WRHA on Main bags another $500k

City helps pay for WRHA

You likely know from past posts that I am not a fan of the location of the Main Street WRHA building.

I thought that there was a grassroots revitalization taking place with some businesses and artists moving into the area attracted by the cheap land prices and rent and it should have been allowed to continue

Also, I wasn't in favour of demolishing an entire block of buildings for what is a suburban, low rise office building with street front parkade. I thought Main Street had been scarred enough by the "One Big Building" attempt at revitalization. My preference would have been for the city to steer a new development of that scale to one of the existing gaping holes and empty lots in the downtown / Point Douglas / Chinatown areas.

When the project was announced I did not realize that the city had a financial stake of a half million dollars in the project. The city gave the impression that it had no real say or connection to the project once the land was sold. I contend that $550k is a stake and they could have at least exercised some interest in the exact location and design of the project.