If we build it, look out

Enlarge Image

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The new football stadium, seen from across the river near Minnetonka School on River Road. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Enlarge Image

John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press The Canadian Museum for Human Rights was originally slated to open in 2010, to coincide with Manitoba Homecoming 2010. It now isn�t expected to open until 2014, but no one really knows for sure. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

Earlier this month, when obsessive city-hall watchers were wrapped up in council's latest water-park debacle, the City of Winnipeg issued a routine press release that seems a little bizarre in retrospect.

On April 20, the city announced one component of the two-year, $17.2-million Osborne Bridge rehabilitation project should be completed about two months early. Thanks to the mild winter and unusually early spring, roadwork north of the bridge over the Assiniboine River should be wrapped up by the end of June, public works officials announced.

The previous target date for completion was closer to the end of October, when the entire bridge job is supposed to be done.

Now before you wonder aloud why anyone would even mention such a minor bit of good news, consider the fact we live in the City of Winnipeg. Whining about construction delays and cost overruns on major projects is our fourth most-popular pastime, after whining about our hockey team (honeymoon's over, kids!), football team (22 years without a Grey Cup and counting) and elected officials (too much to say within this particular set of parentheses).

If you were enjoying your Sunday morning until this point, allow me to interrupt you with a dose of gruesome reality: Almost every major project in this city is fouled up to some extent.

In a city where "on time and on budget" only applies to pizza delivery, here are the mega-headaches associated with four megaprojects:

Richardson International Airport

Original cost estimate: $350 million back in 2004, when the construction of a new terminal and upgrades to other amenities was first announced.

Cost of completion: At least $730 million, including finance charges and the resolution of disputes with the primary contractor.

Originally slated to open: 2009.

Actually opened: Fall 2011.

The good news: Winnipeg has a brand-new terminal, designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, with the capability to handle the wide-bodied aircraft that may one day re-establish direct routes from Winnipeg to Europe.

The not-so-good news: The Winnipeg Airports Authority intends to demolish the old terminal, one of the last modernist structures of its kind in Canada, even though there are no structural issues. Even if you don't care one bit about architecture, you have to question the environmental wisdom of flattening a perfectly solid building.

The really not-so-good news: Airline passengers will be paying for the new terminal and other upgrades for decades to come, in the form of a $20 surcharge.

Investors Group Field

Original cost estimate: $115 million when excavation began in 2010.

Current projection: A guaranteed maximum price of $190 million, based on a deal reached later the same year by the city, province, University of Manitoba and Winnipeg Football Club.

Originally slated to open: June 2012.

Current estimated opening date: September 2012, though some observers don't expect the stadium to be ready until 2013.

The good news: Within the next 14 months, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will play in a brand-new facility with modern concessions.

The not-so-good news: The City of Winnipeg has no plan in place to extend rapid-transit service to the stadium, as originally envisioned.

The really not-so-good news: Taxpayers are on the hook for a large chunk of the capital cost and the Bombers are expected to lose a significant chunk of revenue for each game that has to be played at the existing Canad Inns Stadium.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Original cost estimate: $205 million in 2007.

Current cost projection: $351 million, as of December 2011.

Originally slated to open: 2010, to coincide with Manitoba Homecoming 2010.

Currently slated to open: Supposedly 2014, but nobody really knows. If museum officials know, they aren't telling the public.

The good news: When it finally opens, the Antoine Predock-designed CMHR will give this city a piece of signature architecture. And if the high-tech, interactive museum programming is done right, the content will be comparable to that at the favourably reviewed Newseum in Washington, D.C.

The bad news: As cost projections keep going up and the opening date keeps getting pushed back, the financial challenges are compounding and threatening a project that will not work if it's run on the cheap.

The really not-so-good news: The museum has done an atrocious, if not outright pathetic job of engaging ordinary Winnipeggers, many of whom have no idea what the intended mission is supposed to be, fear the building will become a white elephant and resent the public investment in the structure.

Recent case in point: CMHR staff could not even be bothered to formulate an opinion about a proposed hotel and water park across the street. And the water park is a project that most Winnipeggers seem to oppose, many because of fears it would be an inappropriate neighbour to the museum.

New police headquarters

Original cost estimate: $127 million when the project was announced in 2009.

Current cost estimate: $155 million, as of 2011.

Originally slated to open: 2012.

Currently slated to open: Nobody knows. City officials haven't uttered a peep about the project in months.

The good news: A variety of Winnipeg Police Service functions will be consolidated under a single roof once the former Canada Post building on Graham Avenue is renovated.

The not-so-good news: The financial rationale for renovating the building now appears questionable, given cost overruns announced last year.

The really not-so-good news: The entire impetus for the project was the skyrocketing cost of fixing the Public Safety Building and moving police into temporary digs while that work was taking place. In retrospect, that $65-million job looks like a bargain.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 29, 2012 ??65530