of land in the heart of the Exchange District was pegged for redevelopment by the city of Winnipeg in the hope of bringing more people and life to the area.
Over roughly eight months, CentreVenture Development Corporation used panel discussions, focus groups, consultations with area businesses and online tools to gather feedback from thousands of people.
On Wednesday, CentreVenture released a framework for the redevelopment: a combination of outdoor spaces, mixed-use developments, affordable housing and a public market building.
The agency released three different scenarios in its plan, all of which included an affordable housing complex and public market space.
Calling it a place for people to “live, work and play,” CentreVenture CEO Angela Mathieson explained that “five big moves” would shape what happened on the site.
“These moves are about creating better connections to the surrounding areas, including Old Market Square and our wonderful Chinatown,” said Mathieson.
Those moves include plans to open the site to Old Market Square, reestablish the Market Avenue Corridor and focus density towards the north.
Because of a caveat made in 1875, a chunk of land in the southeast corner of the property has to be used for “public purposes”.
With the intentions of placing the public market square in that area, CentreVenture also said it planned to launch a design competition later in the spring to further define what that space would look like.
Mathieson said it was too soon to release any potential cost for such a project, but said the agency hoped to see both public and private development in the reimagining of the 2.4 acres.
Mayor Brian Bowman was also at the framework launch, and called the steps forward “exciting,” saying he wanted to build a more “connected and accessible” city.
“Redeveloping these lands is a once in a city’s lifetime opportunity, and it’s critical that we get it right,” said Bowman.
The city says it is in the planning stages of a demolition of the Public Safety Building and Civic Parkade.
“Much to many people’s disappointment, we’re not blowing anything up,” said Kiernan.
“We have hazardous materials we will be dealing with inside the building: asbestos, those types of things, so it will be a longer, slower, gentler demolition.”
The public can view the framework plans at Red River College’s campus on Princess Street until Friday, March 23 at 5:30 p.m.
