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Post by WHA on Feb 16, 2009 17:24:20 GMT -5
Thank you Ric O! The MTSC was not about what was right for the city but what was right for the TN gang which in my books included the Crocus gang! Why do you think the government did everything possible to prevent a Crocus inquiry. Why do you think the City hid the Delotte & Touch Report from the public?
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Post by TheDeuce on Feb 16, 2009 18:04:53 GMT -5
Yeah, good points deuce. However it seems like you're pretty much suggesting that developers should be able to buy up blocks of the exchange district and bulldoze it to build a Walmart or something and things like that would not make Winnipeg a more liveable city. I mean to take a really good example, look at the difference between the original City Hall and what is there now. It's a real shame to have the incredible eyesore that's sitting there right now. Probably the public didn't care back then and I doubt there many building huggers. But I guess just because you buy a property doesn't give you the right to place something there that's just architecturally offensive or doesn't fit with the flow of the neighbourhood. There has to be balance...you can't keep every old building (but you can a whole lot of them and redevelop...this is where the city itself it one of the biggest offenders in allowing old buildings to rot rather than maintaining and re-purposing), but you can't just replace them with strip malls either. The Eatons building in particular...remember David Lettner at the time running for mayor, he was certainly part of the Save the Eatons... but his stance against True North project was that the Eatons site was too small for an arena. He wanted a site that was more suitable size-wise so that we could have a facility on par with what other cities have. Now looking at what's happened since then, the Eatons site would have been a great spot for the Hydro Building rather than ripping down the much smaller sustainable properties that were in that spot. The MTSC should always have been adjacent to and part of the Convention Centre. Good points - but my thoughts were not about the MTS Centre, location, size, or otherwise. It could have been better than it is but it's good enough. That much should be clear to anyone who regularly follows this board. Nor am I suggesting that a legitimate heritage building should be razed so that a Walmart can go up. The problem is that every building seems to have the lunatics lining up to get heritage protection and this clinging to our past is keeping us from our future. Frankly, I'd rather be going to work in a modern office building like the TD Centre than spending my days in an old hole like the old Childs Building. We can't keep wallowing in our past without mortgaging our future. Your point of "there has to be balance" is well taken. Winnipeg's problem is that there is no balance. Legend of the Fall was supposed to be filmed here but the lunatic fringe made so much noise about trees being removed that the movie was moved out of the city. And there's no compromising with these idiots - the Legends producers offered to temporarily transplant the unwanted trees and to put them back and that still wasn't good enough for these fools. Thus, Winnipeg lost out yet again. There is no balance - the scales are tipped in favour of the lunatic fringe every time. Now the stadium debate is upon us. Anyone else getting a feeling of deja vu? m.
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Post by Ric O. on Feb 16, 2009 23:21:32 GMT -5
Yeah balance and foresight are 2 things that have always been lacking in Winnipeg...and proof of the latter is given in your statement that the MTSC is good enough (doesn't exactly sound like a strong endorsement).
Yes you put it all on a spreadsheet and in theory the MTSC is good enough and I personally believe that. But despite what's posted here or MBMB, of course we won't really know it's truly good enough until those who can bring the NHL here or those who have the power to keep the NHL out of here also agree that it's good enough...and we won't know that until we see the first real faceoff.
So, I believe we agree on all of this, and what ends up happening with the Stadium will be very interesting to see...wouldn't suprise me if they just put a paint job on the existing one and call it good for another 25 years.
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