A much-talked-about expansion of the Winnipeg Convention Centre (WCC) could be the catalyst for the biggest downtown revitalization project in four decades.
The request for proposal issued by the WCC this summer explicitly mentioned being part of a much larger project, one that includes a hotel, a parkade and ideally a residential component and an office or retail complex. The plans would likely include the redevelopment of several surface parking lots in the downtown area, which have been widely panned as blights on the neighbourhood.
Klaus Lahr, president and CEO of WCC, said this proposed development could result in triple the investment that was put into the MTS Centre. The 15,004-seat hockey rink opened in 2004 at a cost of $133.5 million.
The proposals are now under review and the WCC is expected to make a final decision by the end of the year.
from Western Investor November 2011
