Dale Hawerchuck Memorial True North Square

Had to go. Very warm night in August in a square with a newly minted video wall. People grieving Hawerchuk who came to the Jets as a teenager and never lost the love of the city the rest of his life.

People coming and paying their respects, laying flowers and posters, watching the video wall of an impossibly young Hawerchuk in Jets uniform and Team Canada uniform.

Hawerchuk came to Winnipeg in 1981 after the Jets spent first years being punished by the NHL with expansion rules aimed to humiliate the team and the city. The arrival of number 10 would mark the beginning of and end of the bottom ranks.

Hockey sticks being laid at his memorial in True North Square. Lots of security present. Always is there. Hawerchuk's number and jersey is just legendary. I suspect more sticks all day tomorrow.

Jets players generally don't live in the cities that drafted them anymore except during the season. Hawerchuk was a legend in the summer too tearing up at his golf club. He probably formed as strong relationships on the course as on the ice.

One note: Just before the sun went down Mark Chipman could be seen sitting on the steps mourning. We all were. 

Hyatt House Seasons of Tuxedo Now Open

The second hotel to open on the Seasons of Tuxedo site after the Hilton Garden Inn opened in 2017 beside the Outlet Collection Mall. Hyatt House joins the the development on the south side of Sterling Lyon Parkway in front of Cabela's.

The hotel features a large number of apartment style rooms with kitchens attached. Ideal for hotel goers who are longer term stays. With an overall 135 rooms and $25 million in construction costs, it should make a fair splash in the southwest which has seen only two hotels built west of Pembina since the 1960s. 

This is Canada's first Hyatt House and the second hotel built in the city by the Kothari Group owned by Anupam Kothari who also owns the Hampton Inn in the Polo Park area. The hotel industry has been hit bad by the pandemic and hotel since their soft opening July 25 has been running at 25 per cent capacity when 70 per cent is considered profitable. Recovery is not expected for another year or until a vaccine is found. Nevertheless, Hyatt House is positioned strongly for long term.

Winnipeg's burgeoning movie industry seeks out extended stay hotels with kitchens and Hyatt House has 80 with full kitchens. The 24 hour bar and market should also be appreciated by those in entertainment who could be coming back after a night shoot in the wee hours.

Other amenities include a pool and a 900 square foot gym and a barbecue area outdoors for bookings. No hotel survives without meeting rooms and the hotel has 3000 square feet of those which should be useful for the many organizations out there who have had to search outside the area for meeting spaces.

Food should not be a problem either for a banquet or prepared in one of the kitchens in hotel rooms. Complimentary grocery shipping will be done or a guest will be able to shop at the Red River Co-Op going up across the street.

The decor in the lobby look good and bought in the province from Defehrs. Otto Cheng Architecture in Winnipeg did overall design.  What can't be designed is the amazing west view of the entryway to Fort Whyte Alive. Beautiful.

This won't be the last hotel built near Kenaston. Kapyong Barracks is coming soon but given the residential and commercial growth in Winnipeg's south end, hotel space in the area is a long time coming.

It is just around 7 years ago that the entire area was rail and industrial land with brush and new constructed Sterling Lyon Parkway. Prior, it was a two lane asphalt Wilkes and a few side streets of gravel. Quite the change and mostly likely a person visiting a decade after an absence would not recognize the place. At least now they have a hotel or two to stay at.