Post by WpgJets2008 on Jun 24, 2008 10:06:06 GMT -5
Toews' touchdown pass?
Feds open to funding downtown site over Polo Park
By: Bartley Kives and Bruce Owen
Updated: June 21 at 07:45 AM CDT
winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4189605p-4780130c.html
Senior Manitoba MP Vic Toews is willing to play ball with David Asper on funding for a new football stadium now that it appears the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could be heading downtown.
After spending the past 18 months pouring cold water on Asper's proposal to build a new football stadium, Toews said he's excited about a project he believes taxpayers "right across Manitoba would be enthusiastic about."
Looks like it's first down and goal to go for new stadium on Point Douglas.
The Treasury Board president's change of heart stems from the possibility the new stadium will sprout up in the southeast corner of Point Douglas or on empty lots south of the Winnipeg Convention Centre SEmD and could be attached to new amenities such as a hotel or indoor water park.
There is no deal on the table yet, but Toews said he likes what he's heard from Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer.
"The proposal put forward to me is substantially different than the proposal I saw a number of months ago. This is, in my opinion, something to be excited about," Toews told reporters Friday.
"This is more than simply a sport proposal. The sport facility is one aspect of a larger redevelopment issue and I'm very keen on that... It involves urban renewal."
The slow-moving pace of stadium negotiations led Doer and Katz to float the possibility of a downtown location, the mayor said. Katz refused to divulge details about the proposal he made to Toews.
"We know a lot of people made the comment that (David Asper's) $80-million ask from two levels of government was rich," Katz said. "Obviously, when you're not moving forward, you have to take a deep breath and look at other options.''
The convention centre location is attractive because a covered stadium could be used to house large trade shows on behalf of the centre, a once state-of-the-art facility that's now suffering from competition from larger convention centres in other Canadian cities.
However, Manitoba's top politicians appear to be leaning toward Point Douglas, where low property values make it possible to use a funding mechanism called tax-increment financing.
Under provincial legislation introduced on the last day of the spring session, new developments in blighted areas of downtown can have access to the cash generated from the increased value of the property in question.
Doer said tax-increment financing could help fund the stadium, but would not be crucial to the project.
However, the day before the TIF legislation was introduced, representatives of David Asper checked to see if the Official Opposition planned to put any roadblocks in front of the legislation. At the time, the Tories were coming off two weeks of successful filibustering designed to bog down the NDP government's agenda.
A new stadium development at Point Douglas would certainly qualify as "urban renewal" and may also have access to city funds. The city plans to spend $7 million toward a privately run indoor water park, which could become a component of a stadium complex.
And CentreVenture, downtown Winnipeg's development agency, views the south side of Point Douglas as a natural extension of Waterfront Drive and would be interested in funding developments in the area, board president Jim Ludlow said.
Building a stadium in Point Douglas, however, would require the city to assemble land, while the convention centre site would be relatively easy for the province to secure.
Doer said any deal would have to involve public consultation, especially given his government's previous experience with inner-city mega-projects. Community opposition delayed the construction of the MTS Centre.
"Any deal we have, at the end of the day, will go through the rapids. I was involved with The Forks and we went through the rapids. I was involved with the new downtown arena," Doer said.
"We're always interested in urban revitalization, but until there's an agreement with the person who's putting the most money in SEmD the private sector SEmDhe's the one who has to announce this."
A spokeswoman for David Asper said the Canwest vice-president won't comment about the stadium until a deal is finalized. "We need ink on paper," she said.
Sources at all three levels of government say a deal is imminent, but involves less federal and provincial cash than the $80 million originally requested by Asper in early 2007.
Katz has pledged the city will not cough up an additional penny on the project, while Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen said the NDP government should think twice about funding a football stadium.
Provincial highways and sewage-treatment plants are bigger priorities for a province reliant on transfer payments from Ottawa, McFadyen said.
Chris
Feds open to funding downtown site over Polo Park
By: Bartley Kives and Bruce Owen
Updated: June 21 at 07:45 AM CDT
winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/story/4189605p-4780130c.html
Senior Manitoba MP Vic Toews is willing to play ball with David Asper on funding for a new football stadium now that it appears the Winnipeg Blue Bombers could be heading downtown.
After spending the past 18 months pouring cold water on Asper's proposal to build a new football stadium, Toews said he's excited about a project he believes taxpayers "right across Manitoba would be enthusiastic about."
Looks like it's first down and goal to go for new stadium on Point Douglas.
The Treasury Board president's change of heart stems from the possibility the new stadium will sprout up in the southeast corner of Point Douglas or on empty lots south of the Winnipeg Convention Centre SEmD and could be attached to new amenities such as a hotel or indoor water park.
There is no deal on the table yet, but Toews said he likes what he's heard from Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz and Manitoba Premier Gary Doer.
"The proposal put forward to me is substantially different than the proposal I saw a number of months ago. This is, in my opinion, something to be excited about," Toews told reporters Friday.
"This is more than simply a sport proposal. The sport facility is one aspect of a larger redevelopment issue and I'm very keen on that... It involves urban renewal."
The slow-moving pace of stadium negotiations led Doer and Katz to float the possibility of a downtown location, the mayor said. Katz refused to divulge details about the proposal he made to Toews.
"We know a lot of people made the comment that (David Asper's) $80-million ask from two levels of government was rich," Katz said. "Obviously, when you're not moving forward, you have to take a deep breath and look at other options.''
The convention centre location is attractive because a covered stadium could be used to house large trade shows on behalf of the centre, a once state-of-the-art facility that's now suffering from competition from larger convention centres in other Canadian cities.
However, Manitoba's top politicians appear to be leaning toward Point Douglas, where low property values make it possible to use a funding mechanism called tax-increment financing.
Under provincial legislation introduced on the last day of the spring session, new developments in blighted areas of downtown can have access to the cash generated from the increased value of the property in question.
Doer said tax-increment financing could help fund the stadium, but would not be crucial to the project.
However, the day before the TIF legislation was introduced, representatives of David Asper checked to see if the Official Opposition planned to put any roadblocks in front of the legislation. At the time, the Tories were coming off two weeks of successful filibustering designed to bog down the NDP government's agenda.
A new stadium development at Point Douglas would certainly qualify as "urban renewal" and may also have access to city funds. The city plans to spend $7 million toward a privately run indoor water park, which could become a component of a stadium complex.
And CentreVenture, downtown Winnipeg's development agency, views the south side of Point Douglas as a natural extension of Waterfront Drive and would be interested in funding developments in the area, board president Jim Ludlow said.
Building a stadium in Point Douglas, however, would require the city to assemble land, while the convention centre site would be relatively easy for the province to secure.
Doer said any deal would have to involve public consultation, especially given his government's previous experience with inner-city mega-projects. Community opposition delayed the construction of the MTS Centre.
"Any deal we have, at the end of the day, will go through the rapids. I was involved with The Forks and we went through the rapids. I was involved with the new downtown arena," Doer said.
"We're always interested in urban revitalization, but until there's an agreement with the person who's putting the most money in SEmD the private sector SEmDhe's the one who has to announce this."
A spokeswoman for David Asper said the Canwest vice-president won't comment about the stadium until a deal is finalized. "We need ink on paper," she said.
Sources at all three levels of government say a deal is imminent, but involves less federal and provincial cash than the $80 million originally requested by Asper in early 2007.
Katz has pledged the city will not cough up an additional penny on the project, while Tory Leader Hugh McFadyen said the NDP government should think twice about funding a football stadium.
Provincial highways and sewage-treatment plants are bigger priorities for a province reliant on transfer payments from Ottawa, McFadyen said.
Chris