worst decisions made in Winnipeg history

[IntotheWest]

^I didn't mean to offend with the comment about Burton Cummings...I was just trying to put it in perspective compared to all the other fantastic artists who have made their mark on the city, Canada, and even North America who also came from Winnipeg (Watchmen being one of my favourite bands, period) - and continue to do so.

I thought I heard on a documentary about him and Randy Bachman that he resides in LA, but according to Wikipedia it says that he "winters" there, and returns to Canada for the summer...which would make sense.

[flatlander]

^^No offense taken. Newflyer may have seen him at A+B sound on Pembina but that location's been closed for years. I'm sure he spends part of his time here but I'd bet a doughnut he winters somewhere else.

[pegcityboy]

Actually my friend takes care of his house when he goes to LA and he is in Winnipeg most of the time!

[newflyer]

Originally Posted by flatlander

^^No offense taken. Newflyer may have seen him at A+B sound on Pembina but that location's been closed for years. I'm sure he spends part of his time here but I'd bet a doughnut he winters somewhere else.

Yeah it was a number of years ago, when I saw him at A&B .. but still a rememberable experience.

I am sure he was a winter home somewhere warm... I mean if you were a somewhat retired musian, with a good amount of cash, wouldn't you want to be somewhere nice and warm in Janurary and February?

[IntotheWest]

^Definitely. No matter where in Canada I lived the remainder of the year...actually, working on getting that to happen the last few months myself

[amac]

Enough about Burton already, geez. Back to the worst decisions made in Winnipeg history: PORTAGE PLACE.

[dennis]

I still think Portage Place was the best choice for a bad situation. Portage was already in decline when PP was built. The situation is still not good at Portage Place, but hey, That is still where you find most of the people on Portage avenue - congregating around and inside the mall - the working class and the poor, and a few confused and somewhat frightened visitors to the city.

[flatlander]

Originally Posted by dennis

I still think Portage Place was the best choice for a bad situation. Portage was already in decline when PP was built. The situation is still not good at Portage Place, but hey, That is still where you find most of the people on Portage avenue - congregating around and inside the mall - the working class and the poor, and a few confused and somewhat frightened visitors to the city.

Portage Place cost something like $75 million to build twenty years ago and has a book value today of around $25 million. Notwithstanding the planning issues it was a financial nightmare. We would have been better off giving each property owner that was expropriated a million bucks to improve their property.

[Pootkao]

Burton may actually BE the worst mistake Winnipeg ever made.

[Greco Roman]

Originally Posted by flatlander

Portage Place cost something like $75 million to build twenty years ago and has a book value today of around $25 million. Notwithstanding the planning issues it was a financial nightmare. We would have been better off giving each property owner that was expropriated a million bucks to improve their property.

Are you serious? The property value has actually gone DOWN?

There can't be too many other cities in Canada who's downtown property values have decreased in the last 20 years.

Only in Winnipeg

[flatlander]

The value never went down, it just cost more to build that it was worth. The difference being that most of the time, if it costs more than its worth, you don't bother building it.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by flatlander

The value never went down, it just cost more to build that it was worth. The difference being that most of the time, if it costs more than its worth, you don't bother building it.

I would suspect that the value has gone down somewhat, but it was an urban renewal project so the cost was probably considerably higher than the market value to begin with.

As for this "only in Winnipeg" comments, I suggest you compare the cost of building the SkyDome to what it was sold for many years later, or the cost of the Olympic Stadium for what it could be sold for today. Those make Portage Place seem like a pretty good deal.

[amac]

The two skywalks over Portage Avenue are in dire need of re-skinning, they're so damn ugly.