Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris22
I honestly can't imagine the "demolish it" view gaining any traction for at least 5 years. I would say 5 years is a fair amount of time to wait for a viable proposal to materialize for a project of this scale.
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I sure hope you're right. The defeatist attitude by some so soon after closure is concerning. The Met sat for what 25 years before being renovated? And 18 years for the Union Bank Tower. Thank goodness we still have them rather than some nondescript boxes or vacant lots. Once they're gone, they're gone. Still regret 60 years after demolition of the old City Hall which could have been preserved even if a new civic centre had been built nearby. I can't imagine what demolishing the Bay would do for Winnipeg's psyche. The building's situation on a key corner and combined with its Beaux-Arts beauty anchoring the vista down the Mall makes it much more valuable than the Eaton's building ever was. Lacking very much natural beauty, Winnipeggers need to be more cognizant of preserving urban vistas and the general aesthetic and start understanding that our stock of historic buildings is
the best feature of the city, most especially the downtown area. The overpasses on Portage Avenue are horrific and obliterate the once amazing and incredibly unique view out Portage when standing in front of the Bank of Montreal.
Other cities have suffered closures of large downtown department stores and have had success in re-purposing, though in varying spans of time. The key is patience and a commitment to ensure maintenance.
Kaufmann's, Pittsburgh
https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202004020088
Dayton's, Minneapolis
https://www.thedaytonsproject.com/
Rich's Atlanta, known now as the 1924 Building, turned into part of a federal government office complex. That's a possibillity, could the Bay be re-purposed with retail, esp. food oriented retail (How about a FreshCo?, that would be the store to meet the demographics, students and lower income) on the main level and used for the CRA on the upper floors. If Winnipeg is going to serve the Western Region on its own given the population growth will there not be a need for additional space besides the Stapon Road facility? And then you bring more workers, and a percentage of them would choose to live nearby, downtown to support existing downtown retail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich%2...partment_store)
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