Gillingham changes tack on Portage and Main

Says concourse should remain open; cost estimate due in January

SCOTT Gillingham said he hopes to keep the circular concourse beneath Portage Avenue and Main Street open if he’s re-elected mayor next week.

“I would like to find a way for it to stay,” said Gillingham during the mayoral debate hosted by CJOB Wednesday.

The downtown intersection reopened to pedestrians at street level in June 2025.

When he first supported that hotly debated reopening in 2024, Gillingham called for the underground mall to be closed. At the time, the city estimated it would take $73 million and up to five years of traffic-snarling construction to repair the leaking membrane under the street that protects the properties below.

However, the city opted to complete a cost-benefit analysis of those changes and consultations with building owners on the site’s future instead. The staff analysis is expected in January 2027.

In an interview Wednesday, Gillingham said the cost to repair the underground may have changed since 2024, partly because portions of the membrane were repaired when the surface barricades were removed during the project to reopen Portage and Main to pedestrians.

“We’ve asked our staff now for a greater look, a deeper look into what options are available to address the issues at the underground concourse. If possible, I would like to find a way to keep it open. I know that’s important to the property owners on the corners of Portage and Main,” said Gillingham.

“If there’s a way to maintain the underground concourse, repair the membrane and to do it with less cost, with less traffic disruption, I’ve always been open to that,” he added.

As one of three candidates included in the radio debate, Gillingham faced criticism about his handling of the intersection.

Mayoral contender Mike Vogiatzakis said Gillingham was dishonest about the issue. In a 2018 plebiscite, 65 per cent of Winnipeggers who participated voted “no” to reopening the intersection to pedestrians. In his 2022 election campaign, Gillingham promised to respect that result.