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This article was published 9/3/2020 (193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The timeline for an interpretive centre at Upper Fort Garry Provincial Park isn’t clear, while a surface parking lot at its proposed site could stick around longer.

The Friends of Upper Fort Garry is in talks with the city about extending its permission to run the lot at the corner of Assiniboine Avenue and Fort Street, alongside the heritage park.

The city voted to allow the group to run the lot in 2015, despite its goal to remove surface lots from the downtown. It then approved an extension in 2017, which expired in September 2019.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A surface parking lot at Assiniboine and Main currently operated by the Friends of Upper Fort Garry, where an interpretive centre was supposed to be built.

The group has long said the parking lot raises about $100,000 per year, revenue it deems essential to supporting the park’s operations and future fundraising.

"It is critical for the continued operation and continued activity of the park," said Penny McMillan, director of the Friends of Upper Fort Garry.

McMillan said after operations are covered, excess parking revenue could also be used for fundraising. The park still requires a major campaign for donations to support the interpretive centre, she added.

When the city donated the land for the project in 2009, it expected the provincial park and interpretive centre would be built within five years.

McMillan said the length of the lot extension request is still being worked out.

A city spokesperson confirmed talks are underway about an application to extend permission for the parking lot.

McMillan said there’s also no exact date for when the interpretive centre will be built nor is there a current estimate of its price tag.

Back in 2017, the Friends had hoped a $17-million, 40,000-square-foot interpretive centre would be built by 2021, including a meeting space and underground parking. At the time, the centre was expected to earn enough revenue that it would make the entire park self-sustaining.

McMillan stressed the Friends are not giving up on the vision of replacing the lot with the interpretive centre.

"We have had no sense of that in our discussions … We had hoped that we would have an interpretive centre in place by now but (fundraising) is challenging," she said.

McMillan added the exact price of the interpretive centre would be determined through a design process, once a few final touches are completed on the park.

"It will eventually come but it takes time," she said.

It’s not immediately clear how patient the city might be with that process, since it has largely moved to rid the downtown of surface parking lots in recent years.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The Friends of Upper Fort Garry is in talks with the city about extending its permission to run the lot at the corner of Assiniboine Avenue and Fort Street, alongside the heritage park.

Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) said he’s unsure how he would vote on an extension request for the parking lot.

"It’s a good project. It’s better to have a historical site rather than a gas station (that previously operated on the site). But at some point, you say, ‘OK, you’ve taken this as far as you can,’" said Mayes, who chairs council’s property and development committee.

The councillor said he and his colleagues must balance the "public good," of the project’s goals with the need to apply city policies fairly.

He noted the city has denied other surface parking lot requests as this one remained in place.

"It’s a cool project but for how many years do you keep extending things?" said Mayes.

Previous work on the park to honour its history has included the creation of gardens, an interpretive wall and the preservation of Upper Fort Garry’s original north gate.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

@joyanne_pursaga