Winnipeg Construction X

[morty]

Originally Posted by buzzg

The building is over fifty years old and the roof has been leaking for my entire 28 year life. Eventually most buildings do get beyond the point of sensible repair. It was a big miss IMO to not look at including a full size pool as part of the Sport For Life Centre, could have combined projects to save capital and long term/staffing costs, made the city's premier pool more central, and probably getting extra federal dollars too.

Also don't really get that comment about the department's not getting along. There are numerous combined library/community recreation centres in the city

It was beyond the point of sensible repair a while ago IMO. Going back even further to 2008, there's been 13.8 million spent since then on tendered capital projects.

The energy costs are crazy compared to a new building, and would be even lower if the hypothetical new pool shared a heating/refrigeration system with the new twin pad arena that should eventually get built on the Grant Park Rec Campus site.

Pan Am is also missing amenities like a sauna or a hot tub and an adequate gym/workout area. The only city pools where the revenues come remotely close to covering their expenses are CKRC and St James Centennial - the two with nice gyms.

One of the project leaders at the new River Heights library open house mentioned to me that the city specifically said they didn't want to look at the option of integrating the library with the pool.

In the case of Cindy Klassen Rec Centre, the library is stuck operating within the pool's operating hours. As an example, it is closing for two weeks while the pool undergoes its biennial shutdown. Unlike most other libraries, all maintenance requests generally go through the staff that handles pools and arenas.

I'm pretty sure the only other library in Winnipeg that's part of a larger complex is the Fort Rouge Leisure Centre/Sam Southern Arena. The difference there is the library is essentially run as a separate building with its own exterior door. The West End Library in CKRC doesn't have a direct exterior entrance.

[buzzg]

So the issue then isn't with the department integration, it's with the buildig design. Never been to CK, could they add another door or is it fully inside the building?

[cllew]

Just out of curiosity with the creditors of Litz crane putting them into receivership (Auction is next week) is that going to have any short term effect on the construction timelines in Winnipeg/Manitoba.

Do the other companies like Able and Sterling have the capacity to fill in the lifting gap?

[plrh]

Originally Posted by cllew

Just out of curiosity with the creditors of Litz crane putting them into receivership (Auction is next week) is that going to have any short term effect on the construction timelines in Winnipeg/Manitoba.

Do the other companies like Able and Sterling have the capacity to fill in the lifting gap?

I don't think Litz has anything newer than 50 years old (exaggeration). There are always some cranes in Able's yard when I drive by every day, so I think they have some capacity. Calado seems to be getting bigger and bigger too. I think if there's demand then the other firms will buy or bring in from elsewhere.

[morty]

Originally Posted by buzzg

So the issue then isn't with the department integration, it's with the buildig design. Never been to CK, could they add another door or is it fully inside the building?

They could definitely add another door at CK but would probably have to extensively reconfigure the library layout and the exterior pathways.

The thing that's disappointing at Pan Am with the new library is there's an unused/emergency exit hallway at Pan Am that leads directly from the lobby north to outside where the new library is going. Even a protected walkway would go a long way towards creating a cohesive community campus feel.

[Wolf13]

It shouldn't be hard to get cranes out of Alberta either.

[LilZebra]

Originally Posted by drew

The Pan-am is irreplaceable - in the sense that a replacement pool facility of that size (including spectator space) could never be justified in the City, probably within our lifetimes.

This means it will just get repaired and upgraded as necessary. I don't think it's going anywhere - pools are heavy maintenance - but that's the same regardless of when it was built whether it's 1967 or 2019.

In doing the History section of the Pan Am Pool article on Wikipedia last night, gosh, we almost didn't get Pan Am, due to a lot of political meddling at the time. We almost ended up with two half assed pools - located in both regional parks. They didn't start construction until late '66/early '67. Poverty activists were at it again, sayin' people from other areas couldn't easily get to the facility. Well, good reason to build fwys. (the famed Southern Fwy./Sterling Lyon Pkwy.) and mass transit (subway). Anyways...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Pool

[borkborkbork]

What's happening at 180 Main (former Skybridge offices, next to Johnny G's)?

Looks like there's a substantial reno underway.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by borkborkbork

What's happening at 180 Main (former Skybridge offices, next to Johnny G's)?

Looks like there's a substantial reno underway.

Suppose to be one of the private trade schools moving in there from other locations they have downtown from what I was told by a former employee.

[buzzg]

Maybe that mysterious (gorgeous) glass building in the 300 Main render where CDI is is real!!?!?! Hhaha

[Wpg_Guy]

Newport renovation

Salvador Maniquiz

[Glenn99]

Originally Posted by cllew

Suppose to be one of the private trade schools moving in there from other locations they have downtown from what I was told by a former employee.

It's Robertson Career College.

[buzzg]

The panels being replaced above the windows of former Skybridge are like brown siding. Was really hoping this building was going to get a bit more of a facelift. Hopefully they put awnings or something on them like their King/Notre Dame location.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by buzzg

The panels being replaced above the windows of former Skybridge are like brown siding. Was really hoping this building was going to get a bit more of a facelift. Hopefully they put awnings or something on them like their King/Notre Dame location.

Robertson signs went up today so looks like they are not gonna be spending much on the exterior renos. They didn't even try to fill the wholes or clean the stone behind the new signs at the main entrance – looks pretty bad. I really hope they at least get rid of the mirrored windows, but I have low expectations.

[OTA in Winnipeg]

Way in the background in this pic:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/9513047@N05/37774217496/in/photostream/

[Andy6]

I wouldn't have thought that a barrierless P&M and Landau Lincoln Mercury overlapped in time. It also makes me wonder why all those great buildings had to come down for an office tower that was never really needed.

[LilZebra]

What's fascinating about the ROGERS building is that they still use microwave relays. I thought that by now, we had made the transition over to fibre and satellite communications links.

Which also brings up another microwave relay site, the MTS inter-LATA (long distance gateway) on Corydon. It became operational in 1956 sending CBC, then CTV video and audio traffic to Manitoba's rural and northern communities as well as MTS' long distance voice. Now that the two Canadian tv networks shut down their non-Winnipeg over the air retransmitters, what is the future of the MTS relay, as I see in AT&T's service area, some have been dismantled or converted over to cellular towers.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by LilZebra

What's fascinating about the ROGERS building is that they still use microwave relays. I thought that by now, we had made the transition over to fibre and satellite communications links.

Which also brings up another microwave relay site, the MTS inter-LATA (long distance gateway) on Corydon. It became operational in 1956 sending CBC, then CTV video and audio traffic to Manitoba's rural and northern communities as well as MTS' long distance voice. Now that the two Canadian tv networks shut down their non-Winnipeg over the air retransmitters, what is the future of the MTS relay, as I see in AT&T's service area, some have been dismantled or converted over to cellular towers.

The microwave link from Corydon Ave to the US was shut down years ago and the 3 towers in this link in Manitoba were converted to Cell service. (the Morris microwave tower appears to be abandoned in place and a taller cell tower built on the property).

[bomberjet]

Went by the old dealership on Portage where they were digging that hole. Seems REALLY deep! Any idea what's going in there? Or where they removing a tank or something?

[optimusREIM]

I thought it was for soil remediation, but I agree that the hole seemed abnormally deep for that purpose. Anyone familiar with the requirements or how deep the tanks were there (if there were tanks there)?