Indoor core loop nears completion

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The latest addition to the indoor downtown walkway, including the glass-enclosed Gateway structure, was unveiled Monday, connecting the Delta and the Winnipeg Convention Centre. (BORIS.MINKEVICH@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

The final gap in downtown Winnipeg's weather-protected walkway system is a surface parking lot on the southwest corner of St. Mary Avenue and Edmonton Street.

The opening of an above-ground connection between Cityplace mall and the Winnipeg Convention Centre on Monday has brought the city 191 metres closer to "closing the loop" on its two-kilometre network of skywalks and pedestrian tunnels.

Just after 11 a.m., politicians representing all three levels of government ceremonially opened a $6.6-million stretch of skywalk that extends from Cityplace over St. Mary Avenue to the office building at 330 St. Mary and then over Hargrave Street and around the north side of the Delta Hotel.

The project also includes a glass-enclosed structure called the Gateway at the southeast corner of St. Mary Avenue and Carlton Street, allowing easier access in and out of the skywalk system.

The only gap in the southern skywalk loop is now the surface lot owned by Lakeview Management, which would like to build a 77-suite hotel and a residential highrise on the property west of the Winnipeg Convention Centre.

Lakeview president Jack Levit said plans for the hotel on the south side of the property are being developed, but the highrise alongside St. Mary Avenue -- which would allow the skywalk loop to be completed -- won't go ahead before the Winnipeg Convention Centre's expansion proceeds out of the conceptual stage.

For now, pedestrians traversing the walkway loop must venture outside for half a block. The city would like to close the loop eventually and also extend the western edge of the walkway system to the University of Winnipeg.

The stretch of skywalk that opened Monday was built for $2.1 million less than its original budget, mainly due to tenders that arrived well below expectations, said Jim August of the North Portage Development Corporation, which helped structure a deal that included funding from all three levels of government as well as three private partners -- the owners of Cityplace, 330 St. Mary and the Delta Hotel.

The work involved the construction of two new glass-enclosed bridges, an external second-floor walkway around the Delta Hotel and the glass-enclosed Gateway structure. Each section presented its own engineering challenges, said Bob Eastwood, principal architect with the Number Ten Architectural Group.

"This was not a huge project, but it was an extremely difficult project," he said, explaining the spans had to be lifted in place by cranes at night to avoid disrupting traffic and business. Construction crews also encountered a mess of subterranean pipes that did not appear in city schematics.

But in the end, the lower-than-expected costs allowed more money to be spent on the design, which employs a lot of glass to prevent the bridge sections from intruding too much into downtown Winnipeg's streetscape, Eastwood said.

The glass also allows pedestrians to better orient themselves and feel safer because they can be seen. Security officers are also patrolling the skywalk, which will be monitored by at least two cameras, Eastwood said.

The section on the north side of the Delta Hotel also offers a new vantage point of St. Mary's Cathedral, while the Gateway will help prevent the skywalk from robbing the street of pedestrians, Eastwood said.

More gateways may be built if the skywalk is extended further, he added.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

More skywalk, down-to-earth price

Another 191 metres of skywalk were added to downtown Winnipeg's weather-protected walkway system Monday, with the opening of a link between Cityplace mall through 330 St. Mary and the Delta Hotel to the Winnipeg Convention Centre. The project was characterized as unusually difficult from an engineering perspective, but still wound up coming in under budget.

Skywalk budget

Projected cost (2008): $8.7 million.

Actual cost (2010): $6.6 million.

Why the difference? Tenders came in below expectations.

Budget breakdown

City contribution: $1.9 million.

Provincial cash: $1.45 million.

Federal money: $1.45 million.

Private funding (Cityplace, 330 St. Mary and Delta Hotel): $1.9 million.

Private payback to city: About $325,000.

-- Source: North Portage Development Corporation

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 31, 2010 B1