City seeks answers on long-delayed Upper Fort Garry interpretive centre promised for donated land.
By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 6:05 PM CST Mon Feb 26, 2024 WFP
A city councillor is calling for the seizure of downtown property donated for an interpretive centre near Upper Fort Garry that has failed to materialize 15 years later.
Meanwhile, the group that promised to transform the surface lot at Assiniboine Avenue and Fort Street in 2009 continues to collect parking proceeds — about $100,000 annually as of 2020 — from the property adjacent to the historic site.
When the city made the donation to The Friends of Upper Fort Garry, the expectation was that the interpretive centre at the site — a provincial park on the banks of the Assiniboine River — would be built within five years.
If the project wasn’t completed, the initial agreement would allow the city to take the land back.
In 2015, a city council committee voted to allow the group to continue running the lot, despite a stated goal to remove downtown surface lots. An extension was granted in 2017, which expired in September 2019.
In early March 2020, the group asked for another extension, noting the lot’s revenue was essential to pay for park operations and fundraising to complete the interpretive centre.
“It is critical for the continued operation and continued activity of the park,” Penny McMillan, then-director of the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, said at the time.
The status of the interpretive centre isn’t clear. McMillan declined comment Monday, stating she’s no longer the group’s spokesperson and the current one was not available to speak with the Free Press.
The project has now been delayed for so long, it’s time the city consider taking steps to get the land back, if it still can, Coun. Brian Mayes said Monday.
“Deadlines should matter at some point, so I think it’s time to take the land back and figure out a use for it because that was the plan back in 2009,” said Mayes (St. Vital).
“Enough with the extensions.”
As of 2017, the project was slated to include a $17-million, 40,000-square-foot interpretive centre that would be built by 2021, including a meeting space and underground parking. At the time, the centre was expected to earn enough revenue that it would make the entire park self-sustaining.
The Friends of Upper Fort Garry did not offer an updated price estimate or target completion date for the interpretive centre in 2020.
“Having voted for these (parking lot) extensions, you’d like to know where we are now and where (we are) going,” said Mayes. “I don’t want to come across as critical of the people who volunteered their time… but after 15 years, let’s move on.”
Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of council’s property and development committee, said the city is seeking an update on the project.
“Extensions aren’t unheard of.… Right now, we’re hoping someone would reach out and tell us what’s what (in terms) of where the status of this people-powered group is at,” said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry).
On Feb. 21, city property and development officials sent a letter to the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, noting the expired status of city clearances required to operate the parking lot, giving the group 30 days to respond, said Rollins.
The councillor said a lot of volunteer groups “ebbed and flowed” during the pandemic, so it’s possible COVID-19 pressures also affected this particular organization. She said the city is seeking answers and not taking steps to reacquire the land at this point.
“(The group created) a really placemaking park in the downtown and had done some really important and beautiful work… (But) I’m concerned with augmenting the green space in the downtown… I generally want a higher and better use than a surface parking lot, especially one attached to green space,” said Rollins.
Previous work on the park to honour its history has included the creation of gardens, an interpretive wall and the preservation of Upper Fort Garry’s original north gate.
In an email, city spokesman Kalen Qually confirmed the conditional use permit for the parking lot expired in 2019, a status that has not changed since.
“There hasn’t been an extension granted. The city notified the group that they’re required to submit both variance and conditional use applications to allow for continued use of the parking lot,” he said.
Rollins noted the provincial ownership of the park could complicate any attempt by the city to take the parking lot portion of the property back.
Qually confirmed the parking lot is part of the land now owned by the province.
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