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![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4131044_web1_260410-Back-lane-00083.jpg\")
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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
The owner of the Marlborough Hotel is asking the city to close the back lane behind the hotel. City officials support the request.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe applicant has cited significant safety concerns in the lane,\u201d reads the report penned by city public service officials. \u201cClosing the lane is intended to mitigate ongoing issues of vandalism, arson and other similar activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Public service officials are supportive of the proposal and have recommended the committee and, eventually, council, approve of it.<\/p>\n
A proposed major development of 307 housing units, led by CentreVenture Development Corp., is in the works for the closed Marlborough Hotel.<\/p>\n
Walia has plans to restore the hotel\u2019s banquet hall and to add public amenities to the ground level of the building, CentreVenture\u2019s chief executive officer said recently.<\/p>\n
Walia did not return a message sent via an intermediary Friday.<\/p>\n
The lane, like others in the downtown that aren\u2019t frequently used, has become dangerous, said Coun. Evan Duncan, who chairs the property committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an option that the potential development of the Marlborough Hotel wants to look at. So having that lane closed and purchased by the potential developer so it can become private property and enclosed with fencing, parking, whatever it may be, to clean that up, I\u2019m supportive of that,\u201d he said on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to take every step necessary to ensure that the downtown becomes safer every day, and this would move that in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duncan said the disused lane has become a place for people to loiter, use drugs and light fires in dumpsters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what we want, we don\u2019t want people creating safety and security issues in the downtown, we want to do the opposite, we want people to feel welcome and ensure that even around the corner is safe,\u201d said Duncan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is taking those steps and making sure that if we can clean up an area, we\u2019re doing that, and we\u2019re working with the private sector to do that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal would close off access to the north-south alley between the two buildings.<\/p>\n
On Friday, litter was strewn throughout the ice-slicked lane. Charred bits of wood sat next to piles of garbage, while apparent human feces stained the exterior back walls of the Garrick, alongside graffiti.<\/p>\n
The east-west backlane, behind Portage Avenue and between Garry and Smith, would remain open under the proposal, said Duncan.<\/p>\n
Duncan said the closure of the lane would mark a major step in cleaning up the area around the shuttered hotel, which he said will hopefully get more people interested in living in the city\u2019s downtown.<\/p>\n
The report notes others with an interest in accessing the alleyway \u2014 power and telecommunications utility firms \u2014 have asked for some conditions on the closure.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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The former hotel made headlines following an incident in late 2023, when a woman allegedly tried to stab a staffer before she was restrained by several other employees. A video shared widely online showed the woman restrained with zip-ties, with her arms behind her back, as staff prevented her from leaving the lobby.<\/p>\n
About four weeks later, dozens of protesters gathered in the hotel to oppose the citizen\u2019s arrest, including some who stormed the basement and caused a ruckus. The hotel closed to the public on Jan. 24, 2024.<\/p>\n
The Garrick Theatre \u2014 which opened in 1921 as a moviehouse and became a live music venue in the mid-2000s \u2014 was shuttered amid the COVID-19 pandemic late in 2020, though it was temporarily used as a virus testing site.<\/p>\n
\u2014 with files from Joyanne Pursaga<\/p>\n
erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Erik Pindera Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.\u00a0 Read more about Erik<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Reporter
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