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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Boost Assiniboine Park cash, city told

Conservancy fears fundraising drain

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 03/19/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

A white-handed gibbon suns herself in Assiniboine Park Zoo, the oldest zoo in Canada operating at its original site. ( WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

A fundraising campaign in aid of the decaying Assiniboine Park could be a tough sell, according to the agency responsible for finding up to $200 million to fix roads and playgrounds and prevent major attractions from closing Winnipeg's largest and most popular park.

The latest planning report from the Assiniboine Park Conservancy suggests most Winnipeggers hold the park in high esteem, but not everyone agrees the green space is a fundraising priority.

The park needs massive infusions of cash in coming years to repair its infrastructure and replace aging facilities such as the Assiniboine Park Zoo and Assiniboine Park Conservatory to prevent them from closing.

But a major fundraising campaign targeting private donors, the provincial government and Ottawa will not succeed "without a firm financial commitment from the City of Winnipeg," according to interviews with potential contributors.

If donors don't see the city increase its contribution to the park from about $8 million a year, they may choose to fund other renewal projects instead, according to a report that comes before city council's executive policy committee this morning.

"There will be significant competition from other capital campaigns," Assiniboine Park Conservancy director Margaret Redmond writes in the report.

Currently, the city and private donors underfund the park by about $2.2 million a year, the report states. Previous reports have pegged the infrastructure deficit inside the park at up to $200 million.

No major capital improvements have been made to the park since the 1970s, with the exception of renovations to the park's pavilion and the construction of the Lyric Theatre, which were made by non-profit group Partners In The Park in the 1990s, the report states.

The Assiniboine Park Zoo is now the oldest zoo in Canada still operating at its original site, and the Assiniboine Park Conservatory has serious structural problems.

But Winnipeggers would prefer to see basic repairs made before the major attractions are fixed, according to a survey conducted by the Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

"There is significant support for an overhauled zoo, a new conservatory with (a) butterfly house and the establishment of a 'Winnie the Pooh Children's Centre.' However, washrooms, in-park transportation, more concessions/restaurants and (a) kid's play area were the most frequently mentioned desired improvements," Redmond writes.

A more detailed plan for fixing the park should come to council before the summer, said St. Vital Coun. Gord Steeves, who chairs the council committee in charge of community services.

He expects the first area of the park to be improved will be the duck pond and nearby playground.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 19, 2009 A4

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