R:ED Meeting with Developers pre-Appeal

With the lack of real information on the development over the Sanford Building (Exchange Event Centre) and Maw’s Garage, I called Heritage Winnipeg to talk about their support for the appeal on Wednesday.  I was frankly shocked to hear that they were in support of the development.  Apparently, they have been included in the HRBC meetings over the past few months. 

VIEW FROM CORNER OF PRINCESS ST. AND BANNATYNE AVE.

I was asked if I wanted to meet with the developers, which I did to find out about their plans, and voice some of my concerns.  I explained that the only thing we knew about the project was that our only safeguard on heritage, the City’s Heritage Resource Building Cttee (HRBC) voted against the development, yet the director approved it.  We don’t really know what the HRBC concerns were, although I have been told height was one of them.  Other than the crude images I previously created from the blueprints the City released, we didn’t know what the buildings would look like.

There was good discussion and the developers were willing to give me additional blueprints and actual renderings of the development.  The images here are what they provided as an approximation of what it might look like.  Please note my qualifications as actual buildings do not always look like the renderings.

VIEW FROM KING ST. TRAVELLERS BLD IS 6 STORY BLDG ON THE LEFT, KINGS HEAD PUB IS 2 STORY BLDG ON THE RIGHT

We also discussed the concerns neighbouring buildings have about potential negative effects the construction could have on their foundations, and they provided some detailed information about micropile technology they intend to use.  Although the concept sounded good, I am not an engineer and therefore not in a position to judge.

VIEW FROM PRINCESS STREET. 121/123 PRINCESS IS 4 STORY BUILDING ON THE LEFT.

At the end of the meeting, I asked if they would be willing to meet with residents of the neighbouring buildings?  They were very appreciative of the opportunity to present their story and respond to questions. 

Meeting to discuss the proposed development at Bannatyne and Princess:

Date: Monday June 9

Time: 7:00 pm

Who: Residents of the Exchange District only! 

Where: Millennium Centre,  389 Main Street

Bring: Your questions, respect, and maybe a water bottle 

Please note this is for R:ED only -- this is not a public meeting.

Thanks to Heritage Winnipeg for donating the Millennium Centre space for our meeting.