Polo Park eyes possible future without stadium

Amid talk of building a new stadiumin another part of Winnipeg, some are wondering what such a move would mean for the future of the Polo Park area, currently one of the city's retail meccas.

Deborah Green, manager of the Polo Park Shopping Centre, has supervised a $35-million renovation of the mall over the past year but she says there is still work to be done.

"Over the next year, maybe two years, we are going to develop the arena site," she said.

Cadillac Fairview, the company that owns Polo Park, also owns the site of the former Winnipeg Arena and the former home of CKY TV. Both have moved into new digs downtown.

Cadillac Fairview wants to use the land to build more retail space part of what Green describes as a "lifestyle centre."

"There'll be a lot of public space outdoors, so it won't just be park your car, do your shopping and come out again," she said.

Green did not want to speculate about the future of the stadium, currently located on land north of the mall and the former arena site.

"I've thought about it, obviously I mean, they sit to the north of us and certainly on Bomber night we do benefit. Our restaurants just love it," she said."So we really don't know what our position might be on that right now."

The city councillor for the area, Scott Fielding, said the land is worth about $35 million. If the Winnipeg Blue Bombers leave his ward, he has some ideas about what he'd like to see.

"People have always bandied around the idea of having an Ikea come in," he said. "I think if you had some sort of development like that, that would be something that people would like."

Ikea officials insist they still have no plans to open a store in Winnipeg.

Public will be consulted: premier

A decision on the stadium is expected to comesoon and Premier Gary Doer says Winnipeggers will be involved in the process of selectingits location.

Some critics have complained the public has been kept out of the loop on discussions so far. But Doer said negotiations haven't yet reached the stage for public involvement.

"Because there is no proposal, there's just discussions," he said. "If there is a proposal, there will have to be a very major public consultation."

Winnipeg businessman David Asper has been working for 18 months on a stadium deal that would involve both private and public investment. The deal would also see controlof the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, community-owned for almost 80 years, transferred to Asper's company.

Asper initially put forward a plan for a $120-million covered stadium and retail complex on the site of the current facility. The plan would have required $80 million in provincial and federal money, but governmentsconveyed only tepid support for the proposal.

The provincial and federal governments have both expressed keen interest in a new suggestion to locate the stadium in the inner-city Point Douglas neighbourhood.

The area around the Winnipeg Convention Centre has also been touted as a possible site.

Proponents of a new stadium say the 55-year-old Canad Inns Stadium has outlived its usefulness, arguing that it lacks modern conveniences and sufficient space for revenue-generating concessions and is not conducive to hosting non-football events.