11°c Overcast
18°c Light rain
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Council invests in street culture
Ken Gigliotti / Winnipeg Free Press Mayor Sam Katz (right) announces $2.5 million will be spent on streetscaping in the cultural district.
The streets around Winnipeg's concert, theatre and museum district will get a facelift that includes interactive lighting able to react to voices, clapping and movement.
The city will spend $2.5 million this summer and fall on the first phase of a streetscaping project in the cultural district, starting on Market Avenue.
To brand the area as Winnipeg's centre of high art, the city will add new benches, widen sidewalks and install better signage. Cubist light sculptures that respond to motion and sound will be nestled in the trees.
"People in the Market area will get the message that, in this district, there is culture on every corner," Mayor Sam Katz said.
Rorie Street is slated for streetscaping next year, with Lily Street behind the Centennial Concert Hall and James Avenue to follow.
The cash is coming mostly from the proceeds of the sale of a parcel of city land just off Main Street and from the 2009 sale of the Winnipeg Square parkade.
Council pledged every dollar of the $23.6 million from the sale of the parkade would go to downtown improvements. Some of that profit, $8.3 million, was earmarked for streetscaping and architectural initiatives related to two new parkades planned for the downtown, one on James Avenue and one in the north Portage entertainment district.
The new James Avenue parkade will be part of a larger development by the Sunstone Group and Qualico and will get an additional $5-million boost in the form of a low-interest loan. That cash is also from the proceeds of the Winnipeg Square sale.
The developers are planning to turn a surface parking lot on the north side of James Avenue into a $35-million mixed-use development featuring 100 apartments, a parkade and some retail or office space.
Qualico is already converting six former warehouses on James and Market into 150 condominiums.
City council still needs to approve the $2.5 million in cultural-district streetscaping. Council's downtown committee will consider the matter at its Monday meeting.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 6, 2012 A8
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Leaving a gang isn't easy — Sidney Letandre, now a paraplegic, knows it all too well
- Head-on collision kills pickup driver
- Second man charged in 2012 slaying
- Bethania board puts CEO on leave amid probe
- Accused in alleged smartphone scam charged
- Two charged in golf course burglary
- One dead in Highway 10 collision
- Police make grow-op bust
- Golf course advocates see red after meeting
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Winning 6/49 ticket purchased in Winnipeg
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- 'Responsible Winnipeg' ads appear on sign run by mayor-owned Goldeyes' baseball park
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Charleswood deaths being investigated as domestic incident
- Co-worker 'sick' today? Maybe it's the $17M flu
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- '2 minutes after I read the winning numbers, I retired': Winnipeg lotto winner
- Parents, community relieved and elated as missing boy found safe
- No threat from bag found at Winnipeg Square
- Man missing since 2009 found safe
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province announces service for Elijah Harper
- Leaving a gang isn't easy — Sidney Letandre, now a paraplegic, knows it all too well
- Elijah Harper: The humble man who said no
- Man charged, victims identified in double homicide
- Bethania board puts CEO on leave amid probe
- 'It's a beautiful story': There's not always a tomorrow to say you're sorry or make things right
- Police make grow-op bust
- Carving out a niche in traditional art
- Golf course advocates see red after meeting
- Two charged in golf course burglary
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Ochre Beach residents are 'thankful everybody got out'
- Aboriginal leader Elijah Harper dies
- Woman killed in head-on crash in southwestern Manitoba
- Sex charges for ex-club boss
- Giving your money, and expertise, to charity
- WestJet to add Brandon
- Hundreds pitch in to dig out houses damaged, destroyed by Ochre Beach ice floe
- A child-custody catastrophe
- Mental-health patients get own ER
- Black market in moose thrives
- An uncommon phenomenon
- Steen invests $1M in family entertainment centre
- Earls on Main going, but new one coming
- Province introduces changes to rules governing landlords, renters
- Crushing blow for amateur sport
- Boost same-sex curricula: union
Ads by Google
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.