The City of Winnipeg hopes to find a new lease-holder for the John Blumberg complex after Softball Manitoba walked away from the facility last year.
The city has advertised it is seeking offers to take over “management, operation and maintenance” for the baseball and soccer complex at 4540 Portage Ave., excluding the parking area.
Softball Manitoba gave up the lease it had held for more than 30 years after the city asked the organization to pay $3.2 million for upgrades.
GABRIELLE PICHÉ / CANSTAR FILES
The city has advertised it is seeking offers to take over “management, operation and maintenance” for the John Blumberg complex.
Don Klym, executive director, said a prospective lease-holder should see what costs it might be asked to shoulder before signing on the dotted line.
“The word ‘maintenance’ I put in parenthesis for sure, because it could be anywhere from a dollar to $3.2 million,” Klym said on Wednesday. “When it opened in 1988, it was the best facility in Canada, if not North America. I thought it would solve all of our problems and concerns.
“It’s just sad seeing it the way it was going.”
Klym said only six of the seven diamonds has lights and they needed to be upgraded to LED, a huge expense. Other areas of the facility that need to be renovated include the stands and the irrigation system.
“It’s more than maintenance,” he said.
“The fields need a lot of work; the gophers took over the fields since (the pandemic).”
A city spokesman said some improvements have been made to the site since last year.
“This includes replacing the main building’s furnace and upgrading the irrigation system in the playing fields,” the spokesman said. “The city generally leases its facilities ‘as is’ and requires tenants/lease-holders to conduct any repairs, maintenance or capital work.
“There are opportunities for lease-holders to apply for grant funding to make improvements, either through city grant programs or other government funding.”
Muriel St. John, who volunteers for Outdoor Urban Recreational Spaces, which successfully helped save the adjoining golf course from being sold to developers in 2022, said she is glad the city is looking for a group to lease the site so it remains a green space.
“Our mandate is to save green space,” St. John said. “Whatever happens there, we should want to keep it as green space.
“We wouildn’t want it to be sold and lose that space.”
Coun. Evan Duncan, chairman of the city’s community services committee, said he will ensure there is no danger of that.
“That’s not on the table,” Duncan said.
“We want to maintain as much green space as possible. People want green space.”
Duncan said it’s unfortunate how much the facility has deteriorated.
“This facility is so unique. It should have been a real staple in the baseball community,” he said.
“For some reason, the capital wasn’t put back into it. It’s not any secret that I am a real champion for rec and leisure. I’m not for taking it off the table to not put some capital in it (some day).”
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.