Council to debate turning Assiniboia Downs into urban reserve
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/01/2016 (3593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Peguis First Nation and the Manitoba Jockey Club are promising to turn Assiniboia Downs into the city’s largest urban reserve, one that’s home to a regional racing and entertainment hub complete with bike paths.
A master plan for the Downs is to be debated Tuesday at city hall.
“It’s very early days,” said Darren Dunn, CEO of the Downs. “We have many, many steps to go.”
The Assiniboia Downs area master plan covers the lands just west of the Perimeter Highway, nestled between the Pointe West Auto Mall, the MTS IcePlex and the Red River exhibition grounds. The plan calls for a large parking lot to be turned into an entertainment centre with at least one hotel and conference centre, more gaming facilities and eventually shops and restaurants, in addition to the racetrack and barn area.
Among the original ideas was to relocate the Aseneskak Casino on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation near The Pas to Assiniboia Downs. But the Selinger government has traditionally been unwilling to open a third casino in Winnipeg.
It’s not yet clear whether a casino will be part of the Downs project, or when work on the hotel and conference centre will begin.
The plan also promises the site makes it easy to get around without a car. That includes pedestrian and cycling links into and around the site and a transit hub.
Peguis will look to convert the land to reserve status, part of a move to make good on promises Canada made to the First Nation in Treaty 1 but never fulfilled. Any urban reserve will include a service agreement with the city and a payment in lieu of taxes for all municipal services.
A similar agreement was made with Long Plain First Nation for the city’s first urban reserve near Polo Park.
In 2013, Peguis First Nation and the Manitoba Jockey Club, the non-profit group that owns the track, partnered to build the new hotel and convention centre, a move that was tangled in a nasty dispute between the jockey club and the province over VLT revenue.
On Tuesday, council’s Assiniboia community committee will debate and vote on the plan at its regular meeting.
Next steps will be a series of studies looking at land drainage, traffic impacts, parking and municipal services, said Dunn.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca