Rescue plan for Portage Place earns praise

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This article was published 13/05/2023 (891 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Marilyn Guimond and Terry Cook sat in a potential construction zone.

To them, it was a typical Saturday afternoon patronizing Portage Place’s food court. They’ve been visitors since 1987, when the downtown shopping centre first opened.

It’s unclear whether their tradition will continue. On Friday, True North Real Estate Development announced a proposal to transform the mall into a community hub with a residential tower, a health-care services tower and a grocery store, among other things.

The news follows the release of a preliminary downtown revitalization plan and concepts to alter Portage and Main.

“Why not? Change it,” Cook said of Portage Place. “The first opening day, the first week, it was damn crowded… (It’s) empty now.”

His sentiment was shared by many occupying the mall Saturday.

“A grocery store would be nice. There’s not too much… close by here,” said Lawson Angeconeb.

The downtown resident gets his son-in-law to drive him down Notre Dame Avenue for groceries. But he likes to walk — he treks through Central Park in the summer, and he’s a fan of the skywalk system.

True North’s $550-million proposed space includes removing Portage Place’s atrium at Edmonton Street and replacing it with an outdoor pedestrian greenway connected to Central Park.

Around 100,000 square feet of public green space could be added overall, including a community garden.

It’s something Angeconeb would like to see, along with a skywalk system connecting the building — and security.

“You have a lot of people here, you need a lot of security,” he said.

Current security is good, said Dasnim Afser. Still, she feels unsafe working at a jewelry shop on Portage Place’s main floor.

She said True North’s plan “should be good.”

After all, there aren’t many customers — the shop’s locations in St. Vital and Kildonan Place are much busier, Afser added.

“(Customers) don’t want to come to this location because they don’t feel safe here, they don’t like it here,” noted Aziz Minar, manager of The Phone Shop.

They’ll call Minar’s shop but visit the chain’s other Winnipeg locations. Meantime, theft continues to happen at the Portage Avenue site.

“I feel like (the proposed redevelopment) is going to be good, because everybody is getting out of the mall,” Minar said.

If The Phone Shop has a place in True North’s plan, business will likely skyrocket, Minar added.

True North Real Estate is currently in discussions to buy the mall from Vancouver-based Peterson Group. It has secured the option to buy the property and parkade.

Down the street — in True North Square — community safety program leads commended the proposal.

“If they can revitalize the downtown area for the better, that’s great,” said Kevin Walker, executive director of the Bear Clan Patrol.

“Love” is the word activist Mitch Bourbonniere used: love for Central Park access, love for mental health and health facilities, love for community spaces.

“We’re replacing old school, 1980s retail with a village, and with a neighbourhood, and with a grocery store,” Bourbonniere said.

Community groups like the Bear Clan Patrol and the Downtown Community Safety Partnership will be needed, he added.

“You can’t just physically build spaces,” Bourbonniere said. “You have to flood those spaces with helpers and navigators.”

Not all proposed downtown changes were applauded.

Workers on Graham Avenue stiffened at the mention of buses being diverted off the road. Part of the preliminary CentrePlan 2050 — a document guiding downtown redevelopment — includes reimagining a Graham Avenue without the transit system.

Instead, it could become a “shared zone” with more room for pedestrians, cyclists and patios; a green space with more trees; a place to accommodate festivals, or a mix.

“If there are no buses here, our business is going to die,” said Brhane Aregay, a barber with E.S. Hair & Beauty Salon.

Commuters recognize the salon by passing it on the bus, he said.

Even so, he’d like to see change. He’s tired of cleaning human feces and urine near his work, he said.

“Downtown should be very clean, attractive,” Aregay added.

Helen Kahsay echoed his thoughts at Dan’s Cafe & Lounge, which her family owns. It was the only active business in a Graham Avenue strip marked by boards and “for lease” signs.

Social services are needed for people on the street, Kahsay said, adding they often enter Dan’s Cafe.

“The evenings are slow,” noted Aqeel Malik, Taste of Mediterranean’s manager.

Operating costs have risen while downtown customer traffic has declined, compared to pre-pandemic levels. It’s not a good combination, Malik said.

“We definitely need more people coming downtown, going to businesses.”

Malik is not picky on how that happens — people can grab a falafel wrap on their way to work or home.

CentrePlan 2050 has a target to ensure at least 350 new residential units are built downtown each year until 2030, followed by 500 units annually after.

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The proposal outlines “ideal neighbourhood streets” with safe crossings for foot traffic, street trees, pedestrian lighting and narrow road lanes meant to help slow traffic.

Creating new parks and increasing access to riverbanks are among the options presented. Winnipeg residents can submit their feedback online, until June 15, at Winnipeg.ca/centreplan2050 or attend an open house at Manitoba Hydro Place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 25.

The city is also deliberating the future of Portage and Main. It’s presented a number of ideas, including a “sky garden,” which involves a circular walkway six storeys above ground level connecting adjacent buildings via bridges. People can submit feedback at winnipeg.ca/portageandmain.

— With files from Joyanne Pursaga

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com

Gabrielle Piché
Reporter

Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle.

Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.