Breaking news from 1969
April 1, 1969 - "If a major convention hall is built in Winnipeg, it seems elementary good sense that it be located within easy access of hotel accommodation. It also seems good sense to try to ensure that strong supporting services and facilities are developed in close relation to the convention centre, such as shopping, entertainment, etc."
June 26, 2010 - "The proposed development is part of a broader CentreVenture effort to have an area encompassing the MTS Centre, the Winnipeg Convention Centre, the Burton Cummings Theatre and the Metropolitan Theatre declared a "SHED," or sports, hospitality and entertainment district..."
And some say that I live in the past when it comes to downtown.
How has Portage Avenue fared since 1969?
June 26, 2010 - "The proposed development is part of a broader CentreVenture effort to have an area encompassing the MTS Centre, the Winnipeg Convention Centre, the Burton Cummings Theatre and the Metropolitan Theatre declared a "SHED," or sports, hospitality and entertainment district..."
And some say that I live in the past when it comes to downtown.
How has Portage Avenue fared since 1969?
posted by The Rise and Sprawl at
9:08 AM
5 Comments:
The mistake was to believe that the solution to problems along Portage Avenue in the 1980s was that it would be solved by a shopping mall.
The idea of an arena, however, was dismissed.
Any further ideas such as a coordinated plan by the three levels of government to locate more of their operations downtown over the years might have filled some of the gaping holes along Portage and encouraged more private development in the form of retail and entertainment for the workers downtown.
For example, the RCMP forensic lab located on Academy Road in 1986 could have been built downtown instead. The 42 workers who now operate out of the building could have been on Portage instead.
There is some evidence that Lloyd Axworthy got that and did locate the Air Canada offices on Portage (in the unfortunately designed setback from the road format). I don't blame Axworthy for the design of building but I did get the point of locating the offices where they were.
The act of bringing office workers to the area encouraged Investors to locate their tower on Portage as well. And subsequently, this led to the demolition of the truly scary Mall Hotel and the construction of the Relax Inn.
The weak link in all this was the mall itself which was never Axworthy's idea in the first place.
I get what the Chipman family and others are thinking about with entertainment and hotels. The amount of concerts alone filling the MTS Centre means that having multiple restaurants serving the area can and ought to succeed.
Moxie's, Tavern United and Boston Pizza among others are packed to the rafters. It makes sense that empty stores across the street could be restaurants or sports bars and do fairly well.
So how might Portage do in future years? Not too bad if the focus isn't one where the search for retailers flies in the face of other solutions.
The answer is more people living downtown.
center venture need to fold now its done its job
maybe the lesson here is that you just can wish for it and hope proper zoning will lead to the goal. This is not worked.
You actually need to plan for it, recruit it, and make it happen.
Lesson learned. Judging by what CV has done on Main, I doubt it.
maybe the lesson here is that you just can wish for it and hope proper zoning will lead to the goal. This is not worked.
You actually need to plan for it, recruit it, and make it happen.
Lesson learned. Judging by what CV has done on Main, I doubt it.
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