City considers selling former St. Boniface city hall, fire hall to advocacy group

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This article was published 12/02/2021 (1753 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two city heritage properties could become home to an “abilities village.”

A public service report proposes that the city sell 219 Provencher Blvd. (the former St. Boniface city hall) and 212 Dumoulin St. (the former St. Boniface fire hall) for $10,000 to the advocacy group Manitoba Possible (formerly the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities.)

“This is really an opportunity for Winnipeg to support a campus development that takes accessibility to a new level, takes inclusion to a new level and really can make a difference in the lives of a lot of people,” said Dana Erickson, chief executive officer of Manitoba Possible, Thursday.

The “abilities village” concept would offer employment, training, social enterprises, and housing for people with disabilities, if approved by council’s property and development committee.

Manitoba Possible would build a new head office at a surface parking lot in the area, reuse the fire hall as a gathering place, create a centre for social enterprise and develop 42 residential dwellings, the city report notes.

“It’s an opportunity to create, ideally, a world-class kind of campus that would respond to a variety of things that people with disabilities… are underserved for,” said Erickson.

The city received four proposals for the properties, all of which came in “significantly below” appraised values of $250,000 for 212 Dumoulin and $2.1 million for 219 Provencher, Marc Pittet, the city’s manager of real estate and land development, writes in the public service report.

Bid evaluations weighed heavily in favour of projects that would protect the heritage buildings, writes Pittet. Both buildings have been added to the city’s list of historical resources, which protects them against demolition.

The report notes a sculpture garden and artwork in the area will be retained by the city.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy, council’s property and development chairwoman, said she’s leaning toward supporting the project, which she said would also let three tenants at the former St. Boniface city hall stay put at current rental rates.

“I am interested in the social component of what this can bring to the area and the city as a whole,” said Gilroy.

The councillor said the lower purchase price would still produce a financial benefit to the city, since a sale would mean the city would no longer pay to maintain the buildings.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga