Forks water park slip-slides away

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Justin Swandel

Winnipeg will have to decide what to do with $7 million in taxpayers' money and a prime piece of downtown property after an Alberta-based hotel chain informed the city it won't build a water park at The Forks.

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John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press archives The contentious plan would have seen a water park and hotel complex built at The Forks near the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

On Monday, deputy mayor Justin Swandel (St. Norbert) confirmed Canalta won't build a 50,000-square-foot water park, hotel and parkade on city-owned land at The Forks. The hotel chain withdrew its proposal amid concerns Winnipeg city council is "not interested" in moving ahead with the deal.

Canalta wanted to build a hotel and water park on a city-owned parking lot known as Parcel Four, which is adjacent to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Councillors were bombarded with negative feedback from constituents, who said The Forks isn't the place for a water park and worried whether the design would be a good fit for the area.

The plan called for Canalta to purchase the land from the city for $6 million and receive a $7-million grant in exchange for $700,000 worth of admission credits every year for the next 25 years.

Three weeks ago, council voted to delay the project to get more specifics on Canalta's site and design plans.

Canalta sent a letter to City of Winnipeg property director Barry Thorgrimson late Friday, which said council's request requires "significant" additional spending without knowing if any design they propose will be approved. Canalta did not return calls from the Free Press on Monday, but said in a letter to the city Parcel Four was the "only viable location" for a water park that met the city's criteria.

"I think it failed because there was an onerous set of conditions put on it by council," Swandel said. "Nobody is going to invest that kind of money to move forward."

Swandel said he saw Canalta's withdrawal coming, as it would have cost the company "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to develop the complex renderings council requested.

But one councillor wasn't buying it.

"It's absolutely not true," said Coun. Dan Vandal (St. Boniface). "If you talk to developers around the city, they'll tell you they can do preliminary renderings for a much lower cost than that."

Vandal said the city was basically giving away one of the most valuable pieces of land in Winnipeg, and it was not unreasonable to ask Canalta for more information on their plans for the site. He said the City of Winnipeg needs to consult area stakeholders -- including the human rights museum and The Forks -- in the near future to see what they envision for Parcel Four.

The city did not issue an expression-of-interest document for Parcel Four, and the land became available in 2009 as part of the city's search for a private developer interested in building a water park. The land is currently a city-owned gravel surface parking lot.

Coun. Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge) said it's possible the city's processes led to this "mess" and Winnipeg needs to examine how it can properly develop the land.

CMHR spokeswoman Angela Cassie said museum officials want to be part of any future discussions on how best to develop the area. However the city decides to move ahead, she said, officials want to be involved in the process.

"It would be great right now if they could do some brainstorming," Cassie said. "I think there's plenty of feedback from Winnipeggers about what they do and don't want to see there."

Since 2008, the city has been trying to offer a $7-million grant to a private developer willing to build a water park and make it accessible to the general public. The grant was initially awarded to Canad Inns, but the deal collapsed in 2009 when no progress was made on the Polo Park water park.

Swandel said he thinks the money will go back into the recreation fund and be put toward other projects, since Winnipeg has unsuccessfully tried for five years to and get a water park.

jen.skerritt@freepress.mb.ca

SWIMMING UPSTREAM: Winnipeg's road to a water park

2004: Newly elected Mayor Sam Katz cancels former mayor Glen Murray's plan to build a bus corridor alongside Pembina Highway and begins lobbying the federal Liberals and the Doer government to divert the money elsewhere.

2005: Ottawa and Manitoba agree to create a $43-million fund for recreation and leisure upgrades in Winnipeg.

2006: City council decides to spend $9 million of the recreation cash on pool improvements at Kildonan Park.

January 2008: The city cancels the Kildonan Park plan due to cost overruns. Instead, council votes to spend $2.8 million on Kildonan Park pool and spray-pad improvements and to search for a private partner to build an indoor water park with the help of a $7-million city grant.

June 2008: The city chooses to give the $7 million to the Canad Inns hotel chain, which wants to build a $43.6-million water park and a $12-million hotel expansion at its existing Polo Park property.

April 2009: The city pulls the plug on the Canad Inns water-park plan.

June 2009: City issues a new expression of interest for a water park developer.

February 2012: Katz says the $7 million will be spent elsewhere if the city doesn't dole out the grant by the end of March.

April 11: A city report reveals Canalta's plans to build a water park on city-owned land across from Shaw Park.

April 17: Katz announces he won't take part in council votes on the water-park complex planned for city land near the home of his Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball club.

April 18: City council's executive policy committee votes unanimously to sell the downtown surface lot known as Parcel Four to Alberta hotel chain Canalta, which plans to build a $75-million water park, hotel and parkade complex.

April 25: Council is deeply divided over the proposal, with seven councillors each lined up for and against the plan. St. Boniface Coun. Dan Vandal makes a last-minute effort to delay a council vote on the proposal and council approves his motion to obtain more information before it decides whether to spend $7 million to subsidize the downtown water park.

May 11: Canalta CEO Cam Christianson sends a letter to the City of Winnipeg's property director to withdraw the company's proposal.

May 14: Deputy mayor Justin Swandel publicly announces Canalta's decision to back out of the deal.

-- staff