The association of building owners and managers in Manitoba is urging the city to rethink its plan to shut down the underground walkway beneath Portage and Main.
Executive Director Tom Thiessen has sent a letter to City Hall, expressing the group's view that closing the concourse would be a step in the wrong direction.
Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham proposed a motion earlier this month, suggesting that Portage and Main should be opened to pedestrians instead of repairing the membrane protecting the underground walkway.
Gillingham claims that the city is spending a significant amount of money annually to maintain the concourse and estimates that repairing the membrane would cost up to $73 million. He also states that decommissioning the concourse would cost the city between $20-50 million.
The City Council will vote on the motion on March 21.
However, Thiessen argues that the buildings connected to the concourse offer various benefits, including generating around $12 million in property taxes and providing workspaces for over 6,000 downtown employees.
Thiessen criticized the city's recent argument for closing the concourse, presented at the EPC on March 12th, as hastily coordinated and one-sided, in a letter.
Regarding the $73 million estimate, Thiessen points out that the report states the city's cost consultant has estimated the cost of excavating and replacing the membrane to be around $29 million.
The additional $44 million applies to the intersection reconstruction and work that would occur regardless of whether the concourse is closed or not.
Thiessen believes it is misleading to claim that the city would save $73 million by closing the concourse, and calls for more transparency in the provided numbers.
He also contends that the concourse offers climate-controlled access between four major buildings and is necessary to ensure a thriving and sustainable downtown.
