Winnipeg Construction X

[esquire]

On the waterpark thing, given that there is only one big indoor mega-waterpark in Canada clearly the economics of the whole thing are iffy. Edmonton lucked out in the 80s and that's probably all there is to it.

That said, many communities have more modestly-scaled waterparks and that is something that inexplicably doesn't exist in Winnipeg. It is weird that places like Steinbach and Portage have such facilities that are far better than anything that exists here.

When my kids were toddlers I visited this place in Richmond, BC... it is nothing spectacular but they sure enjoyed it. It's a municipal facility so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to enter. It has a wave pool, a play area, a waterslide or two, a regular lap pool and some other amenities. It's hard to believe that nothing like this exists in Winnipeg.

[EndoftheBeginning]

5610 Roblin plans going to Committee next week. Five storey, 60 units.

[esquire]

^ Reminds me a bit of that complex on St. Anne's south, near the No Frills.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by esquire

On the waterpark thing, given that there is only one big indoor mega-waterpark in Canada clearly the economics of the whole thing are iffy. Edmonton clearly lucked out in the 80s and that's probably all there is to it.

That said, many communities have more modestly-scaled waterparks and that is something that inexplicably doesn't exist in Winnipeg. It is weird that places like Steinbach and Portage have such facilities that are far better than anything that exists here.

When my kids were toddlers I visited this place in Richmond, BC... it is nothing spectacular but they sure enjoyed it. It's a municipal facility so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to enter. It has a wave pool, a play area, a waterslide or two, a regular lap pool and some other amenities. It's hard to believe that nothing like this exists in Winnipeg.

You know how some people here would react to a more modest proposal like this don't you? "What the H? Why, Oh WHY is Winnipeg the ONLY CITY on the PLANET that does EVERYTHING so half-assed?? This place is SO pathetic!", etc. etc, ad nauseam....

[BigG]

Originally Posted by esquire

On the waterpark thing, given that there is only one big indoor mega-waterpark in Canada clearly the economics of the whole thing are iffy. Edmonton clearly lucked out in the 80s and that's probably all there is to it.

That said, many communities have more modestly-scaled waterparks and that is something that inexplicably doesn't exist in Winnipeg. It is weird that places like Steinbach and Portage have such facilities that are far better than anything that exists here.

When my kids were toddlers I visited this place in Richmond, BC... it is nothing spectacular but they sure enjoyed it. It's a municipal facility so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to enter. It has a wave pool, a play area, a waterslide or two, a regular lap pool and some other amenities. It's hard to believe that nothing like this exists in Winnipeg.

That's WaterMania! Took my kids there many a time when they were still small. Every time we visited family in the lower mainland we always made it a point to go there. That is like Pan Am pool with a waterpark on one end. It can be done here if there was a will.

[BigG]

Originally Posted by 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.

A little bit of hope... RE: 98 Albert, not the Water Park.

[H2man]

Originally Posted by pspeid

You know how some people here would react to a more modest proposal like this don't you? "What the H? Why, Oh WHY is Winnipeg the ONLY CITY on the PLANET that does EVERYTHING so half-assed?? This place is SO pathetic!", etc. etc, ad nauseam....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Sooooo true!

Admittedly, I'm guilty of automatically thinking Winnipeg waterpark must = WED waterpark. It's only while reading this thread that got me to re-think this topic that maybe we should be trying to facilitate a modest water park that's great for the kids but is all year round and is accessible.

[Wpg_Guy]

My nieces live in North Battleford Sask, they took me to their aquatic centre last time i was there, it's a very nice facility with wave pool, water slide, lazy river, splash pad, hot tub and lap pool.







• Video Link

[esquire]

^ Six of those spread across town (maybe attached to existing municipal pools?) would pretty well solve the problem. It's amazing that there are so few amenities like that here. I've been to small towns abroad with pools that surpass anything I've ever seen in Winnipeg.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Semi-related; Tourism Winnipeg recently did a feature on hotels with pools open for staycations:

https://www.tourismwinnipeg.com/things-t...t-these-winnipeg-hotel-pools?dismiss=day

Unfortunately, they used photos from the Hilton (which is not open for outside bookings) under the Homewood Suites entry.

EDIT - I noted the problem to Tourism Winnipeg and they have now fixed it

[bomberjet]

Thanks for sharing the link! We've been thinking about a staycation with a pool, but was getting a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what's open, what's not.

[Ando]

Originally Posted by GarryEllice

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.

There is a principal involved in terms of the standards in a heritage district and what kind of protections are needed from developers who tear things down on a promise and end up creating instant parking lots or vacant spaces. It goes beyond your individual estimation of the value of a particular structure.

[dam_well]

Dauphin also has a pretty solid pool, with wave pool and waterslide. Would be fantastic to have that type of thing in Winnipeg. What they did at seven oaks pool looks pretty solid (I haven't been there since the reno but the pictures look nice).

https://www.prairiearchitects.ca/seven-oaks-pool

[Kinguni]

Originally Posted by esquire

That said, many communities have more modestly-scaled waterparks and that is something that inexplicably doesn't exist in Winnipeg. It is weird that places like Steinbach and Portage have such facilities that are far better than anything that exists here.

When my kids were toddlers I visited this place in Richmond, BC... it is nothing spectacular but they sure enjoyed it. It's a municipal facility so it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to enter. It has a wave pool, a play area, a waterslide or two, a regular lap pool and some other amenities. It's hard to believe that nothing like this exists in Winnipeg.

My sister lived in Surrey in the late 90's and we visited one spring. They took us to Newton Recreation Centre, same kind of setup. The kids (and me) all had a blast, and it was very affordable.

[GarryEllice]

Originally Posted by Ando

There is a principal involved in terms of the standards in a heritage district and what kind of protections are needed from developers who tear things down on a promise and end up creating instant parking lots or vacant spaces. It goes beyond your individual estimation of the value of a particular structure.

"My" estimation? It was the city that allowed it to be torn down, not me. And I'm sure they wouldn't have allowed the same for the building next door. The existing level of heritage protection in the Exchange seems quite adequate to me...and I'm someone who cares an awful lot about preserving heritage streetscapes.

Yes, a new parking lot is a bad thing (although the site was already a parking lot for half of the year anyway, it was only a patio in the summer), but I think, perhaps naively, that a prime site like that won't sit undeveloped for long.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by bomberjet

Thanks for sharing the link! We've been thinking about a staycation with a pool, but was getting a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what's open, what's not.

There are not many "nice" hotels in Manitoba with a pool outside of the Perimeter, but there are a few. And I can tell you that since the pandemic began I've been getting good at finding them. It's nice to get on the highway and enjoy a change of scenery.

A few favourites include:

• Elkhorn Resort with a very nice waterpark
• Lakeview Hecla Island which has a decent pool area
• CanadInns Brandon has a fun waterslide
• Morden and Winkler Best Westerns are brand new and have small but nice pool areas with small waterslides
• Steinbach Days Inn also has a small but nice pool area
• Dauphin has a new Best Western with a pool, haven't been there yet but I intend to drop by this summer

There are more in Winnipeg, of course. My only 'in town' staycation last year was at the Fairfield Inn and it was OK. The tricky thing with going now is that under current public health regulations, pool access is strictly controlled so you might not be getting more than an hour a day now. It isn't ideal but at least it's something.

Originally Posted by Ando

There is a principal involved in terms of the standards in a heritage district and what kind of protections are needed from developers who tear things down on a promise and end up creating instant parking lots or vacant spaces. It goes beyond your individual estimation of the value of a particular structure.

Does the City require any sort of commitment from a developer before they issue demolition permits? You have to wonder if they should be requiring that a bond be posted or some such so that there is an actual downside to developers for not following through on their commitments.

[Labroco]

Originally Posted by esquire

There are not many "nice" hotels in Manitoba with a pool outside of the Perimeter, but there are a few. And I can tell you that since the pandemic began I've been getting good at finding them. It's nice to get on the highway and enjoy a change of scenery.

A few favourites include:

• Elkhorn Resort with a very nice waterpark
• Lakeview Hecla Island which has a decent pool area
• CanadInns Brandon has a fun waterslide
• Morden and Winkler Best Westerns are brand new and have small but nice pool areas with small waterslides
• Steinbach Days Inn also has a small but nice pool area
• Dauphin has a new Best Western with a pool, haven't been there yet but I intend to drop by this summer

There are more in Winnipeg, of course. My only 'in town' staycation last year was at the Fairfield Inn and it was OK. The tricky thing with going now is that under current public health regulations, pool access is strictly controlled so you might not be getting more than an hour a day now. It isn't ideal but at least it's something.



Does the City require any sort of commitment from a developer before they issue demolition permits? You have to wonder if they should be requiring that a bond be posted or some such so that there is an actual downside to developers for not following through on their commitments.

I agree a bond should be in place or a building permit issued for the site prior to any demo. Also the Demo permit explicitly states no parking on site and perhaps landscaping is required if no construction in a period of time (Shanghai Bldg). There has been no formal complaint for non compliance so no inspector has acted on the parking on site. Write a letter or phone in complaint and the City may come and act on the issue. Or ask CV to deal with it as they also sit on the Urban Design Review Committee and may have some clout. Or Exchange Biz. If it’s really an issue for any on this forum...

[1ajs]

good point email to 311 sent.

[buzzg]

Originally Posted by LTC321

Hello all:

I can't find an answer to this...can someone help?

Winnipeg has tons of open space....and a lot of open space in prime commercial areas.

Why don't we have a waterpark like Edmonton? Winnipeg is becoming a place where people would visit just for the sake of visiting. Why not add to their attractions like a waterslide/waterpark? We could draw from North Dakota, Thunder Bay, and Saskatchewan. A waterpark adjacent to Polo would be great!

Thoughts?

If every city has one is it even an attraction anymore?

And I can't imagine anyone from the US coming up from it when Wisconsin Dells is also close. Valley Fair, etc.

[esquire]

I don't realistically think anyone would build a waterpark as a big time tourist attraction... I think most people would be happy with some modest facilities to serve as amenities for locals.