Winnipeg Construction

[Authentic_City]

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Yoga strengthens downtown
Country's biggest centre in the works

By: Murray McNeill

Posted: 10/20/2011 1:00 AM

"The owners of the Fort Garry Hotel are hoping to add more fuel to the downtown revival effort with the pending opening of Canada's largest yoga centre in a vacant building on Fort Street.

Ida Albo and Rick Bel are converting the main floor and lower levels of the former Carleton Club at 280 Fort St. into Yoga Public, a 20,000-square-foot yoga centre. Albo said when it opens in December, the centre will be the largest in Canada and one of the best in North America.

She said the studio has been in the planning stages for more than two years, and she and yoga director Samantha Chisick visited some of the top studios on the continent to get ideas.

"We did a lot of research because we wanted to deliver something that is different, better and special," she said at the 21/2-storey facility, which is undergoing extensive renovations."

[...]

Full story: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Major-blaze-rages-in-Point-Douglas-132214503.html

[h0twired]

Edit - wrong gateway soap location.

[Mininari]

Cinema City on Kenaston is becoming a first-run theatre:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/posh--upgrade-for-second-run-cinema-132223593.html

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Posh upgrade for second-run cinema
Cineplex spending $6.5 million on city multiplexes

By: Randall King

Posted: 10/20/2011 1:00 AM | Comments: 94 (including replies)

...
The second-run Cinema City facility on McGillivray Boulevard at Kenaston Avenue will undergo a $4.5-million renovation early next year that will transform it into a first-run multiplex by the summer of 2012.

The cinema will be called the Cineplex Odeon McGillivary & VIP Cinemas and will consist of eight traditional auditoriums and three VIP screening rooms, says Cineplex vice-president Pat Marshall
...

[Authentic_City]

Call me old fashioned, but I can't get very excited about going to a suburban powercentre (e.g. McGillivray and Rte 90) for a night out at the movies.

Remember when downtown was the place to see a movie?

Would be great if some of the downtown movie theatres could be revived.

What became of the old "Northstar Cinema"? Is is just mothballed?

[WJG]

I think it's fine that they're converting Cinema City into a regular theater, but I hope they build another second-run cheap theater somewhere else in the South End. There is certainly a demand for it, especially considering all the University Students that live in that general area.

I'm also surprised Cineplex has avoided putting a movie theater somewhere downtown. Do they have some sort of agreement with the Globe and/or Towne 8 like they do with Empire to avoid a monopoly? A Silvercity theater seems like a perfect component for the Sports, Hospitality and Entertainment District.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

Would be great if some of the downtown movie theatres could be revived.

Unlikely.

This isn't really an issue about urbanism anymore but rather the fact that the movie industry has changed to the point where multiple screens are required to make decent money. Having only 1-2 screens just isn't profitable anymore.

Even the Globe Theatre in Portage Place wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the fact that they don't pay a fixed rent (they pay a portion of their profit).

[WJG]

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
City OK's another parking lot
Needed for hotel's new yoga studio

By: Bartley Kives

Last October, during the waning days of the 2010 mayoral race, Sam Katz called downtown Winnipeg's plethora of empty lots an eyesore and a public safety hazard as he pledged to extend a moratorium on new surface parking in the city's core.

Less than a year later, city hall quietly approved the demolition of the 89-year-old Orpheum building on Fort Street to make way for a new surface parking lot to serve clients of Yoga Public, the Fort Garry Hotel's new four-studio yoga centre. Heavy equipment brought down the vacant building two weeks ago. In spite of the demolition, the mayor said he remains committed to reducing the number of vacant tracts downtown, as promised during his re-election campaign.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-oks-another-parking-lot-132223583.html

[Authentic_City]

Originally Posted by h0twired

Unlikely.

This isn't really an issue about urbanism anymore but rather the fact that the movie industry has changed to the point where multiple screens are required to make decent money. Having only 1-2 screens just isn't profitable anymore.

Even the Globe Theatre in Portage Place wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the fact that they don't pay a fixed rent (they pay a portion of their profit).

As I said, call me old fashioned. Some of these single/double theatres still survive downtown in cities like Toronto, but it's true, they are hard to make profitable unless you have multiple screens, big concessions, arcades, etc. Seems doubtful that a new, high end multiplex would be built downtown, but that would sure create a reason for folks to go downtown in the evening.

I think a new multipex is in the plans for Season of Tuxedo. I guess Cinema City is trying to beat them to the punch.

[yopaul]

Went to the Globe with the folks when I was visiting a couple of weeks ago and HOLY is that a threadbare operation now-no one taking tickets (and no reason to pay admission, really), and 2 staff members in charge of both the concessions (long line) and running upstairs to start the movies-which in 2 out of the 3 theatres had poor framed projections (people were coming outside to complain).

I too have romantic visions and memories of downtown movies (the huge line for T2 at the Northstar, the awesome packed house for STAR WARS when it was re-released at the Garrick), but I can't see the Globe or Towne sticking it out much longer in their current states...

And there are no single/double theatres in downtown Toronto that are still existing w/o recent serious financial peril.

[h0twired]

Originally Posted by Authentic_City

I think a new multipex is in the plans for Season of Tuxedo. I guess Cinema City is trying to beat them to the punch.

Famous Players, Cinema City, Galaxy, Silver City and Cineplex are all the same company.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by WJG

I think it's fine that they're converting Cinema City into a regular theater, but I hope they build another second-run cheap theater somewhere else in the South End. There is certainly a demand for it, especially considering all the University Students that live in that general area.

I'm also surprised Cineplex has avoided putting a movie theater somewhere downtown. Do they have some sort of agreement with the Globe and/or Towne 8 like they do with Empire to avoid a monopoly? A Silvercity theater seems like a perfect component for the Sports, Hospitality and Entertainment District.

There used to be a cinemea city in the strip mall that contains Petland on pembina close to the university. It shut down a few years ago. Can't recall if it ever ran concurrently with the route 90 one.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by cheswick

There used to be a cinemea city in the strip mall that contains Petland on pembina close to the university. It shut down a few years ago. Can't recall if it ever ran concurrently with the route 90 one.

The one at McGillivray replaced the old one at Pembina/Bishop... That was about 6 years or so IIRC...

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by WJG

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/city-oks-another-parking-lot-132223583.html

unbelievable....the justification used is mind boggling....katz grandstands during the provincial election about surface parking and then this....the same reasoning the grain exchange gave...we develop a building and you let me make a new parking lot beside it...

one step forward two steps back...all at the same time.

and then the yoga thing goes under in 3 years blaming a lack of safety caused by low density in the downtown because of all the open lots.

[jmt18325]

Katz is a horrible mayor. It's that simple.

[Only The Lonely..]

Originally Posted by trueviking

unbelievable....the justification used is mind boggling....katz grandstands during the provincial election about surface parking and then this....the same reasoning the grain exchange gave...we develop a building and you let me make a new parking lot beside it...

one step forward two steps back...all at the same time.

and then the yoga thing goes under in 3 years blaming a lack of safety caused by low density in the downtown because of all the open lots.

Can't say i'm surprised, yoga is a suburban pastime..

Inner city folk get more than enough exercise being chased by the police chopper.

[c vist]

I was at a fundraiser dinner tonight where a lunch for 2 with Sam was auctioned off for $425. An ATV ride in the woods went for $1200. Kind of tells you something about our Mayor. I should have paid $500 and taken him for lunch in a surface parking lot.

[trueviking]

that would have been worth the money...i would have paid half...imagine the message that would have sent.

[SKYSTHELIMIT]

Originally Posted by trueviking

that would have been worth the money...i would have paid half...imagine the message that would have sent.

And amazing front page picture. I can see the headline now.
"DOWNTOWN LOT EMPTY AS MAYORS CAMPAIGN PROMISES"

[Biff]

Winnipeg Free Press - Portage Place tower remains up in the air
Successful parkade key to deal

By: Bartley Kives

Posted: 10/21/2011

Amid renewed private-sector interest in downtown Winnipeg, the owners of Portage Place have been speaking to senior city officials about the possibility of building a new commercial or residential tower above the downtown mall.

But a huge obstacle remains in the way of a new highrise in the form of what lies below it: a very profitable parkade that's owned and operated by the non-profit Forks North Portage Partnership.

The original plans for Portage Place, which opened in 1987, allowed for the later construction of a tower above the east side of the mall. But the economic recession that soon followed essentially froze all highrise construction in Winnipeg, and the decline of the downtown during the mid-1990s exacerbated the conditions that scared away potential developers.


Read More http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakin...wer-remains-up-in-the-air-132297423.html

[Joshy]

I really HATE parkades/parking lots