Winnipeg | Downtown | Portage Place | Redevelopment | U/C - Page 80

bon_vivant · #**1581** Posted **Jul 21, 2025, 10:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

They will keep them for no other reason than it connects the Portage Place parkade to the Canada Life Centre, convenient for patrons.

Because parking... always parking. I get it, but it's a shame. It hardly seems like a worthwhile reason to keep these relics of a retail past. The Portage and Main barriers came down, so can these. Maybe someday... Oh hey, another radical thought... How about building a nice looking parkade where the Sutton will never be?

Sheepish · #**1582** Posted **Jul 21, 2025, 10:10 PM**

Only guessing but I would expect that the cost to remove the bridges would far exceed the cost to update. As for the 'grandeur' you refer to...we are a long way from that, and the bridges are the last concern in that process. Updating them (removing the peaks and bulk and adding clear glass) would go a long way to refreshing the overall appearance. Now they look old and tired.

bon_vivant · #**1583** Posted **Jul 21, 2025, 10:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheepish

Only guessing but I would expect that the cost to remove the bridges would far exceed the cost to update. As for the 'grandeur' you refer to...we are a long way from that, and the bridges are the last concern in that process. Updating them (removing the peaks and bulk and adding clear glass) would go a long way to refreshing the overall appearance. Now they look old and tired.

Hehe "grandeur" was sort of a tounge-in-cheek remark. Though it's impressive how spectacularly wide Portage ave is! My hope is that they at least update them in the way you describe. I gotta tell ya, they looked old and tired about a year after they were built (and I'm being generous).

bomberjet · #**1584** Posted **Jul 21, 2025, 11:19 PM**

Get rid of them for the BRT corridor. The piers will make for some odd lane alignments

bon_vivant · #**1585** Posted **Jul 21, 2025, 11:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Get rid of them for the BRT corridor. The piers will make for some odd lane alignments

Agreed. BRT corridor would serve the city much better than two giant, overwrought skywalks that handle a fraction of the foot traffic they used to.

FactaNV · #**1586** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 12:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bon_vivant

Oh hey, another radical thought... How about building a nice looking parkade where the Sutton will never be?

Didn't someone say news was coming in June about Sutton or am I imagining things? If so, another deadline come and gone. This project is real dead eh?

Authentic_City · #**1587** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 2:58 AM**

^Sandman is finished, so the two or three workers from that project can now turn their attention to Sutton Place, I guess?

BAKGUY · #**1588** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 3:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

^Sandman is finished, so the two or three workers from that project can now turn their attention to Sutton Place, I guess?

Might be ready for Winnipeg's bicentennial 2073/2074

bon_vivant · #**1589** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 2:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

^Sandman is finished, so the two or three workers from that project can now turn their attention to Sutton Place, I guess?

Lol exactly. This dying project needs a mercy killing. Maybe then we can get on with it and put something useful there. A connected parkade would serve CL Centre and we can cut off PP's tentacles. I wonder, if cost weren't an issue, how much support removing the skywalks would get?

pspeid · #**1590** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 2:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bon_vivant

L. I wonder, if cost weren't an issue, how much support removing the skywalks would get?

IMO I doubt removing the skywalks was ever in the cards. When Wehwehneh is complete and people are living there, I'm sure there will be a fair amount of foot traffic to the grocery store that's supposed to go into that end of PP. The new residential tower at the west end of PP will provide more potential foot traffic, the Residences at Portage Commons folks use them, people going from PP underground parking to the arena use them, so they aren't simply going abandoned. I accept that some people don't like the aesthetics of the skywalks, and I'm okay with that, but I think they still have a role to play in the downtown. Just IMO, of course.

FactaNV · #**1591** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 2:47 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bon_vivant

Lol exactly. This dying project needs a mercy killing. Maybe then we can get on with it and put something useful there. A connected parkade would serve CL Centre and we can cut off PP's tentacles. I wonder, if cost weren't an issue, how much support removing the skywalks would get?

Don't even joke about that. Some of the clown property owners might get some ideas about turning it into a parkade. Man i wish they would just 🞵🞵🞵🞵 or get off the pot already.

rebl · #**1592** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 5:21 PM**

Gotta say I'm somewhat surprised about the chatter on the skywalks. I've never once seen them and thought "what an eyesore." Maybe that's just me. I also think it wouldn't cost much to jazz them up with some LED lighting.

I know they've been a venue for crime. They do serve a good purpose in my opinion, especially in our climate. I get the impact it has on street level activity. Is it a piece of the puzzle or the cause of our problems? Do they do more harm than good?

I can't see us getting rid of them, they can't be much to maintain financially. What would be the impetus to demolish them?

BlackDog204 · #**1593** Posted **Jul 22, 2025, 6:40 PM**

This is slightly off topic, but a legend has departed our World today.

RIP Ozzman.

I'm goin up the rails of a crazy train....

bon_vivant · #**1594** Posted **Jul 31, 2025, 7:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by FactaNV

Don't even joke about that. Some of the clown property owners might get some ideas about turning it into a parkade. Man i wish they would just 🞵🞵🞵🞵 or get off the pot already.

I get it, I hate the thought as well, but we need to build something there that benefits the area in some way. Housing, perhaps? When will somebody just call it? We were passing through the otherwise lovely TNS last Friday. That Sutton site is such a buzzkill. Eh well... what can you do? Nothing apparently.

bon_vivant · #**1595** Posted **Jul 31, 2025, 8:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by pspeid

IMO I doubt removing the skywalks was ever in the cards. When Wehwehneh is complete and people are living there, I'm sure there will be a fair amount of foot traffic to the grocery store that's supposed to go into that end of PP. The new residential tower at the west end of PP will provide more potential foot traffic, the Residences at Portage Commons folks use them, people going from PP underground parking to the arena use them, so they aren't simply going abandoned. I accept that some people don't like the aesthetics of the skywalks, and I'm okay with that, but I think they still have a role to play in the downtown. Just IMO, of course.

In the spirit of righting some wrongs, I guess. I'm old enough to remember the street without them, people functioned fine without them. I liked the way Portage looked with out them, too. When you'd drive eastbound on Portage, the unobstructed view of the entire avenue from Memorial to right down to Main was pretty impressive. It had a (don't laugh) sense of arrival about it. I don't remember anybody demanding these skywalks, but of course they had to be built for the project to have any chance at success. Turns out, Peggers cared more about free parking than swanning through expensive shops in climate controlled comfort. As they say, it seemed like a good idea at the time—actually no, it wasn't a good idea at the time and many people were saying so. Anyway... I know the skywalks won't come down, I know they'll have some use. I do hope they're eventually updated with a lighter, less obtrusive appearance. My beef with them is also personal, as I've never been a fan of those overbearing, '80s postmodern-ish designs.