Post by Jari on Aug 13, 2005 3:46:18 GMT -5
Arena site faces wrecking ball
But a year before new shops, restaurants appear
Fri Aug 12 2005
By Mary Agnes Welch
DEMOLITION of the old Winnipeg Arena should start in October, but it's still not clear what stores or services might appear in its place.
The city has asked demolition firms to bid on the tear-down job by Aug. 25. The former home of the Winnipeg Jets and the Manitoba Moose will be leveled by the end of March, said Rob Loudfoot of the city's planning and property department.
It will be about another year after that before new shops, restaurants or some other businesses begin to appear on the piece of prime Polo Park real estate.
Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd., the Toronto-based owner of the Polo Park Shopping Centre, agreed to purchase the old barn from the city for $3.6-million almost a year ago.
Shindico Realty's Bob Downs, the leasing agent for Cadillac Fairview, was mum on what kinds of stores, restaurants or services might bloom on the site.
When it bought the building, Cadillac Fairview suggested it would build either a series of single-storey or multi-storey commercial buildings of the same quality as the Polo Park mall, with a total construction value of $12 million. Downs said more detailed plans are still in the concept phase. Businesses won't likely open until 2007, he said.
Loudfoot said the arena has been stripped of everything that's salvageable, including equipment and the 6,000 blue wooden seats that were sold to the public as keepsakes last fall.
The city is also finishing a routine hazardous materials clean-up in the arena to remove asbestos and PCBs used in the ventilation and electrical systems.
Demolition is expected to cost the city about $1.5 million dollars and includes the removal of some asbestos paneling on the building's north side as well as the recycling of steel, concrete and brick.
Not long after Polo Park agreed to buy the arena, CKY-TV announced it was abandoning its Polo Park location for new digs downtown close to the MTS Centre.
The station expects to relocate in February, but it's still not clear what will happen to its Polo Park building.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
But a year before new shops, restaurants appear
Fri Aug 12 2005
By Mary Agnes Welch
DEMOLITION of the old Winnipeg Arena should start in October, but it's still not clear what stores or services might appear in its place.
The city has asked demolition firms to bid on the tear-down job by Aug. 25. The former home of the Winnipeg Jets and the Manitoba Moose will be leveled by the end of March, said Rob Loudfoot of the city's planning and property department.
It will be about another year after that before new shops, restaurants or some other businesses begin to appear on the piece of prime Polo Park real estate.
Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd., the Toronto-based owner of the Polo Park Shopping Centre, agreed to purchase the old barn from the city for $3.6-million almost a year ago.
Shindico Realty's Bob Downs, the leasing agent for Cadillac Fairview, was mum on what kinds of stores, restaurants or services might bloom on the site.
When it bought the building, Cadillac Fairview suggested it would build either a series of single-storey or multi-storey commercial buildings of the same quality as the Polo Park mall, with a total construction value of $12 million. Downs said more detailed plans are still in the concept phase. Businesses won't likely open until 2007, he said.
Loudfoot said the arena has been stripped of everything that's salvageable, including equipment and the 6,000 blue wooden seats that were sold to the public as keepsakes last fall.
The city is also finishing a routine hazardous materials clean-up in the arena to remove asbestos and PCBs used in the ventilation and electrical systems.
Demolition is expected to cost the city about $1.5 million dollars and includes the removal of some asbestos paneling on the building's north side as well as the recycling of steel, concrete and brick.
Not long after Polo Park agreed to buy the arena, CKY-TV announced it was abandoning its Polo Park location for new digs downtown close to the MTS Centre.
The station expects to relocate in February, but it's still not clear what will happen to its Polo Park building.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca