A year after city council stopped a plan to demolish one of Winnipeg's oldest structures, the owner of the St. Charles Hotel is again seeking permission to level the Exchange District building known as the Albert Street Business Block.
Ken Zaifman, an immigration lawyer who's spending $10 million renovating the once-tony St. Charles, wants to add a restaurant extension to the north side of his hotel. He wants to replace 38 Albert Street -- a dilapidated structure between the St. Charles and the Royal Albert Arms -- with a patio, as well as a parking lot.
In January 2007, Zaifman sought permission to demolish the 3,000-square-foot business block, a two-storey structure comprised of a 131-year-old house attached to storefronts built in 1941.
But city councillors decided against placing another surface lot in the Exchange National Historic Site and conferred heritage status on the business block, sparing it from the wrecking ball in the process.
Now, Zaifman is back with a parking-lot plan he hopes will be more acceptable to Heritage Winnipeg, Parks Canada and the Exchange District BIZ
The groups will get a peek at the architectural drawings next week.
Along with a restaurant addition, Zaifman's new plan calls for an outdoor patio, as well as surface parking on the site of the business block. That would require a curb cut to allow vehicles to enter the lot.
The curb cut is contentious, as heritage groups and city councillors are more concerned about preserving Albert Street's pedestrian-friendly facade than they are about demolishing the business block, whose heritage value is considered low due to its poor condition.
But the new plan already has opponents in Fort Rouge Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, who chairs city council's historic buildings committee, and the owner of Royal Albert Arms, which sits next to the business block and is undergoing a boutique-hotel makeover of its own
Daren Jorgensen, who made a fortune in the Internet pharmacy business, has repeatedly tried to purchase the Albert Street Business Block and is now offering Zaifman parking spaces behind his own hotel.
Jorgensen said he would love to peel back some of the newer portions of the business block and restore the interior home to a semblance of its 1877 glory. In his hands, the home would become a tourism centre for the Exchange District and possibly a coffee shop, he said.
"We would prefer someone gets a hold of it who is sensitive to its heritage value. We do not want to see it demolished, because it sets a precedent for the rest of the Exchange," Jorgenson said.
Jorgenson's offer is irrelevant, countered Zaifman, because his neighbour does not own the Business Block.
"We're talking about something that will never happen," Zaifman said.
The developer hopes to bring his plans before city council for approval next month.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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