Heritage buildings in St. Boniface up for sale

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This article was published 14/11/2019 (2158 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The City of Winnipeg is looking to sell off two historic properties in Old St. Boniface.

The city put out a request for proposal this week to convert or expand the former St. Boniface’s city hall building and the old fire hall that stands behind it.

The properties are located at 219 Provencher Boulevard and 212 Rue Dumoulin, respectively. The buildings are being put up on the auction block as an item, according to documents posted to the city’s website.

Potential buyers have until Feb. 28, 2020 to submit a bid.

Following a vote, city council declared the two buildings “surplus” on Oct. 24, 2007. The buildings sit on a larger plot of city-owned land known as Old St. Boniface City Hall campus.

While the old fire hall currently sits vacant, it continues to house artifacts from a former fire hall museum that used to call the property home.

The city has left it open to potential buyers to say whether they want the artifacts relocated, or if they will be incorporated into future plans for the building.

The former city hall is home to three non-profit agencies that pay an annual rent of $1. The leases include cancellation clauses by either party, according to city documents.

The fact the buildings have heritage designation — which is granted to properties that are “architecturally and historically significant and embody sufficient heritage values to warrant protection” — could lead to headaches for developers.

The exteriors of both buildings are entirely protected as “character-defining elements,” as well as numerous interior elements of the properties.

“Any alterations to the listed character-defining elements will require approval under a heritage permit as per the historical resources by-law,” reads the request for proposal.

The city will hold two open houses for the properties from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2019 and Jan. 8, 2020.

The request for proposal notes that the former St. Boniface City Hall has some areas on the second and third floor that contain asbestos, while the old fire hall “may contain various forms of asbestos.”