Winnipeg Construction X

[drew]

Originally Posted by esquire

So downtown Winnipeg is down to one movie screen now... Cinematheque. Same number as Gimli.

You can't see a mainstream movie at a theatre in downtown Winnipeg anymore. In some respects it's hard to believe that it's come to this.

I haven't been to a mainstream movie downtown since the theatres at Portage Place closed.

I will be honest, given the movie watching experience at the modern Silver City's etc. I don't really miss it. The type of theatres you have (had?) downtown are more suited for arthouse, independent style movies. The kids these days (and me for that matter) want the big screen loud noises and ability to drive there with about 5 minutes to spare and not worry about parking - because we decided about 30 minutes before the start time that we even were going to a movie...

[wags_in_the_peg]

i took my kids to movies at Towne a few times, primarily cuz it was cheap. now kids are 16&18 going on their own w friends, they are going to the fancy theaters for the entire experience. video games before and after, reclining seats, etc etc.

[drew]

I do kinda miss the days in the early to mid 90's when I would go often on Tuesday (cheap) nights to movies.

You would have to get a news paper and find the page with the movie listings. Back then we went to lots of movies downtown - Portage Place, the Garrick, the theatres below the Radisson, the Towne, Cinematheque.

[Coil]

Originally Posted by trueviking

Towne Theatre is up for sale and has a caveat that it can't be sold to a movie theatre operator.

What is the reason for such a caveat? So terribly disappointing or shall I say downright evil to have a clause like that, no?

I think it's sad, a movie theatre downtown is an excellent amenity to encourage urban living and is commonplace in a "real" city. Another sign of decline/suburbification in Winnipeg.

I was a frequent patron, I enjoyed being able to have a drink in the Exchange and walk over to the theatre. It was dirt cheap. Getting down to Polo Park or another massive parking lot theatre without a car is difficult and unpleasant, not to mention the theatre itself is a tacky sensory overload.

RIP Towne, you were a good one.

Edit: Thinking about this even more I'm even more offended. A caveat like that is grossly anti-competitive and I'm shocked that it is not in violation of some competition law. I wonder if it would hold up in court.

[GreyGarden]

What a shame. I work downtown so I’d usually go to Towne Cinema 3-4 times a year after a stressful day or something. I always enjoyed the walk over and stepping out and being in the Exchange, not a suburban parking lot. But I’m not surprised, when I’d go the theatre was typically 50% full.

This is another strike against the livability of downtown Winnipeg.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by pspeid

I think it's pretty common, except maybe in larger cities. Small artsy movie theatres and little else.

I suppose if people had packed the Towne it wouldn't have closed. I know I hadn't been there for years. Can anyone here say they were a regular movie-goer at the Towne?

I don't know. As far as larger Western Canadian cities go, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon all have downtown multiplexes. It's basically just us and Regina without a mainstream cinema downtown.

I used to be a downtown moviegoer all the time, all through the 90s and 00s I regularly went to cinemas downtown. That more or less ended when my kids were born, I seldom go to a theatre of any kind now.

But the Garrick and Portage Place were my favourite theatres back in the day... I remember Towne was a busy place in the 90s. The big new suburban multiplexes that went up in the late 90s drained the life from downtown movie theatres pretty quickly. 1995 to 2005 was like two different worlds in terms of moviegoing in this city.

I think the Towne's problem was being out of sight, out of mind to some extent. If it was located on York Ave., for instance, and within walking distance of all the Bro-Ass apartments and Osborne Village it would probably still be thriving.

[GreyGarden]

I agree with your last paragraph Esquire. I think if the Central Park, West End and Centennial neighbourhoods were a bit more “well-off”, Towne Cinema likely could have survived.

[trueviking]

Originally Posted by pspeid

I think it's pretty common, except maybe in larger cities. Small artsy movie theatres and little else.

I suppose if people had packed the Towne it wouldn't have closed. I know I hadn't been there for years. Can anyone here say they were a regular movie-goer at the Towne?

that was the only theatre I went to up until it closed in July.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by Coil

What is the reason for such a caveat? So terribly disappointing or shall I say downright evil to have a clause like that, no?
...

Edit: Thinking about this even more I'm even more offended. A caveat like that is grossly anti-competitive and I'm shocked that it is not in violation of some competition law. I wonder if it would hold up in court.

I don't understand who would have required that caveat. It would make sense for Towne only if they were moving locations in the same area and didn't want their vacated space to become a competitor. But it sounds like it's a final farewell.

And for the property owner, it rules out the one tenant who could take it over as a relatively turnkey business without one or both parties having to sink tons of money into fitting out the space for another use.

The only thing I can think of is if the building owner had an early-termination clause that kept them from evicting the Towne to lease to another movie theatre.

Anyone know how these things work? It seems like a caveat that benefits nobody...

[Sheepish]

I am constantly amused and bewildered by the 'SHED' moniker. There is virtually NO shopping. There is very little Hospitality (ok a new hotel will eventually, one day, maybe be built). And other than Canada Life Center, where is the Entertainment. So one thing the district really could have used is a nice movie/entertainment complex. Last time I looked, there was lots of empty land to choose from. Whether the math works is a whole other question. Sadly the days of downtown being a moving going mecca are long gone.

[CoryB]

Just a guess but perhaps the caveat on the Towne is a residual of the Cineplex merger and divestment. Basically Cineplex saying in their merger with Famous Players the Towne was not economically viable and they booked a full write-off of the facility but gave Landmark an opportunity to run it provided they covered the expense of X for the lease which remained in the Cineplex name/REIT/whatever.

As Cineplex has booked the property as fully depreciated asset if Landmark exits that deal there is perhaps some odd financial implication if someone else takes it over to run it as a movie theater?

Not sure exactly what the story is there but there is a solid reason for the caveat. The interesting piece to look at is if the caveat would survive the demolition of the current building.

[trueviking]

The no other theatre caveat was just something I heard in passing. I guess it’s just a no competition thing.

its too bad because they just replaced all the seats....and upgraded the sound.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Sheepish

I am constantly amused and bewildered by the 'SHED' moniker. There is virtually NO shopping. There is very little Hospitality (ok a new hotel will eventually, one day, maybe be built). And other than Canada Life Center, where is the Entertainment. So one thing the district really could have used is a nice movie/entertainment complex. Last time I looked, there was lots of empty land to choose from. Whether the math works is a whole other question. Sadly the days of downtown being a moving going mecca are long gone.

I think "SHED" is meant to be aspirational rather than any kind of description of what goes on around there. But yeah, at this point the idea of a Sports, Hospitality and Entertainment "district" is kind of embarrassing, it's one arena and a couple of hotels in plain old downtown Winnipeg which, like the rest of downtown Winnipeg, has virtually no shopping besides pharmacies and dollar stores.

Originally Posted by CoryB

Not sure exactly what the story is there but there is a solid reason for the caveat. The interesting piece to look at is if the caveat would survive the demolition of the current building.

It's hard to imagine anyone building a cinema on that site, or anywhere downtown for that matter.

[post_man]

Originally Posted by Sheepish

I am constantly amused and bewildered by the 'SHED' moniker. There is virtually NO shopping. There is very little Hospitality (ok a new hotel will eventually, one day, maybe be built). And other than Canada Life Center, where is the Entertainment. So one thing the district really could have used is a nice movie/entertainment complex. Last time I looked, there was lots of empty land to choose from. Whether the math works is a whole other question. Sadly the days of downtown being a moving going mecca are long gone.

I'm going to ignore Stantec's SHED boundaries but:

Sports:
Shaw Park
Canada Life Center

Hospitality:
Delta
Fairmont
Alt
Radisson
Mere
Humphrey
Fort Garry
Holiday Inn

Entertainment:
Canada Life Center
Concert Hall
Museum/Planetarium
The Forks/MTYP
WAG/Qaumajuq
MTC
Pantages
Old Market Square
Cinematheque
Burt
Windsor
Garrick
Times Changed
Pyramid
Convention Centre
Millenium Library
Bars
Pubs
Taprooms
Restaurants

And that's right now, at what most would consider a low point in our core's history. I don't see how pretending the good things we have don't exist is productive. It's easy to start despairing if you refuse to look at the progress we've made.

[cllew]

Asking price for the Town8 site is $2.25 million and according to the Free Press its being marketed as a site for multifamily, commercial or a mix of the two formats.

[blueandgoldguy]

That's a shame about the Towne. Seems like a bullshit caveat regarding no continuance as a movie theatre. It will probably sit vacant for several years...maybe decades.

Personally I miss the Globe at Portage Place. I used to go there a few times a year to check out both mainstream and independent movies. The lobby was nice and quiet and seating, while not the modern stadium seating at Cineplex, was fine. That closed how many years ago? And the space has not been repurposed as far as I know.

No mainstream theatres in downtown and nothing in the entire North End either. The only thing there is Northgate which now shows foreign films with the occasional second-run mainstream movie thrown in.

[sleepyeyed]

PC government is really driving young arts types away. I know 8 people people who used to live/work in the exchange and go to Towne regularly, they've all moved to other cities in the past year. moved to Winnipeg years ago but am at the point where I'm thinking of going to alberta, where they at least stil have arts investment and public transit. Plus it's not even cheaper to live here anymore. Now that I have a kid as well, I can see there are very few things to look forward to here for her.

And I mean, my wife had a masters degree and works for a local university. I own a small business. Even with this bit of money and stability, it's not a place I want to invest in anymore. The whole city is basically a giant suburb now.

[sleepyeyed]

The most confusing thing is how ok everyone is with how mediocore winnipeg? I travel the prairies a lot and Saskatoon and Regina are more interesting, walkable cities with better downtowns. Obviously CGY and Edm are years ahead, especially with their LRT and Edmontons low speed limit (40 max almost everywhere). They all have well maintained parks and trees and are investing in inner city communities. Most of them have new civic projects like librairies or are planning for them. Edmonton and Calgary have both invested tens of millions developing a connected cycling network.

You suburban slickers who love your car need to move to the boonies and leave the rest of us to build a functional city.

[trueviking]

https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/br...omes-permanent

[thebasketballgeek]

Originally Posted by sleepyeyed

The most confusing thing is how ok everyone is with how mediocore winnipeg? I travel the prairies a lot and Saskatoon and Regina are more interesting, walkable cities with better downtowns. Obviously CGY and Edm are years ahead, especially with their LRT and Edmontons low speed limit (40 max almost everywhere). They all have well maintained parks and trees and are investing in inner city communities. Most of them have new civic projects like librairies or are planning for them. Edmonton and Calgary have both invested tens of millions developing a connected cycling network.

You suburban slickers who love your car need to move to the boonies and leave the rest of us to build a functional city.

Did you completely ignore postman’s post?

Here’s the thing, all of those cities you mentioned have sprawl just as bad if not worse then us. Thats why all those cities have LOWER population density then Winnipeg.

Regina and Saskatoon are more interesting, walkable cities lol what? Have you been outside the city centres of these places their suburbs are even worse then ours. At least Winnipeg has the common sense of having mid-highrise buildings on our arterials. These other cities don’t have the equivalent of St Anne’s where it’s kilometres of dense housing. Even if they do these other prairie city corridors don’t have the quantity of corridors or the long stretches that we see on Portage and Pembina.

I would challenge your statement on a few things. Winnipeg also has a more impressive canopy then any of the other prairie cities (not even a contest tbh), our parks like Forks, St. Vital, and Assiniboine are absolutely competitive with other prairie cities, but I will agree about the inner city communities (although Polo Park and Railside at Forks are inner city infill projects).

For bikes, yes Calgary and Edmonton have pretty good bike networks no doubt about that. But again your underselling Winnipeg’s bike network especially how well the suburban network can get you to the inner city. In Southwest Winnipeg I can get to DT in 30-40 mins with 90% of my trip being on a dedicated bike lane. Furthermore I can go perimeter to perimeter with 95% of my trip being on a separated bike lane. We have a good bike lane that’s needs a few tweaks, and with projects on Marion, Northwest Hydro Corridor, Archibald, Waverley, Provencher, River, Stradbrook, and St. Vital Bridge coming up the next few years just for a few examples there is clearly investment in our bike infrastructure. Like for me personally I’m a 5 minute bike ride from superstore, a 15 minute bike ride from campus, and even 15 minutes from Costco/Walmart. Could life really be any better for me as a cyclist? Maybe if I’m in the Netherlands lol.

Finally, the biggest advantage we have over these other prairie cities is that we don’t have freeways, our energy costs are much cheaper, and we emit lower emissions per capita simply by living in Winnipeg with renewable energy. Idk but if you look for it one realizes that this city isn’t just complete shit like we tell ourselves.