Quote:
Originally Posted by UPP
I'm fine with the new Conexus building. That stretch of green space was never used by the public anyways. If people were truly concerned about the park, they would have been up in arms when they cut down 30 mature evergreen trees on the west side of Douglas Park because of the power lines there. But none of these folks were upset by that.
In the end, don't be angry with the U of R or Conexus, be angry with the Provincial Government for not funding the U of R enough to maintain their heritage buildings.
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That the space was not used by the public is a bizarre justification. By that logic I could highlight a ton of spaces "never used by the public" perfect for retail and office all along the park on Albert, College, Broad, etc.
Losing trees in a part is not great, but at least there's a justification with power lines.
And of course we should be angry at the U of R. They have mismanaged their money and become top heavy, just like the rest of the Canadian universities. And Conexus should be condemned for taking advantage of the situation and working behind the scenes to secure the deal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormer
I think that is unfair. You can argue that there should be no non-government office buildings even on the Park fringes, but this was a legitimate effort to get funding for the Darke Hall restoration. No one else was prepared to pay for it. Darke Hall will once again be a real gem for our City and a wonderful venue for all sorts of entertainment.
Also Conexus is a co-operative. They have no particular ideological or other connection to party in power across the lake.
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The University hardly tried to fundraise at all for Darke Hall, they basically threw up their hands and said "development is only thing that will work". And as the
news of the time states, the RFP made a great deal of talk about it needing to have artistic and cultural merit. Conexus has none of that.
And we need to cut the crap pretending that credit unions are these wonderful instutions without fault. Eric Dillion is as much in bed with the politicians as any other private interest. The decision to locate in the park primarily based on one thing:
showing up Affinity. This is legacy project for Dillion and it doesn't serve the members at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by J-Walker
Completely agree.... It wasn't like Conexus just weaseled their way into the Park. Dark Hall was deteriorating badly and I'm sure would have been demolished within the next decade or so if it wasn't repaired. It was the UofR that put out a tender for a partner, Conexus was just the best option that stepped up to the plate. I genuinely think the leadership at Conexus thought they were doing a good deed for the community, and they've been kind of getting shit on for it since. I'd rather see a new well-designed building in the park, than the alternative, which would have been the loss of another heritage building.
The Brandt thing though, that's a little harder to justify. I don't see the logic behind that partnership. Lots of vacant space downtown that the CNIB could have moved into.
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Conexus
did weasel their way into the park. The RFP was released years after a handshake agreement was already made. Conexus had been talking to the university/province way before anything public was announced. And this is directly from senior Conexus employees. Additionally the $8M land purchase...er donation is
below the market value of the land.
And again with the credit union hagiography. They're a private business exactly the same way that FCL is a ruthlessness competitor. It's a vanity project. If Conexus wanted to help save Regina buildings they could have written a cheque. Besides that, Conexus could have purchased a building downtown for half the cost of their new 80,000 SF building. Then they would have had tons of money to donate while not damaging the park.
Conexus deserves all of the shit they're getting. There is no justification for the special privilege they've been granted.
And Brandt is arguably more justifiable. It's land already in the possession of a private entity and they weren't part of an almost predetermined RFP. They simply worked to redevelop an existing building (albeit by vastly expanding). Ultimately both should be cancelled immediately as they're an affront to the park.
If I had to pick one, I'd pick Brandt over Conexus' abomination though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jigglysquishy
Didn't CNIB move downtown last year?
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They took temporary leased space downtown in ancitipcation of the new building.
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