Water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

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WAYNE.GLOWACKI@FREEPRESS.MB.CA A new tap installed during renovations to Old Market Square is only used for watering the fresh turf and flowers.

Pedestrians walking through the Exchange District early Thursday were treated to the sight of workers digging a deep, round hole into the brand-new turf at Old Market Square.On June 18, the freshly landscaped landmark reopened for concerts and other public events following the completion of the first phase of a $3.3-million upgrade.

The nine-month renovation was conducted by private contractors, co-ordinated by the Exchange District Business Improvement Zone and partly financed by downtown development agency CentreVenture.

But this week, city workers were asked to dig into the bright-green turf to find a source of water to service food vendors at summer events such as the Jazz Winnipeg Festival

and the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

During the square's reconstruction, an old water source that used to service food vendors was capped off and a new tap was installed on the west side of the square.

The new outlet is being used to water the fresh turf as well as the flowers adorning brand-new planters -- but does not provide water fit for human consumption.

So now, the Exchange District BIZ and the city are trying to find a source of potable water to service Old Market Square in time for July 3, when Jazz Winnipeg begins its three-day series of festival-closing concerts.

"The BIZ is working really hard to make sure we have everything we need for the festival," said Jazz Winnipeg executive producer Paul Nolin, whose festival begins tonight with a Pantages Playhouse performance by the Branford Marsalis Quartet.

On Thursday morning, city workers dug a circular hole into the square but refilled it hours later, much to the disbelief of a landscaping contractor who arrived on the scene later in the day.

"There is no hole," he insisted, sitting metres away from a pylon placed on a circular patch of recently replaced turf.

Precisely who is responsible for capping off the drinking-water source is not clear, given "the multitude of entities" involved, according to one city official.

The Exchange District BIZ, an engineering firm, an architect and landscapers all had a hand in the renovation. The director of the BIZ was out of town Thursday and unavailable for comment

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition June 26, 2009 A2