Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Exchange area to get parkade

Project to preserve heritage facade

The King Building’s brick facade will be taken apart and then reassembled around parking/office structure.

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The King Building’s brick facade will be taken apart and then reassembled around parking/office structure. (WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

A new construction project is about to begin at the edge of Old Market Square just as crews are putting the finishing touches on the first phase of the Exchange District green space's $3.3-million facelift.

The city has issued a demolition permit for the 112-year-old King Building at the southwest corner of King Street and Bannatyne Avenue as a prelude to the construction of a new parkade that will preserve the red-brick heritage structure's facade.

The locations of the bricks in the King Building's east- and north-facing walls have been recorded and will be used to reconstruct the facade as part of a 160-stall parkade that will include underground heated parking and about 5,000 square feet of commercial space at the ground level. The original parkade design called for 186 stalls and 8,000 square feet of commercial space, but property owner Bedford Investments revised the plan when it added underground parking to the project.

Construction of the parkade will be complete by the summer of 2010. The city and downtown development agency CentreVenture are contributing a combined $2 million to the $7.4-million project, plus $800,000 in potential tax credits.

The current phase of the renovation of Old Market Square, meanwhile, will be completed in time for the June 18 start of the Exchange District BIZ's summer concert series. The square has new landscaping that includes a gradual slope in front of its stage.

Future upgrades will include a new stage and landscaping on the north side of the square, ideally to complement new structures going up alongside the Union Bank Tower as part of Red River College's renovation of the heritage building.

- Bartley Kives

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 12, 2009 B3

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