Council gives itself one month to decide fate of Public Safety Building

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This article was published 08/03/2016 (3509 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s Public Safety Building has earned a one-month stay of execution.

City council’s property committee voted late Tuesday to take 30 more days to decide the fate of the city’s soon-to-be-decommissioned police station, a six-storey structure that’s stood on Princess Street for 50 years.

City property managers authored a report recommending the building be demolished, preferably to make way for a new public space adjacent a ‎new development on the site of the shuttered Civic Centre Parkade, which will be demolished.

That recommendation was based on a study by consulting firm Deloitte, which stated there are too many issues facing the structure – including a crumbling Tyndall-stone facade – to warrant a costly renovation.

Council’s property committee, however, debated whether enough is known about the PSB’s heritage and architectural value – and expressed concerns about the nature of the direction granted to De‎loitte by a separate committee governing historical buildings.

Near the conclusion of a 13-hour meeting, Couns. John Orlikow (River Heights), Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge), Matt Allard (‎St. Boniface) and Russ Wyatt (Transcona) voted to hold off on making a decision about the Public Safety Building until they learned more about the heritage and architectural value, as well as the advice given to Deloitte.

“We want to get some more ideas. There has been some concerns in the public and we want to respect that,” committee chairman Orlikow said following the meeting. “What is the heritage value? Is there heritage value? What do heritage groups think? What do individuals think?”

During the meeting, Wyatt questioned why city offices can not be moved into the PSB and expressed concern it may be demolished in order to make it easier to find civic tenants for the 10-storey Graham Avenue‎ office tower the city purchased in 2009 as part of the new police-headquarters project.

That building is 10-per-cent full, faces a $20-million renovation and loses $2.1 million for the city each year. The property committee voted 3-1 to allow city staff to begin a search for a private-sector buyer for the Graham Avenue tower, with Wyatt voting in opposition.

“We have to find a way to maximize a value form this albatross,” said Orlikow, stating council was misled about the benefits of acquiring it in 2009, when the city paid $29.25 million for the former Canada Post tower and warehouse. “When we informed this would be a no brainer, a great piece of land, that information we were provided, we agreed with. It was a mistake.”

The PSB discussion also saw tempers flared between Wyatt and Gerbasi. When Gerbasi briefly opposed a motion to subject the building to a formal heritage review – a move that could have sparked a six-month delay — the Transcona councillor accused his Fort Rouge counterpart of hypocritically acquiescing to demolition plans when she’s been a staunch heritage advocate in the past.

Gerbasi shot back that Wyatt supported the demolition of the Shanghai Restaurant building, which once housed city hall.

The Public Safety Building is part of an ensemble of Winnipeg modernist buildings and is considered by art historians such as University of Winnipeg professor Serena Keshavjee to be a strong example of the brutalist architectural style.