New report gives glimpse of Exchange District future

Winnipeg city councillors will soon get a glimpse of the Exchange District’s future.

A new report, called the Exchange District Plan 2022, lays out a vision for the area over the next 25 years.

The plan is intended to help manage the continued evolution of the area and to respond to ongoing opportunities in the area.

"The impetus behind it was really around making sure that we had some consistency, some vision and some forward thinking about decisions being made in the Exchange District, both from the city and in terms of what we’re looking for from developers,” said David Pensato, the executive director of the Exchange District BIZ.

Pensato said the last time this kind of thing was done was back in 1996, and recommendations from that document got rolled into the city’s downtown centre plan. For the most part they were accomplished.

Since then, Pensato said area residents and business owners have found decisions have been made in a one-off sort of manner so it was time for some new direction.

“The Exchange District has this delicate ecosystem of various kinds of activities, people interacting, businesses and arts groups and it was really important to maintain all of that,” said Pensato. “Nobody wants the Exchange District to lose what makes it so unique and special to the city.”

With more people wanting to live in the Exchange, Pensato said he sees the area becoming more of a complete community.

However, he noted development must be done with consideration to the neighbourhood’s character, including its heritage buildings.

“Nobody wants to see these buildings go. This is the heart and soul of the Exchange District” Pensato said. “Anyone who visits here from another city, even people from Manhattan, walk around gaping at the buildings.”

Pensato said the key is adaptability as new uses for the buildings have to be found.

The report was created in collaboration with stakeholders, business and area residents.

It will be presented at next week’s city property and development committee meeting.

 

-With files from CTV’s Jon Hendricks