[Wpg_Guy]

Exterior work on Bay building set to begin soon

The redevelopment of the downtown former Hudson’s Bay building should become apparent from the street in only a few months.

Work should soon move to the exterior after extensive work by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization to clean up the building’s interior.

“We are hoping to have a visible symbol of the progress outside of our building in about May or June of this year,” Jennifer Moore Rattray, the SCO’s chief operating officer, told city council’s executive policy committee Tuesday.

SCO is redeveloping the building to become Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn, a $200-million project that will transform the 655,000-square-foot building to offer 300 affordable housing units, assisted-living spaces, a museum, art gallery, restaurants and businesses.

Rattray did not specify exactly what would be visible at street level but noted lots of interior work has already happened over the past year.

“It is the largest redevelopment, as you all know, in Manitoba, of a historic building and one of the largest in Canada,” she said.

Mayor Scott Gillingham has proposed the city waive an estimated $257,000 of city landfill tipping fees to support the project, pending council approval.

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