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Winnipeg will renegotiate its lease with Thermea Spa Village if it applies to expand its footprint, a city councillor says.
Coun. Sherri Rollins said she’s repeatedly told the spa’s Quebec-based owner, Groupe Nordik, that any material changes in operations would prompt the city to reopen a 25-year-lease signed in 2011.
That’s after the parent company began holding preliminary public consultations about potentially expanding the spa, located on Crescent Drive in the city’s Fort Garry area.
“I’ve routinely emphasized that expansion just can’t be contemplated at all because long-standing impacts on you have never been fundamentally resolved,” Rollins told neighbourhood residents Sunday afternoon at a meeting organized by Friends of Crescent Drive Park.
Winnipeggers gather at the Fort Garry Community Centre Sunday to discuss the proposed Thermea expansion. (Gavin Axelrod/CBC)
The community group has said residents were told the plans may include a boutique lodge, sidewalks, more parking and other upgrades to existing facilities.
Those living in the area said they’re worried the changes — which are still in early stages and have not been confirmed at this point according to the company — could worsen parking issues and reduce public space at the adjacent Crescent Drive Park.
“Some people say nobody uses that park. I disagree,” said Cornell Friesen, who attended Sunday’s meeting at the Fort Garry Community Centre.
“There’s celebrations and parties going on there all year.”
‘Lease would not happen today’: Rollins
The 2011 land lease, obtained through a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request by a member of the Crescent Park Rescue Committee group in 2022, sets the minimum rent paid to the city at $25,000, with increases capped at a cost-of-living measure for the 25-year term.
“That lease would not happen today,” Rollins said. “That is a very ironclad lease that [Thermea] won’t want to touch. The conditions are really different. The policy, the law in Winnipeg is really different 1776700629.”
She has previously said any expansion beyond Thermea’s existing footprint would require a two-third vote from city council.
Groupe Nordik said Sunday it will share more details with the community once its plans are better defined.
It said its success has created challenges to parking and traffic, and that it’s looking to resolve those issues while improving the spa experience.
Joy Stadnichuk, who lives near Thermea, said it’s a good business but that she has safety concerns, including extra traffic in a residential neighbourhood.
“It’s very beneficial for the business, but it doesn’t seem to be very beneficial for the city,” she said.