Winnipeg | Downtown | 30 Granite Way | Granite Riverside Commons | 12F | Proposed

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Wpgdude

Curling is the strongest its ever been. It now gets national and prime time tv with multiple big dollar tournaments and is an olympic sport. You may want to stop doubling down on your stance.

Events like The Brier, and the World Curling Championships were huge back in the 80s, and early 90s,when I was growing up. Not sure if it is my social group, or general consensus, but I haven't heard hardly anything about big curling events for the past 15 years.

I just did a quick Google search, and every article in regards to TV ratings in the past 10 years, is about how attendance and TV viewership is down. This TSN article describes the problem fairly accurately:

https://www.tsn.ca/curling/attendance-do...s-in-canada-over-the-last-year-1.2030008

---

At any rate,I'm glad the city approved the low income housing project. This will be great for the neighbourhood.

[WinCitySparky]

Nah you’re wrong

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Nah you’re wrong

[trueviking]

There’s an entire professional curling circuit now that didn’t exist in the past. Curling is on television every weekend now. It used to be just the two big tournaments. That article clearly says the television numbers are huge.

I’m sure curling is no different than most other recreational sports and has seen a drop in participation. Pretty much anything that requires people to leave their houses has seen a drop in participation. Sports or otherwise. Life has become a competition to see how little you can leave home.

But to say that curling is a ‘dead sport’ is objectively wrong. It’s like saying polo park is a dead mall!

[EdwardTH]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Pretty much anything that requires people to leave their houses has seen a drop in participation. Sports or otherwise. Life has become a competition to see how little you can leave home.

Ok look, I promise this is the last time I will drag this up. But you keep saying this as if you think everyone is just a lazy shut-in these days. People don't go out much because they are more burned out than ever before.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2025/02/08/job-burnout-at-66-in-2025-new-study-shows/
https://press.roberthalf.ca/2025-03-25-N...-more-than-3-in-10-say-burnout-is-rising
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/14/burnout-...als-and-women-are-the-most-stressed.html

This is disproportionately affecting younger and lower-income people, aka not directors of architectural firms. I don't doubt that you work extremely hard but you have to keep in mind that a lot of people deal with more challenges than you do.

I chose to live in a walkable central area, but I have to spend 2 hours a day commuting to a business park on the edge of town to do a job I could easily do anywhere with an internet connection. If it were not for this absurd inefficiency I would have a lot more time and energy to go out and do things in the evenings, and the data confirms there are millions like me.

[trueviking]

I wasn’t specifically talking about working from home, but happy to discuss it.

Burn out is definitely a new one. Not sure I buy that subjective metric. I don’t see why people would be more burned out today than in the past. It certainly isn’t the result of having to commute any more than before. People commuted just as much ten years ago. Average weekly hours worked has even declined slightly.

In my personal experience, the expectation of working overtime is significantly less today than it was 10-20 years ago. When I was young, the expectation was that I work long hours. That is definitely not the case today. My office is empty at 5:01. I also see no evidence that work has become any more challenging or stressful in the last ten years.

If commuting is the reason everyone is burned out, there should be less burn out today, because many more people are working from home. The trend should be the opposite direction if that was the driver. Activity outside of the home should be growing at least at the same rate as the number of people not commuting anymore.

I would say if your job is best done from your kitchen table, you should negotiate that with your boss. But there should be no expectation of that as a right.

Going beyond work to make my point.

Recreational sports participation has declined across the board. Hockey has 30% fewer participants today compared to ten years ago as an example. Children participation in organized sport is way down. What is up? Screen time from their bedroom. Even outside of organized sport, it can not be argued that children and young people are far less active today compared with 10-20 years ago. This means far less physical play outside of the home.

As for adults:
People shop on line instead of going out to the store.
People Skip their meals instead of going to restaurants.
People watch Netflix instead of going to movies.

Everything that involves leaving the house is in decline.
Everything that involves sitting in the same room as much as possible is increasing.

It’s not debatable.

[WinCitySparky]

Hey the club is suing the city guys! Please join me in willing them a massive humiliating failure.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Hey the club is suing the city guys! Please join me in willing them a massive humiliating failure.

Before this I was willing to let bygones be bygones as long as the housing was built, but now I hope the city lets the lease agreement with the Granite expire and let them find some other place to curl. F*** 'em.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Hey the club is suing the city guys! Please join me in willing them a massive humiliating failure.

"we need a rent reduction because we blew our budget on legal fees suing the city so that we could keep renting out parking spots to canada life"

outstanding governance from the granite board, 10/10

[Mr Tall Forehead]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

"we need a rent reduction because we blew our budget on legal fees suing the city so that we could keep renting out parking spots to canada life"

outstanding governance from the granite board, 10/10

^ this sums it up perfectly

[The Jabroni]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

"we need a rent reduction because we blew our budget on legal fees suing the city so that we could keep renting out parking spots to canada life"

outstanding governance from the granite board, 10/10

I hope the city sees through their bullshit and not renew their lease.

They're f***ing around. They're now going to find out.

[TRSTN]

The city should really consider running the curling club themselves. End the lease, kick out this version of the granite curling club, and start a city run curling club. Would be no different than owning indoor pools, hockey rinks, or any other recreation facility.

In a few years if they don't want to run a curling club anymore they can find a new group to lease it out. But by then the housing will be built and the new lease holders won't have anything to fight against.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by TRSTN

The city should really consider running the curling club themselves. End the lease, kick out this version of the granite curling club, and start a city run curling club. Would be no different than owning indoor pools, hockey rinks, or any other recreation facility.

In a few years if they don't want to run a curling club anymore they can find a new group to lease it out. But by then the housing will be built and the new lease holders won't have anything to fight against.

It would be so awesome if the city played hardball, and threatened to boot the curling club out of the Granite, and take it over, and let everyone drop in and learn to curl. This, along with building the low-income housing complex.

These people need to be tossed off their high horse.

[pspeid]

In other news, the lease with the Granite Curling Club ends in July:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/...e-to-end-in-july-amid-dispute-with-city/

The article says the Granite will get an interim agreement to keep operating for a while, but it looks like the Granite Riverside Commons project is still on track.

They had every chance to make a deal with the city, but decided to play hardball, even though they didn't have a leg to stand on.

As the French say, "c'est dommage".

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by pspeid

In other news, the lease with the Granite Curling Club ends in July:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg/article/...e-to-end-in-july-amid-dispute-with-city/

The article says the Granite will get an interim agreement to keep operating for a while, but it looks like the Granite Riverside Commons project is still on track.

They had every chance to make a deal with the city, but decided to play hardball, even though they didn't have a leg to stand on.

As the French say, "c'est dommage".

Good on the city for taking the right steps.

[Moony]

I'll never understand their obsession with the parking lot, especially given that it's a sports\athletic facility. They might have had a leg to stand on if it was a doctor's office or something similar, but nobody can claim that they can't walk a couple blocks on their way to walk up and down the ice for two hours. I'd love to be able to park five feet from the door everywhere I go too, but it's just not reasonable.

[Wpg_Guy]

City to end lease agreement with Granite Curling Club in July
By: Morgan Modjeski
Friday, May. 8, 2026


JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS FILES
The city and the Granite Curling Club have been locked in a dispute since early 2025.

The City of Winnipeg will be terminating its lease with the Granite Curling Club this summer, but members of the 145-year-old sports institution won’t have to clear the ice any time soon.

News of the termination was sent to Granite members last week in a newsletter detailing how on April 30, the city gave the club, which operates on city-owned land, 90 days’ notice that it was ending the lease on July 31.

The city and the club have been locked in a dispute since early 2025 over the planned construction of an 11-storey, 111-unit apartment building at 22 Granite Way, currently known as Granite Riverside Commons.

Fifty-six of the units in the building would be earmarked as affordable units, including 30 that would be rent-geared-to-income.

In November 2025, the Manitoba Municipal Board ruled the city must work with the club — which would lose 45 of its 80 parking spots — to come to an “adequate” parking plan for both parties before the project can be approved.

The Granite — which has argued that losing more than half of its parking would render the club no longer financially viable — and the city have met several times, but have not yet reached a solution, the newsletter said.

The city and club will enter into a short-term use agreement if needed, so the Granite “can continue to operate,” it said.

However, the city ignored the ruling and started moving ahead on planning, at which time the club asked the Court of King’s Bench to conduct a review to determine if that’s allowed. An application for the hearing is set for June.

Mayor Scott Gillingham said the lease termination doesn’t mean talks are over.

“There’s been active discussion about, as we have said before, how there can be a win-win there where housing can be developed and the needs of the Granite Curling Club can be accommodated when it comes to parking,” he said. “So, there’s a timeline on the lease, but the discussions continue.”

In a statement, the city said it remains committed to “maintaining the heritage of the Granite Curling Club and advancing the project,” with construction expected to start in the fall.

The city said the developer, the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp. 2.0 Inc., and the Granite “are intended to remain stewards of the land moving forward through separate long-term leases,” with the curling club still able to park on site.

“While lease negotiations with the Granite Curling Club have not been finalized, the City is hopeful to build upon its recent offer to replace 50 of the 60 parking stalls lost through the redevelopment and create a capital reserve dedicated to the curling rink,” the city statement said, noting if a new lease is not established before July’s end, an interim agreement will be put into place to ensure continued occupancy.

Christian Pierce, secretary of the club’s board, was not available for an interview Friday, but said in a text message the club won’t be commenting on the matter while it’s before the courts.

In the newsletter, the club acknowledged the process will be a long one.

“If the hearing proceeds, it could take several months (or longer) for a decision to be issued,” it said.

Winnipeg Free Press

[bomberjet]

Going to end up with a building on stilts, aren't we?

[Wpg_Guy]

The city is pressing on with this development, having approved the required Variances and a Conditional Use.

VARIANCE: 26-111961/B

• Taller building
  Normal rule: Maximum 100 feet tall.
  Approved: 126 feet tall (about 26 feet / 8 metres higher than usual).
• Smaller parking stalls
  Normal rule: Parking spots next to a wall, fence, or column must be 10 feet wide.
  Approved: They can build narrower spots (as narrow as 8 feet wide).
• Less landscaping around the parking

CONDITIONAL USE: 26-112620/B

The City has approved a Conditional Use permit to allow a ground-level parking lot.

• In this downtown “Character Sector,” a regular surface parking lot (at-grade parking) is not allowed by default.
• This approval gives special permission to build non-accessory off-street parking at grade.
• “Non-accessory” = The parking lot is not just for the people living or working in the new building. It can be used by the general public or other nearby users (curling club).

[EndIt]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Going to end up with a building on stilts, aren't we?

Looks like the Granite CC exec committee is being pretty flatly told to pound sand. If there's any changes to design it won't be to accommodate their parking demands.