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Sport Manitoba backs away from plan to demolish part of 125-year-old building

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 01/6/2009 10:59 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

The Smart Bag Company Building on Pacific is an example of Romanesque Revival style. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Sport Manitoba has backed away from a plan to demolish part of a 125-year-old downtown warehouse building but still wants to move its Main Street offices into part of the Smart Bag Company Building at 145 Pacific Avenue.

The non-profit organization, which represents approximately 100 amateur sporting groups, wants to move its administrative offices into the five-storey component of the Smart Bag building, which is currently owned by garment company Prosperity Knitwear.

In November, Prosperity asked the city for permission to demolish an older, three-storey part of the building as a prelude to Sport Manitoba’s development of a fieldhouse and athletic training facility. That triggered a December heritage assessment because the building sits on the city’s historical buildings inventory.

The committee recommended protecting the entire structure as a Grade II historical property, which surprised Sport Manitoba officials, who were not aware the Prosperity-owned structure was a heritage property.

This morning, Sport Manitoba chairman Paul Robson told city council’s property and development committee that it would hold off on the fieldhouse component of its project and asked councillors to consider granting the building Grade III heritage status, which is less restrictive for developers.

Councillors Scott Fielding, Mike O’Shaughnessy, Russ Wyatt and Jeff Browaty voted unanimously to confer Grade III heritage status on the property.

Both Heritage Winnipeg director Cindy Tugwell and historical buildings committee chairwoman Jenny Gerbasi said they were content with the compromise, even though Sport Manitoba may still apply to demolish the older portion of the Smart Bag building after they acquire it from Prosperity Knitwear.

The provincial government will loan Sport Manitoba the cash for the transaction and the office renovations, which will also include a new museum for the Manitoba Sport Hall of Fame.

No funding is in place for the fieldhouse development, whose plans remain up in the air, said Sport Manitoba president Jeff Hnatiuk.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

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