Downtown
Downtown Spirit Cont’d from page 87 “I think when you have 15,000 people a night going to the MTS Centre because of a Jets game, they’re not concerned about safety. You have 50,000 peo- ple a year going to Mountain Equipment Co-op. You’ve got tens of thousands of people going to Prairie Theatre Exchange.” Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Vice-President of Policy Chuck Davidson says Winnipeg as a whole is building on a momentum sparked by the return of the Winnipeg Jets, Assiniboine Park and Zoo re- development, the arrival of IKEA and other devel- opments. “I think people have a new sense of pride in their community with some of the things that have been happening, and I think that’s starting to hap- pen in downtown Winnipeg. “It’s taken a long time for that to really catch on in downtown Winnipeg – for people to feel that it’s an important part of the community – but we’re starting to see that now.” Mr. Davidson points to the renewed life in The Avenue building, which had been vacant for al- most 20 years before residents started moving in last spring. The new Centrepoint building, direct- ly across Portage Avenue from MTS Centre, will house the 15-storey Alt Hotel, a residential tower, parkade and retail space.
The Winnipeg Jets and MTS Centre kick started res- taurant and retail development and the newly-ren- ovated Metropolitan Theatre provides yet another new destination. And along with the Canadian Museum for Hu- man Rights and the Winnipeg Convention Centre expansion, the city will soon be home to its own World Trade Centre, thanks to a partnership be- tween the chamber and bilingual trade agency ANIM . Mr. Grande says some 70,000 people work down- town and Red River College and the recently-ex- panded University of Winnipeg bring thousands of students to the area when classes are in session. Downtown Winnipeg Biz is pushing to have a resi- dential component in the planned Sports, Hospi- tality and Entertainment District (SHED), which will encompass 11 blocks from MTS Centre to the Con- vention Centre. SHED is spearheaded by CentreVenture Develop- ment Corp., an arms-length agency created by Winnipeg city council in 1999 with a mission to revitalize downtown. CentreVenture President and CEO Ross McGowan says the SHED area will probably attract more rent- ers than buyers, although some people may buy condos and rent them out.
‘My pace of life, contrary to what most people would think, has actually slowed down’
88 Parade of Homes Spring 2013
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