Latest News

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Mayor's going... but not too far

City hall offices being shuffled to accommodate renovations

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 12/20/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 | Last Modified: 12/20/2012 9:56 AM | Updates

City clerk Josie Marques moves boxes into offices on the main floor of city hall's administration building. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Enlarge Image

The offices on the main floor of the Winnipeg City Hall's Administration Building are being prepared for the move of the City Clerk's Dept. located in the Council Building. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz is leaving his office -- but only moving one floor away.

The mayor's office will be shuffled around city hall next year as part of a $1.5-million renovation to the 48-year-old civic centre complex.

In 2013, Katz and his staff will move out of their second-floor digs in city hall's council building and into the main-floor offices that used to house the city clerk's department.

The clerks, meanwhile, are in the midst of moving across city hall's courtyard into a newly renovated main-floor space on the east side of the administration building. Their move should be complete by the end of the week, said Iain Day, acting manager of municipal accommodations for the City of Winnipeg.

"Now is a nice time. It's a not a busy time," he said.

The building-wide shuffle will allow workers to remove asbestos from the council building and begin the multi-year process of renovating all its offices and sealing drafty walls and windows, Day said.

Quite literally, the roof over Katz's head is porous. The mayor has to move first because the only access to the council building's roof is located inside a filing-cabinet room in his office.

"Forty-eight years ago, that probably made sense," said Day, adding the mayor's office will be completely made over as part of the renovations. "We'll have to re-skin the roof and make sure it's not leaking."

The renovation to the mayor's office is expected to be a lengthy process, said Rhea Yates, spokeswoman for the mayor.

Once the second floor of the council building is ready to be reoccupied by the mayor and his staff, councillors with offices on the main floor of the council building will move into the old clerks' office on the main floor and continue the game of musical chairs. The renovations will also bring the structure up to modern fire and safety codes.

Day said he is not yet certain of the total budget for the multi-year renovation project, which is expected to wrap up in 2014 or 2015 with the renovation of mezzanine-level office spaces in the council building. The initial $1.5-million price tag covers the cost of the clerks' new digs in the administration building and the renovations to the mayor's office.

This money comes out of a pair of line items in the 2012 capital budget -- one set aside for general building renovations and the other for city offices.

Charleswood-Tuxedo Coun. Paula Havixbeck, whose own office was flooded when a water pipe burst in 2011, nonetheless said she's appalled by the spending.

"I have asked for two years for the cost of just removing asbestos and completely renovating (city hall) and here we are completely renovating," Havixbeck said Wednesday. "I'm not convinced this is something that's necessary, when we're looking at tax hikes on citizens."

The 2013 operating budget is expected to include another property-tax hike, council finance chairman Russ Wyatt (Transcona) warned in November.

This will be the second straight annual property-tax hike. The city increased the overall pool of taxes it collects from commercial and residential properties by 3.5 per cent in 2012, following 14 years without a hike -- three property-tax reductions and 11 tax freezes.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 20, 2012 B1

History

Updated on Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 9:56 AM CST: replaces photo

Fact Check

Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.

* Required

In which story did you find the error? *
Please post the headline of the story or the title of the video with the error.
What was the error? *
Please post exactly what was wrong with the story.
What should we have written?
Please indicate your source for the correct information.
Who else should we interview to improve this story?
Please include any contact information you may have.
Can we contact you in the future for advice on stories about this topic?
Yes

No
First Name: *
Last Name: *
E–mail Address: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Phone: *
This will only be used to contact you if we have a question about your submission, it will not be used to identify you or be published.
Colour:
Are you blue? If you can see this, leave it blank and get some CSS support.
Enter the words that you see: * This is to prevent our forms from being filled out automatically.
You have failed to correctly identify the words in the box above. Please try again.

More Latest News

Undock

You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.

Have Your Say

New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.

The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.