Called the Southwood Development Plan, the document (which can be found on page 21 of this open agenda) is essentially two policies that lay the framework for how the former golf course will be developed. The Development Plan was drafted by UM Properties, with input from the University.

The two policies—Community Wellness and Sustainability Policy, and the Design Policy—put people first in the area’s design and operations by prioritizing humans over cars, protecting and celebrating the natural environment and wildlife, creating an innovative living lab environment, and fostering a strong sense of belonging. The visionary policies are unique to Winnipeg and the City has labelled this plan as a model for others to follow

“The point of these policies is to enforce sustainability and wellness measures for the benefit of the community. That is exciting,” says Rejeanne Dupuis, director of campus planning. “I don’t know of any of other development in Winnipeg that has a community wellness and sustainability policy overarching the development framework. That in itself is pretty special, and then the fact that it is so broad—it’s not sustainability in terms of energy only but also social, economic, cultural, and of course environmental.”

Dupuis stressed that an important aspect of these policies is that, although the development of Southwood Circle is expected run a 40-year timetable, the Southwood Development Plan policies will be revisited every five years, ensuring that the development on the land will evolve by considering new technologies and applying what is learned in the first five years to future phases.

Built for Winter, including wind and shadowing considerations, outdoor community play spaces.

Much of the vision of this plan stemmed from years of extensive community consultations and a drive to build an exemplar community that put wellness at the forefront of every decision. The plan, for instance, preserves the waterfront as public space and will maintain twice the area of parkland required by the City. The landscape plan will also demonstrate leadership in Indigenous Planning and Design with Indigenous design elements incorporated throughout the development providing a welcoming and meaningful space for the new home of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Naomi Andrew, VP (Administration), noted at the BOG meeting that the Development Plan is a key document because it is one of the ways in which UM can ensure its vision for the lands is maintained. In addition, she noted that all Southwood Circle development must conform to this latest Development Plan and that there will be an oversight committee tasked with ensuring this is the case. This committee will have UM representatives on it, as well as an independent architect.  

Now that the Development Plan has been approved by the University, UM Properties can approach developers interested in subleasing land in Southwood Circle.

This interdisciplinary, two-day workshop will encourage participants to reimagine the spaces along the Eastern Transportation Corridor by integrating Indigenous Planning and Design Principles into their ideas and concepts for the future planning and design of the corridor. 

The corridor runs along the eastern edge of the Fort Garry campus, adjacent to the Point Lands, and includes Freedman Crescent, Saunderson Street and Dysart Road.

The collaborative workshop supports the five-year plan to enhance the area through road renewal (2018), dyke stabilization (2019), multi-use path development (2020), tree and shrub planting (2020-23), native prairie revegetation (2020-22), seating, signage and wayfinding (2021-23).  

In the workshop, participants will consider ideas and create concepts for three seating and wayfinding nodes along the multi-use path, and develop a strategy for the overall wayfinding and interpretive signage along the corridor. Presentations and guidance from mentors – including members from the Indigenous campus community, faculty and industry professionals – will support students in creating their proposals.

Four essential themes have been identified for the two-day workshop: Cultural Landscape: History of this Place, Water, Ecologies and Creative Expressions on and for the Land.

Guided by the Indigenous Planning and Design Principles, design proposals are encouraged to connect with the site and landscape elements, while celebrating native prairie vegetation and its important role in Indigenous cultures. Breakout sessions will integrate these themes, allowing students to create a collaborative, inclusive environment for exploration and analysis.

The deadline to register has been extended to May 11. For more information on the workshop and how to register, please visit the event page.  

“Ghost Signs.” // Photos by Mike Latschislaw

The signs are part of a project entitled “Cyclical Motion: Indigenous Art and Wayfinding.” An accompanying website provides context for the artworks, and a map of their locations.

Themes of transportation, movement, connections to land and water

The project engaged a team of Winnipeg-based Indigenous artists from 2017 through 2018 to develop a series of semi-permanent artworks around campus in two phases.

The artworks explore overall themes related to transportation, movement, connections to land and water, Indigenous student experiences, language reclamation and reconciliation, and Indigenous advocacy and activism. 

The first phase of the project was a mural on the wall of the UMCycle Bike Kiosk that opened in 2017. The bike kiosk mural, created by Indigenous artists Dee Barsy and Kenneth Lavallee and unveiled in spring 2018, initiated the themes of transportation, movement and connections to land and water. The signage pieces carry the themes further and their locations radiate out from the kiosk.

The project aims to “weave Indigenous knowledge cultures and traditions into the fabric of our University,” by making “First Nations, Metis and Inuit arts, cultures and languages more visible throughout our campuses,” as outlined in the U of M’s strategic plan, Taking Our Place.

Way-finding signs

The individual signs are evocative. Sweetgrass, Tobacco, Sage and Cedar discs represent the four cardinal directions and are installed at Curry Place.

Shoal Lake acknowledges the source of Winnipeg’s water supply and is located where a water line accesses the main campus. Kookum’s Scarf recognizes the role of matriarchs. Ghost Signs reflects on the storytelling aspects of cultural items and the land as memory. Native Views honours the history of the department of Native studies’ beginnings going back to an eponymous course offered in 1971.

Bagigewinan — an Anishinaabemowin word that means “that which we leave behind” — displays a loop design symbolizing intergenerational connection and reconciliation. The sign is gifted by the artists to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and will be installed on site at at later date, following a ceremony.

Sweetgrass sign detail. Installed at Curry Place as part of the Indigenous Art and Placemaking project.

Both phases were rooted in dialogue and discussion with Indigenous staff, students and Elders, and collaborating with the Campus Planning Office, Physical Plant and the U of M’s Art Collections Coordinator. The Campus Planning Office initiated the project with support from the University’s Indigenous Initiatives Fund.

Plan to attend the Artists and Curator Talk for Cyclical Motion: 11 a.m. to noon, Friday, Nov. 16, at Migizii Agamik. Refreshments served. All welcome.

A different navigation

It’s no mistake that “Cyclical Motion” started with the mural at the bike kiosk. The Project uses the bicycle “as a starting point from which to present and uncover Indigenous ways of understanding and navigating the Fort Garry campus,” suggests Jenny Western, who curated the overall project.

In fact, she says the bicycle could be seen as a continuation of modes of transportation that predated the very existence of the University of Manitoba’s Fort Garry campus.

The Red River is the primary artery that “brought life — plants, animals, people — through the area, well before it was ever a bastion of formal academics and higher learning. Birch bark canoes, York boats and steam-powered paddlewheels all traversed this river, connecting people north and south,” she notes in her curatorial essay.

Below: Installation shots, Curry Place.

Drawing attention to overlooked stories, knowledges

By creating a flow through areas of campus only accessed by bike or on foot, both the signs and the mural create a flow through areas of campus only accessed by bike or on foot, she says. They “draw attention to stories and knowledges that are at times overlooked or ignored.”

An installed artwork near Migiizi Agamik.

Curator Jenny Western: ‘It’s a different navigation of the landscape, for those willing to travel by a different route.’

It’s a different navigation of the landscape, for those willing to travel by a different route, adds Western.

And, as she says, “once on campus, the bicycle is a beautiful way to get around.

“It is quicker than walking, can be locked up almost anywhere, and gliding along upon the saddle of a bicycle offers a different lens through which to view the shifting landscape.”

Project background

Making Indigenous arts, cultures and languages more prominent and visible on campus

Cyclical Motion builds on the Visionary (re)Generation Fort Garry Campus Master Plan. The plan proposes a framework for a new network of open space nodes and places, highlighting Indigenous perspectives and cultures and giving new significance to the campus’s public spaces. It also aims to make Indigenous arts, cultures and languages more prominent and visible on campus.

Project goals follow the University’s Indigenous Planning and Design Principles. They include enhancing a sense of place rooted in the Indigenous cultures of this land; fostering belonging and community by a public realm that reflects Indigenous perspectives and experiences; and prioritizing relationship-building, listening and collaboration.

See the Cyclical Motion website for more context for the artworks, or explore the pieces in person at the various sites around campus. Find them on the map.

Attend the Artist Talk on Nov. 16 to hear more about project from the artists and curator.

Cyclical Motion: Artist Talk

Followed by Talk and Walk tour of installations

11 a.m. to 12 noon

Friday, Nov. 16

Migizii Agamik

Artists and curator will speak. Refreshments will be served.

All welcome.

The significant redevelopment, communicated in the UM Today story published on April 17, included the arborist-recommended removal of the rows of post-mature golden willow (Salix alba ‘Vitellina’) along the transportation corridor. The trees, a species with a lifespan of 50 to 60 years, were in late-life decay and had been marked for removal for over a decade upon exhibiting these signs, aggravated by their site conditions, having been planted in the 1960s on steep slopes of the dike road built to prevent area flooding. Assessment and monitoring of the willows goes back nearly 20 years, beginning with a tree inventory completed in 2000 by an ISA certified arborist.

Willows on Sanderson Street, Fort Garry campus ring road.

The University and its community greatly value tree life and our urban forest and riparian corridor (lands along river) as living organisms and evolving aspects of campus life. Trees are removed or pruned only after serious consideration and in consultation with internal and external experts. The university practices responsible tree succession planting that prioritizes tree diversification and ecological sustainability.

Internal and external experts are consulted in planning for tree maintenance, removals and tree succession. These experts include Physical Plant employees and members of our University community from various units and faculties, as well as external consultants. The internal and external experts, including employees, are certified arborists and horticulturalists, landscape architects, LEED© accredited professionals, architects, engineers and space planning experts.

Tree inventories and assessments are conducted over time to plan for the future of our campus and to keep our campus ecosystem and landscape beautiful, healthy, diverse and sustainable. The U of M will introduce recommended varieties and species of trees on campus in order to further enhance and diversify our urban forest to protect from disease and pests.

Read more in these FAQs about the reasons for the tree removal and about the tree assessment process and university guidelines, including sustainability principles and Indigenous planning and design principles, informing decisions. An Urban Forest Management Strategy is in development and will be shared with the campus community in a public engagement open house this summer.

Read the FAQs here.

The significant redevelopment, which will take place over the next few years, will include the arborist-recommended removal of the rows of post-mature golden willow (Salix alba ‘Vitellina’) along the transportation corridor. The trees are in late-life decay and have been exhibiting these signs for over a decade.

The willows are expected to be removed at the end of April. According to University of Manitoba Arborist, the willows on Saunderson Street “all, without exception, display the common patterns of decline associated with this species. The species typically exhibits fast growth, but a short life.”

The trees no longer possess structural integrity or stability and continue to pose a hazard to the campus community.

Willows on Sanderson Street, Fort Garry campus ring road.

Willows detail.

Willow detail.

“The willows are filled with dead and dying limbs, split branches and large cavities, as well as decayed and leaning trunks,” he explains. Regular maintenance can no longer keep up with the rates of decline and remediation efforts have ceased. Due to their condition and for safety reasons, they have been recommended for removal.

Other species of trees in the area include, among others, green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), basswood (Tilia americana), little-leaf linden (Tilia cordata), and amur maple (Acer ginnala). A number of these trees will also be removed because of continued decline resulting from disease, and the harsh growing conditions posed by steep slopes and poor soil conditions. All tree removals will commence at the end of April.

‘Green Corridor’

The Saunderson Street transformation is an opportunity to create a unique landscape at the Fort Garry campus. As identified in the Visionary (re)Generation Master Plan’s open space framework, Saunderson/Dysart is envisioned as a “Green Corridor.”

Dysart-Saunderson Redevelopment conceptual plan.

Purple prairie clover is a common forb planted in native grass mixes.

The area improvement, which will take place over five years, will integrate an enhanced public space with a “complete streets” approach that is safe, convenient, and comfortable travel for all users and transportation modes. Elements will be phased in over time, such as active transportation infrastructure and features of our native Manitoba landscape. The scenic character of this iconic corridor will include a future multi-use path lined with a variety of trees, rooted in native forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) and grasses, and punctuated with feature plantings and site furnishings.

Redevelopment implements Indigenous planning and design principles, sustainable biodiversity

The Saunderson/Dysart landscape will feature a native revegetation project, to start this spring/summer with site preparation and weed control work over the first two years and final native planting in the spring of 2020. Future enhancement will be phased in through the coming years. The redevelopment project will implement the University’s Indigenous Planning and Design Principles, which includes a ceremonial component.

A native grass planting in Winnipeg roughly 8 years after planting.

Native prairie plantings, when planned and implemented properly, require significantly less ongoing maintenance and are considered a more sustainable alternative to conventional plantings. The revegetation will complement adjacent natural areas on campus and contribute to local native biodiversity.

The enhancement of the eastern transportation corridor will create a new “working landscape” as part of the long-term plan for the campus. This gateway to the riverbottom forest and future learning landscape of the Point Lands will transform over time, providing education and engagement for numerous faculties as well as a new recreation destination for pedestrians and cyclists alike.

Should you have any questions or concerns please contact: Vanessa Jukes, MALA, CSLA, PMP, project manager and landscape architect, Architectural & Engineering Services, Physical Plant, at Vanessa.Jukes@umanitoba.ca

The City of Winnipeg starts construction starts Monday, Aug. 28 on a new east-west pedestrian and cycling connection. As part of this project, McDermot Avenue by the U of M Bannatyne campus will permanently become a one-way street in the eastbound direction.

The City of Winnipeg project website is available at www.winnipeg.ca/WestAlexander.

It includes a new routing map that shows the traffic changes happening as part of this project along with suggested routes to McDermot as well as additional FAQ.

See the news release: (http://winnipeg.ca/cao/media/news/nr_2017/nr_20170824.stm#2).

PLEASE NOTE: For the safety of all users and in accordance with the Highway Traffic Act, cyclists are reminded to please dismount and walk your bicycles on the sidewalk along McDermot Avenue during construction.

A new east-west pedestrian and cycling connection will be constructed by the City of Winnipeg along McDermot Avenue, through the heart of Bannatyne campus.

The West Alexander Pedestrian and Cycling Corridor project is part of the City’s Pedestrian and Cycling Strategy, and will provide a new dedicated bicycle route along McDermot Avenue. The City’s construction notice for the project is available here.

The recommended design, developed through broad consultation with the public as well as adjacent stakeholders including the University, can be viewed here.

The design includes a bi-directional separated bike lane on the south side of McDermot, as well as raised intersection and crosswalks at McDermot and Emily Street, to improve pedestrian safety at that corner.

Vehicle travel on McDermot will change to one-way eastbound between Arlington and Sherbrook. On-street parking will remain on the north-side lane. The Route 36 express bus will continue to service the campus at the bus stop on Emily Street.

Many of this project’s features align with the University’s Bannatyne Campus Master Plan, which was developed through extensive engagement with the University community and surrounding neighbourhoods. The plan prioritizes increased pedestrian safety and walkability on campus, particularly at McDermot and Emily; a more pedestrian-friendly feel along McDermot Avenue as the campus’ main pedestrian spine; and better cycling access both to and within the campus.

The City expects construction to begin in August, and run through to completion in the fall.

For more information, visit the City’s West Alexander Pedestrian and Cycling Corridor website.

The theme this year will be “There to Now,” which looks at the history of the university’s Fort Garry campus and its relationship to the community through its buildings and campus design.

It has been 140 years since the U of M became the first degree-granting institution west of Ontario, and recognizing its history and diverse community is the next step towards taking our place.

The walk will start at 10 a.m. on May 6 at the Administration Building (66 Chancellors Circle) and end at 11:45 a.m. at Investors Group Athletic Centre for the 28th Annual Traditional Graduation Pow Wow in celebration of the university’s Indigenous graduating students.

What is Jane’s Walk?

Jane’s Walk is an international movement bringing communities together through free, locally-organized walking tours.

The movement is in celebration of Jane Jacobs, a writer and urbanist whose ideals and views had a strong influence on modern urban planning.

Want to attend?

When: May 6, 2017, 10:00 a.m.

Where: Meet at the University of Manitoba’s Administration Building, 66 Chancellors Circle.

The walk will be led by Leanne Shewchuk, Director of the Office of Sustainability and co-hosted by the Campus Planning Office.

For more information on this and other local Jane’s Walks, visit the website.

This document will guide the physical development of the Fort Garry campus over an approximately 30-year horizon, and is based on over two years of engagement and collaboration with students, staff, faculty, and administration, along with neighbourhood residents and other community stakeholders. The U of M’s Senate and Board of Governors approved the final draft in April.

To recognize this milestone and learn more about the plan, you are invited to attend.

Visionary (re)Generation Master Plan Open House

September 29 and 30

10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Multi-Purpose Room 214-220, 2^nd Floor University Centre

Project representatives will be on hand on Sept. 29 to chat and answer any questions. On September 30, display boards will remain set up for come-and-go viewing.

This event will present the key features of the plan, from the overall vision and principles, to the more detailed guidelines in areas such as built form and land use, open space, and transportation.

The event will also formally present the University’s new Indigenous Design and Planning Principles. Formed collaboratively under the guidance of an Indigenous Advisory Committee and Subcommittee as part of the Visionary (re)Generation planning process, these principles have been established to help guide planning and design on all University campuses and lands.

For more information on the Visionary (re)Generation planning process, visit:

http://umanitoba.ca/campusplanning/

http://www.visionaryregeneration.com