Concourse
“Scott Gillingham, the mayor of Winnipeg, lied to the citizens. They went to the polls, they voted, they wanted Portage and Main closed. It opened. He said that the infrastructure was falling apart. The infrastructure is still open, people are safe, it’s business as usual,” said Vogiatzakis.
Gillingham responded that his stance changed after the city received much more information about the intersection’s condition. Vogiatzakis then accused him of ignoring the will of the public.
“When citizens vote on something, that’s their voice. You took their voice and you threw it in the garbage can,” said Vogiatzakis.
Mayoral candidate Kevin Klein said the city rushed to open up Portage and Main at the surface level, noting winter construction raised the price to do so. The city budgeted $21 million for the reopening.
“Now my fear is, is that if we spend $73 million on the concourse, we have to rip up Portage and Main again (at street level) to replace the membrane, because that’s where the leaks come from, and the membrane has to be replaced. So, it’s almost like we’re doubling up on the work that we did,” said Klein.
After the debate, Gillingham said he’d like to know whether the remaining underground repairs could be completed from within the concourse to help avoid that issue.
The Building Owners and Managers Association, which represents owners and managers of commercial and institutional buildings, including three of the four corner properties at the intersection, said it can’t bank on Gillingham’s statement.
“I don’t know if I can comment on whether it’s anything more than a campaign promise, but I can tell you that Mayor Gillingham, prior to the last mayoral election, promised that he wasn’t going to open the Portage and Main intersection,” executive director Tom Thiessen said.
“So, we don’t put a ton of stock in campaign promises. Having said that, it is heartening to see someone potentially do a 180 on a topic that we have been pretty serious about from the beginning.”
In a statement, the organization said its owners have “pumped millions” into renewing their portions of the underground concourse and “the City of Winnipeg should commit to doing the same.”
It explained that in 2017, the owners of the downtown office towers sent a conditional letter of support to open up the crossing to pedestrians. One of the conditions, however, was that the mayor and council promise to “improving and modernizing the assets in the below-grade within and leading into the concourse to standards commensurate with private investment in adjacent spaces.”
“So far, that investment has not yet occurred,” the statement noted.
Thiessen said if the conversation around keeping the concourse open moves forward, with a plan attached, his group would embrace it.
“It’s a critical piece of city infrastructure and we think it needs to stay open,” Thiessen said.
“We know there will be new councillors in place after the election — some of the incumbents are no longer running, there’s going to be a turnover in council. There may be a new mayor, but there may not be,” he said. “Regardless, we want to see elected officials make a serious commitment to a piece of city infrastructure that we think is very important.”
Gillingham stressed feedback about reopening the intersection to pedestrians has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
Portage and Main closed to pedestrians in 1979, as part of a commercial development deal. Election day is Oct. 28.
— with files from Morgan Modjeski