Work Begins at Kapyong Naawi Oodena

It is 20 long years of waiting for something to happen on the former Kapyong Barracks. One wonders if things had proceeded promptly back then whether First Nations and Canada Lands Corporation (the federal Crown) might have signed IKEA up to locate here. I strongly suspect it would have. Highly likely that Superstore and Safeway would have relocated there as well.

Nothing to do about it now. Construction has started on the first section at the corner of Taylor and Kenaston in one of the smallest segments. It will be a gas station and likely a smoke shop. Not entirely glamourous but probably a necessary step to bring in capital for the First Nations. Commercial development is required for the long term investment to pay off. Presently, between the St. James Bridge and the Perimeter there are only a small number of gas stations along Kenaston. Considering the traffic along it, it isn't a bad idea for the station. However, between Superstore and Costco, prices are pretty competitive. There is very little room for a station always higher than those stores.

It is uncertain how long other announcements will be. The most ideal spots for initial development are along Taylor. A hotel and residential apartments are probably an upcoming announcement. As it stands now, we might not see some of the commercial development arrive until January 2025 and in the months that follow. If the city wishes to pay for additional lanes alone Route 90, they are running out of time. The First Nations may wish to get the capital from this purchase but there is no evidence that the city or the province has the budget to buy more road lanes along Kenaston.

It is for this reason that we might see slower development along the corridor. Gas stations and commercial leases are reliable ways to earn income for what is to come next. You can see that at Madison where a Petro-Canada and a Wyndham Hotel have gone up. The $21 million plus construction and the office complex surrounding it is a long term investment that should pay off in the Polo Park area,

Initial plans for Kapyong site seem to include two hotels. Given the very few numbers of hotels in the city's southwest, this is probably a good bet. However, two hotels are likely to come in at $40 million plus easily and take two years to build each.

Recreation facilities and health facilities are listed as coming but details are light at that the time about what they are how, how much they will cost and when they go up. It seems hockey rinks could be highly sought out but are not presently listed. Again, it could be a question of money. And nothing will happen with any real speed. It has taken Seasons of Tuxedo ten years of construction and they are still building this year with a few sections left to do.

Housing is the key to any development now. The government estimates that Canada as a while needs nearly 4 million housing units and we are way behind. While it might seem a like a lot is being built in Winnipeg and across the province, it is still too slow compared to the demand. 

Canada Lands Corporation is likely to make announcements as well for building. They are the federal Crown and own a significant amount of the Kapyong lands. Given the Trudeau government's desire to kickstart housing, it is very likely these federally owned lands will take greater importance in the weeks and months ahead.

In Vienna, it is government owned land and government-led housing development that keeps prices low. There is a 1% tax that guarantees millions spent every year for the last 100 years. A two bedroom apartment in Vienna is $500 Canadian. The Austrians have felt supply is the key metric and not demand to keeping prices down. They are right. The one thing that will help reduce prices is to go beyond demand. And subsidize their building and keep building.

The Naawi Oodena is the type of infill housing that is required to meet the housing needs of the province. What will also be required is more public transportation. It simply isn't on to add several lanes of traffic. Frankly, it is impossible unless a lot of housing is demolished along Kenaston to do it. Not to mention creating turning lanes and blocking traffic from crossing Kenaston at various intersections. Any plan thus far shown seems likely to not solve the problems of congestion and in fact may hurt River Heights and Tuxedo and several others areas south to the perimeter.

It might be that the former Kapyong Barracks might be well under way before any transportation plan is ever full realized. The sad thing is that they had 20 years to plan for it and have done nothing about it even now.

Burger King Now Open at Seasons at Tuxedo

If it seems like an overflow of activity from Seasons at Tuxedo, it is because so much constructions has reached conclusion, is nearly done or about to put shovels in the ground. The rush is to complete as much as possible. Polo Park is about to embark on a huge expansion with housing and retail and Kenaston Kapyong Barracks. At the pace Seasons is going, it is not unreasonable that by the end of 2023, there will be no undeveloped land left.

Last year Burger King indicated they were going to be opening more Burger Kings in Manitoba and renovating others. True to their word, two more have gone up bring the number in Winnipeg to about 14. One has gone up on Empress and another at Seasons of Tuxedo. During the pandemic pretty much every McDonald's in Winnipeg renovated. Other franchises are only catching up.

Burger King is looking to challenge McDonald's in Winnipeg. For years, they have been in locations that are less lucrative than the Golden Arches. That seems to have changed only recently.

Above the Empress location with Khab Tapioca and Chung Chun Rice Hotdogs. Expect to see more Asian fast food, casual dining and fine dining in Polo Park area in the next years. And the missing area across the city is curry shops.

As noted about Seasons, it isn't a standard mall. If it was, it would have some of the problems affecting the smart centers across the country. They have waited for some miracle retailer that is just not coming.

Just down the street the Smart Centre is struggling to fill spaces that have been vacant for some time. It is only now they they have freed themselves to seek out businesses that would not have had a chance to be located there in the past. In short, the focus on retail with a few restaurants is far too limited for success.

Contrast this with Seasons with a huge residential area, hotels and non-movie house attractions such as Rec Room. Also, contributing to livability are dentist, vet, pharmacies, fitness studios and banks and financial services. What is unacceptable is after ten years is that there is still no sidewalk from Kenaston to Red River Co-Op Grocery. None.

Presently, there are only internal pathways but none connecting south Sterling Lyon. The city is letting down the community. All of Kenaston in the area not having sidewalks is an embarrassment and dangerous.

One section after another of construction is going on so the community should expect to see people explore what is actually present. More and more people are walking within the area. In some cases, it easier to step out of your residence, skip the car and walk to the grocery or pharmacy.

Not as heavy on the cannabis stores here but I'm assuming the days of 200 locations will come to be a rationalization of them. Seasons has a liquor store and a beer vendor too. Say what you will be you know what Osborne Village and South Osborne don't have? A beer vendor.

The pictures above will be the 5000 square foot Krispy Kreme. It will be clearly visible at the busy corner of Kenaston and Sterling Lyon.

Across from Krispy Kreme is IG Wealth Management. Some of their meetings will feature donuts soon.

Few vacancies remain in completed sections. Hair and nail salons are also present. A large medical tests centre is on site.

Foot traffic and car traffic going by from commuters and local residents will come in handy. This week a few more restaurants have shuttered elsewhere in the city because it has been hard to find workers, people have not returned to office and high inflation. It hasn't easy.

At the moment Seasons has the momentum and Burger King opening should see success at such a busy location. 

The End of the Cement Plant

July 2017

It has been a fixture on Kenaston for more than 50 years. The Inland Cement plant was constructed in 1963 and completed in 1965. In a few more weeks the large buildings responsible for build Portland cement  (a type of concrete) will be gone forever. City Mix continues to operate in adjacent buildings and cement is made in a building by a rail spur line by Inland Lehigh.

The location of the cement plant was no accident as nearby clay was quarried from what is now the Fort Whyte lakes. From 1913 to 1992 clay was dug up and holes left that were 60 feet deep. Things slows by late 1980s and by 1994 the Kenaston plant and cement/quarry site near present-day Forth Whyte shut down.

The quarry site is a distribution center now with several buildings and rail connections. The Kenaston plant has sat empty since 1994 although cement trucks continue to come to the next door Lehigh plant. Several Canadian and Hollywood production companies have filmed in the cavernous building over the years including last year. It lent itself to a horror or dystopian future milieu.

Until the 1980s Kenaston was a two lane road primarily built to go to the cement plant and rail yards. Linden Woods was not yet built and held the Van Wellingham dairy farm. Driving down Waverley, there was an unobstructed view all the way west to Kenaston, the cement plants and beyond.

The cement plant will soon be gone as will the Kapyong Barracks which are rapidly being torn down. Rumours about about what will go where the cement plant is. Easiest would more offices for the Terracon Business Park but there has also been talk of restaurants and a hotel to take advantage of proximity to IKEA.

Industrial buildings are never architectural gems, especially ones abandoned and spray painted. It does mark the end of an area for a building that represents what Kenaston used to be: an industrial service road. It has grown to much more and the plant's demolition was inevitable. Still, when you drive by, remember that the land used for cement was tomorrow's gift as Fort Whyte and for one of Winnipeg's biggest commercial roads.

Winnipeg is Metis Land

Metis land according to the Manitoba Act

Winnipeg is Metis land.

The Supreme Court has said that the promise of the Manitoba Act to set aside 566,000 hectares or 1.4 million acres did not live up to the fiduciary responsibility and did not honour the Crown.

The majority of the Justices said this:

 Although the honour of the Crown obliged the government to act with diligence to fulfil Section 31, it acted with persistent inattention and failed to act diligently to achieve the purposes of the Section 31 grant," the ruling said. "This was not a matter of occasional negligence, but of repeated mistakes and inaction that persisted for more than a decade, substantially defeating a purpose of Section 31.

The dissenting Justice Marshall Rothstein said that it would "impossible to predict" the consequences of the decision of the majority of the court.

He continues:

"If this land grant obligation had been made today, we would have expected a more expeditious procedure. However, the obligation was not undertaken by the present day federal government. It was undertaken by the government over 130 years ago, at a time when the government and the country were newly formed and struggling to become established. We cannot hold that government to today's standards when considering circumstances that arose under very different conditions."

The judge is correct is his assessment. But he is also ignoring the corruption that arose as a result of the Metis land deal and how many people were left out in the end.

One Winnipeg journalist called the decision "judicial activism" and a dangerous precedent. The problem is that the Constitution doesn't leave room for considerations that Rothstein states. He basically confirms things were not right according to the Manitoba Act.

The Supreme Court would be wrong to say there is an expiry on the Constitution.  Now that would be judicial activism and political.

Journalists can't say for judges to be strict Constitutionalists and then cry foul when a decision goes against what they want.

If the government believes the Supreme Court have committed the federal government to something unsustainable, Harper might be able to invoke the "notwithstanding clause".

The decision can be set aside for five years and extended indefinitely. This gives Parliament supremacy over this court decision. Now, I didn't hear certain academics and journalists asking for Parliament to do this. The reason is that it would be controversial and it is easier to blame the court for forcing it to do unpopular things.

We simply don't know what this decision by the court will entail just yet. It will be up to the Metis and the federal government to figure out.

We do know that within  days of the decision that Manitoba Hydro's decision to run Bipole III down the west side of the province possibly faces a court challenge if consultations and compensation are not forthcoming.

The Manitoba Metis Federation has said they are not looking to throw people off their lands. This certainly would trigger a notwithstanding clause from the Feds or province.

However, what about Crown lands? Well, those are certainly fair game. In short, if the federal and provincial governments wish to settle what the court points out was unfair, they will have to talk land deals and compensation.

Nearly the entire city of Winnipeg is on Metis land. This raises the interesting idea that surplus Crown land like the Kapyong Barracks has Metis first dibs and NOT First Nations ones.

Let me repeat that:

The federal court has said that the Harper government must consult with First Nations before disposing of the Kapyong Barracks. The latest decision by the Supreme Court puts that in question.

Who has first dibs on Kapyong? Section 31 of the Manitoba Act was brought in on May 12, 1870. Treaty 1 was enacted on August 3, 1871.

The Metis get first dibs on the Kapyong Barracks if this goes to the Supreme Court.

None of any of this will decided in the next days and months. The word game-changer is used far too often but in this case, it is the description for what this all means.

Now, Manitoba doesn't have to come out poorly from all this. If Metis get land and compensation, there could be a very large economic boost to the province. It would be fair to say though that this could get rough and that people should watch for elbows into the corners.

The Chinese as a curse say "hope you live in interesting times."

These are indeed interesting times.

This Blog In 2012

Started at 12,000 end at 20,000

To tell the truth, I don't really look too much about traffic counts and the like when it comes to this blog. Someone said I should have better stats than Blogger so I am using Google Analytics starting this year. I guess the only thing I don't do is count my own page views in terms of what Blogger tracked.

The big thing about my blog is that I know some people use it just to find other city blogs. That's okay. I have been somewhat remiss in updating my blog list. I am doing that as we speak so that people can can link up and find things. Over the years, we have gained a few great blogs, lost a few.

The Internet Pundits radio program on UMFM has been good at introducing the city to new bloggers. City Circus and The Great Canadian Talk Show also have been instrumental in drawing attention to civic issues.

It is funny that we have far less coverage of city hall by full time reporters and yet this has been a "feet to the fire" year for elected and civil servants there. I have no idea what accounts for this. To be honest, there has been a renewed interest all across Canada in how we live, what we do, how we are governed locally. However, one thing is certain: More is being written about local concerns than ever before.

In terms of what were the biggest posts of this past year, I'd say nothing got more views locally than Polo Park and the stores there as well as Seasons of Tuxedo and Ikea. However, the top post of 2012 is when I wrote about The Orbit Tower in London and how it would be great to do something like that for Winnipeg. I suspect that people were more interested in the pictures than the story but it is challenging Swiss Chalet for top post viewed on the site.

We love Swiss Chalet

The top referring sites are defunct ones that were great blogs locally. Some current blogs are great places that sends traffic my way. Thanks for that.

Some city blogs are best traffic sources

My blog was a mix of entertainment, politics, business and my opinion on things. I am not a news reporter. I try to be informative but I do things according to my likes and dislikes. I try to be fair but do take a position on certain subjects.

In 2013 I will probably do as I have done in the past and post on things of interest. Some bloggers like West End Dumplings are great historians. Anybody Want a Peanut was excellent on analyzing certain issues or just goofing off. The View From Seven jumped into subjects that made you go hmm. And Slurpies made sure satire was always at the forefront of issues that he wanted to talk about. A few blogs that are no longer around that I miss terribly. There are few others I will mention in a later blog post about blogs in general.

What does the future hold for the city? Well, I think we can look forward to what happens with the mayor's court case, the opening of the new stadium, Target in the city, rapid and active transportation, Kapyong barracks and the unexpected.

And by unexpected, I mean...will we get a huge blizzard this year that shuts things down, will we flood, will will be dry, will a crime story make us question everything?

I enjoy the writing, especially on a day like this when I am feeling a bit sick.

Hope people have enjoyed and please send any feedback. Happy New Year everyone.

Kapyong, Kapyong, Kapyong

The battle for Kapyong continues.

It has been characterized in the media again as a victory for the First Nations against the federal government. But it is more complicated than that.

What the federal ruling said was that the federal government must negotiate in a meaningful way with First Nations in regards to surplus land as part of a 1997 agreement. The land claim is not settled. No transfer was ordered. In fact, the judge stated clearly that no transfer to First Nations was automatically in the offing. Further legal wrangling was suggested as being a possible outcome.

In layman's terms, no deal happening yet.

The court says talk. Or appeal to a higher court. We'll see.

The Princess Patricias left the base in 2004 for CFB Shilo. The Liberal government had been in contact with the First Nations in regards to the land from 2001 to 2004 about its disposition. However, it should be noted that Liberal MPs in Manitoba were far more focused on not seeing all of Manitoba's military bases close.

In 1992, CFB Portage la Prairie closed. And in 2001, CFB Shilo sat empty after Germany repatriated training to home territory. They had used the base for thousands from 1974 onward.

CFB Winnipeg's Kapyongs Barracks required costly upgrades and the feeling was that moving the Princess Patricia's to Edmonton to join the rest of the battalion was the best option.

The Free Press mentions that some Liberals were involved in that discussion surrounding the base and the military unit. This is true. However, let's not forget the timeline. Lloyd Axworthy left Ottawa in 2000. At no time would he have had the chance to discuss what was to happen to Kapyong. Ron Duhamel died in 2002 and was sick in that year. Rey Paktagan lost his seat in 2004, the year the Princess Patricia's left the barracks.

My understanding is the latter two Liberal MPs were part of the caucus push to save the military presence in Manitoba. And to that end, they were successful in halting the transfer of the Princess Patricia's to Edmonton along with the area MPs Reg Alcock and Anita Neville.

There were some preliminary discussions in regards to the lands from 2001 to 2004 between but no one was sure exactly how much land might be available or might be absorbed by CFB Winnipeg's military air unit. In other words, the thinking was that some of the land would become surplus but the houses and possibly Lipsett Hall would still be needed by the base. And in fact, that has been the case. Many of the military houses are in fact occupied by Royal Canadian Air Force members.

Lipsett Hall was used up till 2009 by Canada's national volleyball team.

It is fair to say that no discussions of any kind took place in 2005. However, it can also be said that the Liberal government at the time was not attempting to sell or transfer the lands either.

Or were they? If we accept that the 1997 federal obligation was to negotiate land settlements for surplus land and that Kapyong was declared surplus in 2001 with final departure of the military from the site in 2004, how is it that part of the base was transferred to the city of Winnipeg in that year for construction of the Kenaston underpass?

 Kenaston Underpass, land transferred to the city in 2004

If you examine the picture above, you will note that land on both the west and east side was transferred to the city for the underpass.

Now this was Reg Alcock's main infrastructure project and it required land from the military base to achieve it. Additional lanes were carved out of the east and west side of the base. The underpass cost $43 million and built between 2004 and 2006.

Now my question is: If the base was declared surplus in 2001 and the military left in 2004, how is it part of the base was sold to the city that year? Who was paid for it? The military? The federal government? No money changed hands?

Now, I am not arguing against the underpass. Anyone who waited for two trains to pass only to get hit by a third train probably fully understands why the need was there. But how was the land made available?

If it was so easy to transfer land without dealing with surplus land issue, why couldn't the city get three lanes each way all down Kenaston?

The only conclusion I can make is that the land was kept off the books when it  transferred to the city. Because in all honesty, shouldn't the land have been part of the overall surplus Kapyong property?

Makes for an interesting legal argument, doesn't it.

But let's get back to the Free Press and Liberals in regards to Kapyong. At least one of the Liberals mentioned could have had nothing to do with Kapyong being declared surplus and other two were out office by 2004 while the base was still in use.

If Reg Alcock were alive, it might be revealing to ask how Kapyong land was extracted for the underpass.

By 2006, the Liberals were out of office. Why did nothing happen with the base in 2005? My only conclusion is that everyone was distracted by the impending election. And with the underpass under construction through till 2006, it is possible the Liberals didn't want questions about they sold part of the base already under our noses.

It is only in 2007 when the Harper Tories began the transfer of the base as a whole to Canada Lands without consulting the First Nations that the real proverbial pile hit the fan. Unlike prior Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments that signed agreements to transfer urban lands to First Nations, Vic Toews sought to sell the land as strategic land rather than surplus land.

In the end, the court in 2012 believes the government failed in its obligation under Treaty 1 to negotiate meaningfully.

And round and round it goes.

This has been through three rounds in the courts. More could come.

The resignation of the PC Youth president over inflammatory remarks that some say are racist demonstrates the mindset in regards to a possible land transfer of Kapyong to First Nations. Even aboriginal leaders are sensitive to the use of "urban reserve" lest people believe the negative connotations of what reserves are like in Manitoba. Most leaders are careful to indicate that the area would be an economic zone not a transfer of the reserve population from old reserve to new reserve.

To be blunt, the First Nations want the land to generate income.

It remains to be seen whether a deal can be made. The fears are through the roof that Kapyong might be full of crime, protests, roadblocks, poverty and who knows what else.

I don't think it will be but the Harper government certainly is acting like the last thing they want to see is the First Nations get the land.

I think in the end, Winnipeggers want the land used wisely and that the Kenaston be widened. Throw in a service agreement for water, sewer and roads and city politicians should say: "done deal."

A Deal for Kapyong Barracks Site?

Kapyong Barracks

The base has been empty since 2004 and it was in 2009 that Vic Toews said that it was a done deal that the land was going from Department of Defence to Canada Lands for development. A number of First Nations cried foul and a judge agreed that consultations were necessary as part of Treaty 1 land settlements.

However, this was not the full victory that has been characterized this week by some in the media. The judge's decision was two-fold: He said that the federal government must negotiate in good faith with First Nations and because they hadn't, the feds had to pay the legal costs for both sides. The judge also told the First Nations that their expectation of the land being handed to them directly at no cost was not explicit in the treaty arrangements. He then said the group would have to come back to the court and argue their right to land as well. To be honest, a confusing result that no one could hang their hat on.

In the end, the court told both parties to negotiate a deal and if one could not be reached, the court would hear arguments again this December.

In short, no one knows what the court was about to decide.

The First Nations could have been told they had a chance to make a deal and better luck next time or the feds could have been told they were arguing in bad faith and a deal must be struck by a certain time. And I don't think either side wanted to find out what a judge thought.

The land was once valued at $8.5 million and presently costs $2 million a year to maintain. It is in disrepair and will only get worse. Add to the cost will be site clearance and remediation efforts. Want to know what that might be like? Ask IKEA developers who are in court about what CN Rail left for them.

In the end, it looks like the First Nations are considering an offer for half the land for an urban reserve. No one knows what part of the site is being talked about. It may be this is the more affordable option if the group is buying the land.

From the city of Winnipeg's perspective, they are interested in two things right away: They want to buy land for road expansion for three lanes in each direction on Kenaston. Second, they want to sign an agreement with any First Nation development that will pay for service agreements to the land. In other words, the same settlement that property tax would cover for road, water, sewer and the like.

Understandably, there are questions about what will go up on the land and what sort of traffic might be involved. It is safe to say that and development on First Nations land is likely to center on how much return on investment will be derived from it. And to that end, expect retail and residential and maybe a hotel/casino.

Some of the commentary over the years has centered on fear and racism over what will happen to the site. I think pressure will come from First Nations themselves to make sure the site does extremely well.

Let's see if this deal happens. Some hardliners on both sides may still scuttle the talks.

Here's hoping for a solution...

A New Casino for Winnipeg

From Satellite, McPhillips Street Station (top) and Club Regent Casino (below)

This is a topic I have covered before but like issues such as Sunday shopping, it needs to be looked at again.

Sometimes, the size of a place can only be measured when seeing from above. McPhillips Street Station Casino (178.000 square feet) and its bigger sister Club Regent Casino (182,000 square feet) have been fixtures in the casino market of Winnipeg since the Crystal Casino (1989 to 1997) in Hotel Fort Garry shut down in downtown Winnipeg.

The Crystal Casino was the first permanent government run casino in the western hemisphere and garnered quite a bit of attention at the time including a Time magazine mention. While many will have a hard time recalling, the Crystal Casino was set up after the continuous non-permanent casino run at the Winnipeg Convention Centre came under scrutiny for being a draw for less desirable aspects of gambling. Children waiting for parents outside the glass walls come to mind.

The style of Crystal was to be Monaco influenced. In practical terms this meant a dress code of no jeans. There is little doubt that there was fear that the Hotel Fort Garry was going to be overrun by rubes. In the late 1980s and 1990s, the hotel was hanging on by a thread. Previous owners had been struck down by financial difficulties. The casino was a last ditch effort to save the building.

And it worked. Eventually, financial stability was restored, the right ownership was found and the casino was no longer the right fit. In other words, the seventh floor ballroom was needed for the wedding and conference business that owners knew there was demand for.

In 1993, the demand for bingo was being satisfied by people travelling out of the province or by small part time community halls.  The province, facing massive cutbacks in transfer payments, latched onto one of the only growth industry for government revenue: full time bingo halls and VLTs. Lottery and casino money was increasingly becoming an important revenue driver for the province and both Progressive Conservative and NDP governments contributed to massive expansions in gambling province-wide.

Ostensibly, the increase in VLTs was to help rural hotels from folding or to keep charity and non-government organizations funded. Then it became a way to help fund general revenue for the government of the day.

It is difficult to say what factors made the McPhillips Street Station and the Club Regent locations the top choices. Top of my head would be that the province didn't want to use land they owned behind Broadway lest it take surface parking away from provincial employees. That, and maybe there was apprehensiveness about who would be going to such bingos. A satellite view of the two locations would appear to indicate that parking was a main driver of things. However, I might also suggest that the government believed that locating a casino south of the Assiniboine River was not in the cards.

In mid 2012, the casinos are well entrenched, one with a large hotel attached, the other with one being built. Both are part of continent wide circuit of musical artists who travel coast to coast appearing at casino venues.

And yet for how large these casinos are, you could drop both inside the new Ikea building. Despite several expansions, there seems to be no let up in the demand. Even the South Beach Casino hasn't cooled things off. And if Internet gambling is any indication, there appears to be a desire for ever more choices in how and where people gamble.

The downside of gambling is as well known as the downside of alcohol and cigarettes are. What should be kept in mind is the downside of prohibition is also understood. If you don't want to see organized crime sell these things, you regulate and tax them and try to help people who might have a problem with addictions.

The two casinos north of the Assiniboine River are probably at their maximum size based on their locations. The city could probably use a third casino in the south but the same fear of protests are as likely now as they were in the past.

The province is probably only too aware that if Kapyong Barracks on Kenaston is eventually sold to First Nations that is highly probable that a large casino might be what goes up.

I don't say this to be alarmist. If I were a First Nations leader, I would be looking at how I could maximize return on that land. A Superstore and a Safeway would seem to be a lesser rent than VLTS and tables.

The province should be considering about what leaving an opening for another city casino means. Even now, the issue of a casino in the western part of the province is causing ferocious debate.

It is my opinion that the province ought to plan for a third casino and if they want to have maximum control over the location, now is the time to do it. To that end, I think a casino should return to the downtown.

There are so many items that can be checked off by bringing a large casino downtown. The issues of surface parkings lots can be addressed by building on province owned land. The ability to have people use transit for the casino will be better addressed than anywhere else in the city. And for those who do use their cars, build underground parkades.

At the very least, one or two hotels could be built to service the casino. A smart developer could probably also get an office tower and apartments going in as well like when the Winnipeg Convention Center went up.

As for the casino itself, it could bring in even more entertainers if it has a suitable hall for them. Proximity to the arena could be ideal for a sports bar and other restaurants.

More links to the skywalk system could be put in place.

In short, a casino could leverage a lot more activity if planned well and if hotel, office and residential components are added in surrounding blocks.

Now...will provincial leaders talk about it or will they play coward as they did last election and not talk about Sunday shopping and then bring it up later and say their hands were forced?

Plan a little, please.

Seasons of Tuxedo

Seasons of Tuxedo from SPINE on Vimeo.

It has been busy in terms of Kenaston Route 90 and the IKEA/Seasons of Tuxedo site.

Two separate announcements but related in every way. The first is that there is a video showing what Seasons of Tuxedo will look like. Yes, it will be different from a lot of malls: It will have traffic circles. Most likely they will work better than the ones in River Heights.

As far as malls go, it resembles what Polo Park once was which was a mall with open air components. At 1.5-million-square-foot commercial feet, the site will rival Polo Park. The 395,000 square foot IKEA is proceeding well. Lots of construction on site and the opening remains fall of 2012.

Seasons of Tuxedo is slated for 2014 or 2015. If I had to guess the first components might be earlier than that. For example....a movie theatre complex. My view is there might be a race on to capture the new market with three malls forecast in the near future: Seasons of Tuxedo, the new mall west of Assiniboia Downs and the stadium site at Polo Park. Add to that the proposed factory outlet mall with no start up date or location announced for Winnipeg yet.

As this all goes on, Kenaston creaks and cracks. A city committee has targeted houses for purchase to expand to 6 lanes of Route 90 traffic. Keep in mind that there is no budget to purchase, no plan for the St. James bridge, no timetable on the Kapyong Barracks and no end in site to probably the most expensive traffic corridor in the history of city of Winnipeg.

Helllo? IKEA is in a few months. Hundreds of houses are being built every few months in Waverley West.

Danger, Will Robinson!

Think we need a tri-level meeting of government now as this is problem that will go boom. It is already going boom.

Anyways, nice mall by the looks of it. Too bad the best traffic management is probably inside the site itself.

Ikea Part 3

One Man Committee has done a good job putting together the information on IKEA thus far.

Last week, the remaining woodland on either side of Sterling Lyon Parkway was bulldozed and removed. It is really vacant land now. Some of the roadways are now accessible. You can now travel on the new stretch of road from Shaftesbury to Kenaston. Likewise, there are now three lanes of traffic north under the underpass to Taylor Avenue.

The IKEA site will be the largest shopping complex in Manitoba. However, it doesn't include the Kapyong Barracks, the Manitoba Hydro site across the street from it or the snow disposal site north of Commerce Drive.

In short, the amount of land is massive.



The IKEA site on either side of Sterling Lyon Parkway.

A Kal Tire is almost complete across the street from where IKEA is going. Just south of the site is a one year old Tim Horton's restaurant in the complex housing GoodLife Fitness and the very large Terracon Business Park.

Casino Expansion Bricks and Mortar and Online

McPhillips Station Casino.



The Days Inn McPhillips soon to be destroyed.

With little discussion, it was announced a few weeks ago that that the McPhillips Station Casino had bought the Days Inn Hotel owned by the Paletta family next door to the casino. The plan on the part of the casino is to tear down the hotel building and to expand the casino and build a connected hotel in the same vein as Club Regent Casino.

By my recollection, the Days Inn next to the casino was renovated a few years back. I have never stayed there nor know anyone who has so I can't really give an opinion about the hotel. I get pretty depressed reading hotel reviews since I think the people most compelled to write are the ones who had poor stays. For the Paletta family, it seems a good opportunity to move on to new projects. They have sold a few hotels and now are building in other parts of the province.

The cost for the casino to purchase the hotel was $10 million. It will cost a whole lot more to build a hotel, casino addition and more parking. The casino officials says that they expect the expansion will increase revenue for the casino.

I don't go to the casinos myself. I have worked them as a volunteer in the past and I do know that many people like them for bingos, the slots and the game tables. And let's not forget the entertainment and food. The power of the casinos as a venue has been seen in the ability to attract Graham Shaw and the Sincere Serenaders to the city again to perform.

I won't go into the difficulties of gambling and addiction. It is an issue that needs to be dealt with but not through Prohibition such as with alcohol. It is always better to regulate than to ban. Further criminalization is not needed in Manitoba or Canada. My feelings are that the social problems of gambling have to be worked on through the Addictions Foundation since the alternative of banning will only push things underground and into criminal activity.

I am not against the casinos nor am I against McPhillips Station expanding. My view is that a hotel and associated changes will be good for the club and its patrons. I do worry that traffic on McPhllips Street will be forever busy though.

And all this brings me to the issue of casinos in Winnipeg in general. Why are they all north of the Assinibone River and east of the Red River? Why these two places and not in the fastest growing section of the southwest?

Mark my words if the government hasn't thought about it, the First Nations have. If the Kapyong Barracks ever does get resolved in favour of an urban reserve, I fully expect Kapyong to possibly host a casino.

It may be years to resolve the issue of Kapyong but the government should consider what cowardice now in regards to the issue of a casino for the southwest could result in later on. Time to have the discussion rather than have it burst onto the horizon later on.

There is one area that the government could do wonders on when it comes to downtown development, the Winnipeg Convention Centre, hotels and parkades and that is by bring a casino back to the downtown of Winnipeg. It is easy to see how bold thinking might be able to redevelop a large section of land near the Convention Centre into both casino, hotel and parkade with links to the present Winnipeg Skyway system.

There has not been a casino downtown since the Fort Garry Hotel. At the time, it was Canada's first permanent casino and helped attract an ownership group that helped restore it to the hotel it is today.

Imagine what a new permanent casino could do for the downtown now. Perhaps a forward thinking government of political party might suggest such a project which clearly could give a boost to downtown tourism.

Lastly, online gambling is taking off all over Canada. B.C. and Ontario are leading the way. The NDP government is leaning towards it in Manitoba. The Tories are leaning against it. I think both had better get their thought processes down on the subject.

Like with a lot of things in Canada nowadays, I think we shouldn't be last to make a decision. There was a time when we were first such as with the Fort Garry Casino. It would be nice to lead again rather than to follow.



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