OT: Sutherland Hotel burns to the ground.

[Jets4Life]

Just for kicks, I ventured in the bar of the hotel, over 20 years ago, when I worked at an internet pharmacy on Main Street. It was a rough place to be...

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[Gm0ney]

Well, where are visiting teams going to stay now?

 

[hockeyarena]

Cheque day.

 

[AussieBomberJet]

I feel in 20 years from now, that entire area, including Selkirk Ave., are going to be very different. With continual improvement in addressing social issues, these areas have the architectural bones to develop into great neighbourhoods, dare I say trendy areas. Winnipeg is VERY fortunate to have the large pockets of older buildings that are quite desirable to the younger working professionals. I'm quite optimistic for the future of this area of the North End. So much history and culture.

 

[Bender Duster]

Well now where are we going to have the HF Jets board road game watching parties?

 

[tbcwpg]

I read some guy recently bought it, who also recently bought a church that happened to burn down shortly after.

 

[Jets4Life]

Cheque day.

Apparently, it has been boarded up for quite some time.

 

[Jets4Life]

I feel in 20 years from now, that entire area, including Selkirk Ave., are going to be very different. With continual improvement in addressing social issues, these areas have the architectural bones to develop into great neighbourhoods, dare I say trendy areas. Winnipeg is VERY fortunate to have the large pockets of older buildings that are quite desirable to the younger working professionals. I'm quite optimistic for the future of this area of the North End. So much history and culture.

I would advise against reading the comments on social media (I just read some comments about a minute ago), in regards to the fire. Sadly people are being idiots, as well as a fair dose of racism. Thanks, Elon!

 

[Buffdog]

Well, where are visiting teams going to stay now?

The Northern

 

[Jets4Life]

Waay back in 2002-03, when I was working at the Internet Pharmacy, we used to pick up lunch at the Yale restaurant across the street, owned by a Chinese family. The food was great, and super cheap.

 

[BobTheSolarsystem]

I read some guy recently bought it, who also recently bought a church that happened to burn down shortly after.

Was he the electrician that wired all the hog barns in southern manitoba ten years ago

The Northern

The 'True' Northern

 

[sipowicz]

Vacant for three years, surprised it hadn't already been burned!

Now another vacant lot in that sad hood that will sit that away for eternity!

 

[Cypruss]

I feel in 20 years from now, that entire area, including Selkirk Ave., are going to be very different. With continual improvement in addressing social issues, these areas have the architectural bones to develop into great neighbourhoods, dare I say trendy areas. Winnipeg is VERY fortunate to have the large pockets of older buildings that are quite desirable to the younger working professionals. I'm quite optimistic for the future of this area of the North End. So much history and culture.

I work downtown Winnipeg for the past 28 years. That area has become significantly (to my old eyes) worse, especially since Covid.

I appreciate your optimism, and I too wish to see that lengthy stretch be revitalized - but realistically, really don't at all see it happening. And hey, a "safe" injection site is opening right in that area too quite soon. Ask BC how that has worked out for the challenged section of the population who use locations like that and the surrounding dis-advantaged population residing there.....

I read some guy recently bought it, who also recently bought a church that happened to burn down shortly after.

This is accurate.

I am sure the insurance companies holding the coverage on these structures will be doing some extra digging to find the cause of loss.

 

[Buffdog]

I work downtown Winnipeg for the past 28 years. That area has become significantly (to my old eyes) worse, especially since Covid.

I appreciate your optimism, and I too wish to see that lengthy stretch be revitalized - but realistically, really don't at all see it happening. And hey, a "safe" injection site is opening right in that area too quite soon. Ask BC how that has worked out for the challenged section of the population who use locations like that and the surrounding dis-advantaged population residing there.....


This is accurate.

I am sure the insurance companies holding the coverage on these structures will be doing some extra digging to find the cause of loss.

There's a family on our street that had 3 complete loss car fires in the span of 18 months (including one they parked on the street for the first time and another night where they had both cars in their driveway go up - parked hood to hood for the only time ever). All were brand new

Nothing suspicious there....

 

[jetsmooseice]

I work downtown Winnipeg for the past 28 years. That area has become significantly (to my old eyes) worse, especially since Covid.

Same here, and I agree. Despite the monumental effort put into improving the area, it has become progressively worse and worse. 30 years ago downtown was a legitimate shopping destination on par with any of the malls in the city. Now the marquee shopping destinations, such as they are, are MEC, Giant Tiger and Dollarama.

Whatever hope I had for downtown was pretty much ruined by the pandemic. It felt like the pandemic really undid any of the minor gains over the 20 years before that.

 

[voyageur]

I live in the area, so to speak. Fires in the North End are common. Main St. one Qwickie Mart burned down, a lot of these guys use drug addicts for cheap electrical work, Save them on contractors and code. I don't think there are too many city inspectors working on electrical codes, the city makes a lot more money on parking.
Abandoned building fires are a real problem, and they are common, especially in the North End/Point Douglas. But vacant building are a problem all over, even across from the arena. I'm always amazed at the nice shots you see of Portage Ave in the broadcasts. It's a reflection of the lights but maybe not the actual landscape of the area. What can you do? As stated Covid ruined business downtown. And there's a drug epidemic that is at the worst point in the 30 years I've lived here. Cost of housing is a genuine problem for a lot of people. Quality too, the cockroach and bedbug infestations in hotels and Manitoba Housing is bad. It's just a real difficult time in our world, when cities don't have the resources to deal with the collapse of society.


I heard story from a contractor about having shatter proof glass available for bus stops, but the contractor for that job told me the city didn't want anyone living in the bus shacks, they'd rather clean up the broken glass.

 

[Jets4Life]

Same here, and I agree. Despite the monumental effort put into improving the area, it has become progressively worse and worse. 30 years ago downtown was a legitimate shopping destination on par with any of the malls in the city. Now the marquee shopping destinations, such as they are, are MEC, Giant Tiger and Dollarama.

Whatever hope I had for downtown was pretty much ruined by the pandemic. It felt like the pandemic really undid any of the minor gains over the 20 years before that.

What was with all those medical clinics opening up in North Main around the same time 20 years ago? I can recall 5 of them with a 3 block radius. I had heard the Doctors were giving out Prescriptions like it was a drive-thru. Did the Province step in, and shut them down?

I heard story from a contractor about having shatter proof glass available for bus stops, but the contractor for that job told me the city didn't want anyone living in the bus shacks, they'd rather clean up the broken glass.

The city should try piping in classical music, in the sheds of some of the larger bus depots. Classical music has been known to repel loiterers, and vagrants, for some strange reason.

 

[Cypruss]

What was with all those medical clinics opening up in North Main around the same time 20 years ago? I can recall 5 of them with a 3 block radius. I had heard the Doctors were giving out Prescriptions like it was a drive-thru. Did the Province step in, and shut them down?


The city should try piping in classical music, in the sheds of some of the larger bus depots. Classical music has been known to repel loiterers, and vagrants, for some strange reason.

And how many days / hours would those speakers remain functioning before destroyed or stolen? I get your point….used to work for 7-11’s when it was just pot heads lounging around. The situation is infinitely worse now.

 

[Jets4Life]

And how many days / hours would those speakers remain functioning before destroyed or stolen? I get your point….used to work for 7-11’s when it was just pot heads lounging around. The situation is infinitely worse now.

Unsure why they stopped piping out classical music in 7-11's, but it did work. It's been effective in many large American cities. The idea regarding classical music to repel loiterers came about in British Columbia in the mid 80s, when a district manager tried it with success at several locations.

It's a shame so many inner city stores are closing to theft, and the vagrants that seemingly hang out there at all hours of the night. Here in Edmonton, one cannot go to a 7-11 in the inner city, between the hours of 12-6 AM, since they close, as a safety precaution for staff.

 

[BarnabyJones PI]

The city should try piping in classical music, in the sheds of some of the larger bus depots. Classical music has been known to repel loiterers, and vagrants, for some strange reason.

Blast Richard Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries', they'll be on the run. Problem solved.

 

[jetsmooseice]

But vacant building are a problem all over, even across from the arena. I'm always amazed at the nice shots you see of Portage Ave in the broadcasts. It's a reflection of the lights but maybe not the actual landscape of the area. What can you do? As stated Covid ruined business downtown.

You know, I have had the same thought too. Those drone shots of CLC on TV make Portage Avenue look almost glamorous, but the reality on the street couldn't be more different. I always feel a bit of a tinge of embarrassment whenever the Wild come to town and I see those small town Minnesota folks walking into the rink with an almost shell-shocked look on their face.

Unsure why they stopped piping out classical music in 7-11's, but it did work. It's been effective in many large American cities. The idea regarding classical music to repel loiterers came about in British Columbia in the mid 80s, when a district manager tried it with success at several locations.

Like @Cypruss said, the classical music thing worked well when the only thing they had to worry about were the harmless 14 year old Beavis and Butthead pothead types hanging out in the parking lot. Shostakovich can't solve the problems inner city convenience stores are dealing with now.

 

[Upperdeckjet]

We live north of the city, so our drive to the Jets game takes us right up Main. If you live South, East or West of the city and your normal driving pattern seldom takes you past this area, you would have no idea how truly sad it's become.

I can't tell you how many OMG moments we've had as your head swivels left and right taking in the activity on the sidewalks and sometimes on the street.

 

[Cypruss]

We live north of the city, so our drive to the Jets game takes us right up Main. If you live South, East or West of the city and your normal driving pattern seldom takes you past this area, you would have no idea how truly sad it's become.

I can't tell you how many OMG moments we've had as your head swivels left and right taking in the activity on the sidewalks and sometimes on the street.

Imagine what activity happens inside the vacant buildings....