Assiniboine Park's Diversity Gardens opening pushed back to 2021

The opening of Canada's Diversity Gardens at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeghas been delayed until 2021.

The Assiniboine Park Conservancyestimated theproject at the southeast corner of the park would be completed at the end of 2020, butpresident and CEO Margaret Redmondsaid Tuesdayit wouldn't be done until 2021.

"This is later than we had originally hoped, but with a unique project of this nature, we do not want to rush it," she said.

Redmond said the next major milestone is theinstallation of The Leaf facility'sethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) plastic roof over cables, which have been installed, but that's holding up the construction process.

"Our original hope had been to get the ETFE roof installed before this winter, but we'vebeen advised recently that some additional adjustments need to be made to those cables," she said.

"This is a very precise process that is going to takea bit of time, which means we will bump up against Mother Nature."

Redmond added the roof can't be installed accurately in winter months, which means it will need to be installed in spring when the weather warms.

"We don't know the cost of the delays at this point, but we've been advised that the cost of those delays will be carried by whoever is responsible for the delays," she told reporters Tuesday.

The Diversity Gardens will cost $97.8 million, Redmond said, with $35 million coming from the federal government, $15 millionfrom the province, $13 million coming from the City of Winnipeg and the remainder, from private donors.

"We have no plans at this point in time to ask the government for any further funding," Redmond said.

Canada's Diversity Gardens is the final of threephases of redevelopment of the park, whichbegan in 2009. The $200 million AssiniboinePark makeover included improvements to the duck pond, the building of the Qualico Centre and the Nature Playground, and the revitalization of the zoo.

Phase 3involved tearing down the Conservatory, which stood in the park for more than a century and closed at the beginning of April 2018. The gardens are being constructed on the 14-hectare plot that was occupied by the Conservatory.

The gardens will include three outdoor spaces and a space called The Leaf, which will bring visitors through different climates.

The Diversity Gardens were originally projected to cost $70 million.