Organization calling plan to close Portage and Main underground concourse 'short-sighted'
While many have expressed their support for reopening Portage and Main to pedestrians, not everyone is on board.
Tom Thiessen, executive director of the Building Owners & Managers Association of Manitoba (BOMA), said he is concerned with the proposed plan.
“Council’s pending decision on decommissioning the concourse is short-sighted, and it's based on incomplete information.
BOMA wants council to consider the effects on the course-connected buildings and businesses.
“(They) contribute approximately $12 million in annual property taxes to City coffers, and provide workspaces for more than 6,000 downtown workers, plus amenities for thousands more visitors and hotel guests,” BOMA said in a letter.
The association said the mayor’s office has been implying the city will save $73 million – but believes that’s misleading.
“That is simply not true,” Thiessen said in an interview with CTV News. “The cost consultant’s report said it would be $29 million to excavate and replace the membrane. The rest of the $73 million figure is applied to intersection rebuild, etc. Much of which would take place regardless of whether the concourse was decommissioned or not.”
The association said that while it isn’t opposed to reopening the intersection to pedestrians, if done safely, it does ultimately want the concourse to remain.
“Quite frankly, the city should be interested in keeping the concourse open. A lot of the properties around here have their valuations based on access to the rest of the downtown. Property valuations have a direct impact on tax assessments. I don't think the city is implying that they can actually stand to lose tax money at this point in municipal coffers, quite frankly, that would impact all Winnipeggers,” said Thiessen.
Mayor Scott Gillingham has previously stated that keeping the underground open is not sustainable.
“We could use that funding to improve other city services and infrastructure to make downtown more appealing to people and businesses. A more practical approach would be to close the underground concourse and allow pedestrian crossings at street level, like every other intersection,” said Gillingham last week.
The executive policy committee recently voted to approve Gillingham’s motion to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.