Winnipeg Construction X

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by LTC321

WEM is still $30 a person for their waterpark. A family is well into $100 for the day at the waterpark....excluding concessions etc...

That's out of reach for a lot of Winnipeggers. If the City is going to spend a pile of money on a waterpark, it'll need to be more accessible than that. I think this is part of the hang up on all the various talks. Making it affordable while not just subsidizing a hotelier to build one.

[H2man]

After thinking a lot about a water park, it's easy do get into the mental circular arguments with yourself about why it doesn't really work here. Population + winters + death of malls makes it a harder sell than Edmonton or Minneapolis in the 80s.

It would need to be done privately and therefore profitably, meaning there would need to be a hefty admission then many wouldn't have access to it. It would be a boon for middle class families once or twice a year as well as attract some out-of-town/province visitors to it and that's fine. Aside from optics, if it was gov't subsidized and admission was $5 a family, it would be over-run and would be very unattractive to try and go to. I understand exclusivity isn't politically popular and fair enough.

Love the comments about the city investing more in outdoor splash pads, indoor pools, and a few more of the "Transcona waterparks" in many more neighbourhoods. Tremendous value in those, especially the splash pads.

Ideally, we would have private investment by a hotelier on a quality indoor waterpark (with private admission price$) and good quality options for all families at the community level. That's the best we can hope for, I think.

[michelleb]

"Outdoor splash pads and pools that can only be used for three/two/one month of the year are a waste of money in a winter city!" /sarcasm

More splash pads and money for pools everywhere, please.

[Hecate]

While investing in splash pads and such is a great idea... it doesn’t equate to building an indoor facility that is operational year round. That’s the point of an indoor water park or amusement park in a climate such as Winnipeg’s. $30 a person is affordable for poorer people when it’s a treat once or twice a year. It’s $20 bucks to go to a movie or a museum, $25 to go to the zoo, to do anything else you’ll be spending more. Offer one day a week at half price, or issue coupons, buy one get one free, and have family passes that are reduced, and easily it becomes affordable for low income Manitobans. If we can run freaking casinos we can run a theme park. Lol. I’m just joking, but seriously winnipeg desperately needs something. Would be nice to go on a rollercoaster without having to drive for eight hours, To another country.

[bomberjet]

I have friends who are doing decently well for themselves. It was $12 to go see the lights at the Zoo. They were like uhh let's just wait to make sure my kid isn't sick because I dont want to waste it. Then it sold out (of course) so we didn't go. That's the type of people..

Never mind if you have 4 kids and are on welfare. Def not going to the $30/head waterpark. But I guess that's life?

Flip side of the coin. Jets are being subsidized for 10's of millions every year. And it's out of reach for most people. So what's it to build a water park and just let everyone in?

Make it like some museums. If you can afford to pay, this is our recommended prices. If not, please enjoy the show for free.

[Phil's neighbour]

We’ve enjoyed wave pools with the kids in Calgary and Ottawa — nothing grand, just decked out community pools with a wave generator. These are a blast. Closer to home, the one in Portage la Prairie is equally fun. These don’t need to be full zoot, big admission water parks. Sprinkle a few around the city and it’s done. Get the private sector to pony up to make them more palatable as in Portage.

[wags_in_the_peg]

Originally Posted by WinCitySparky

Comparing Winnipeg to Dubai in any capacity is the most absurd thing I’ve read on here in awhile

glad you said it! there's more $ in 1/10th of Dubai than in all of CAD combined.

[pegcityboy]

FYI The Jets are Not subsidized 10s of million dollars each year , subsidized yes , like a lot of other things ballet , symphony etc . People don’t realize that there is a lot more money in the Winnipeg Metro Region than people realize , now spending the money , like the zoo story above is another story ! Lol. I think a water park would definitely work here might just have to have the odd special like family day for $40-50 so more Winnipeggers would have access to it , like someone else said above $20 for a movie , the zoo isn’t free , it about prioritizing what you want to spend your money on .

[bomberjet]

TNSE is subsidized by ~$15M every single year, in one form or another. Casino revenues, property tax breaks. Here's an article from 2019.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-manitoba-pro-sports-subsidies-1.5041908

There's a pros and cons to all of that, yes. The money wouldn't be there if they weren't there, okay.

All I'm saying is if the City reeeaaaly wanted to, they could build a water park. But they don't want to.

[Boreal]

My last experience at WEM with regard to the water park there was nowhere near $30 for two people. It was about $90 with locker rental if I recall correctly (no guarantees on great recollection back ~5 years). No food or drink or other service that could be construed as luxury beyond walking in, changing, locking up items, obtaining tube and having access to all aquatic parts of the water park for the day.

Point being, in any conversation that pushes $80+ (taxes, locker, perhaps tube) for 2 adults and there is no way it works in our marketplace. I'd love a water park. Seriously. If I could go to Edmonton and rob the city blind and tug the whole thing back to Winnipeg without any Edmontonian noticing I would. I just can't see how it works, even pre-COVID. Post-COVID and I don't even think there is a conversation. The quality of park I suspect that would be economically viable is one that few would wish to attend.

[1ajs]

calgary has a public wave pool
witch is part of a ice rink complex and a few other things

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by trueviking

98 Albert is dead...so they demolished a heritage building in a national historic site.

city gone goofed up on so many fronts

[(sub)urban]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

calgary has a public wave pool
witch is part of a ice rink complex and a few other things

So does Victoria, BC. I think that's a reasonable ask, I mean Victoria's is basically just our Pan Am Pool with a water slide and a wave pool.

Asking the city to build a full-blown WEM-level water park is a little silly though, IMO.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by (sub)urban

So does Victoria, BC. I think that's a reasonable ask, I mean Victoria's is basically just our Pan Am Pool with a water slide and a wave pool.

Asking the city to build a full-blown WEM-level water park is a little silly though, IMO.

sweet good to know

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by trueviking

98 Albert is dead...so they demolished a heritage building in a national historic site.

Who backed out? So I can give them the stinkeye next time I pass them on the street.

[Biff]

^^^ They were having a lot of issues with Hydro. Apparently it is not 100% dead. The people behind it are not big corporate developers so they are possibly going to re-visit it in a year or so.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by Ando

This is the kind of thing that needs to stop. The City has no balls to prevent these travesties - except wrecking balls.

I'm really not seeing how it was a travesty in this case. It was a tiny one-storey building with basically no distinguishing features.

[bomberjet]

The shitty part is that its a parking lot and could be for a long time.

[GreyGarden]

So was 90 Albert a separate development? For some reason I thought they were connected.

Agreed, it's a little too on the nose that the site used to be an active restaurant with a patio looking onto Old Market Square and now its a parking lot...

[Biff]

It was an addition to the adjacent building that was re-developed. Same overall project, they just haven't built the addition.