Portage Place bus shelter razed to make way for new one

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This article was published 23/07/2019 (2019 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The bus shelter in front of Portage Place shopping centre was demolished Monday evening — and a new one is set to take its place within a few months, a city spokeswoman said.

“Following the demolition of the old shelter, restoration of the building façade and sidewalk will begin, after which the new heated shelter will be installed,” the spokeswoman said in an email to the Free Press on Tuesday. “The work is expected to be completed this fall.”

The bus shelter has been criticized as a hotbed for drugs and violence for years — a reputation that was solidified for many in January 2018, when a 17-year-old international student who had recently arrived in Canada from India was randomly, viciously attacked inside.

Joshua Zachary Snakeskin, 27, pleaded guilty in March to several charges related to the incident, including aggravated assault. He is to be sentenced on Friday.

Last May, Portage Place general manager Dave Stone told the Free Press he had been trying to get rid of the bus shack for the past five or six years, and hoped it would be demolished and replaced by a curbside glass-walled structure similar to other downtown bus shelters.

Two months later, Mayor Brian Bowman’s executive policy committee voted to take action to decommission the transit shelter attached to the mall and replace it with “an on-street shelter deemed safer for this high-traffic location” as part of a multi-year downtown public safety strategy.

The city spokeswoman could not say whether any additional features — safety-related or otherwise — are being considered for the new bus shack.

Late Tuesday morning, Katherine Redhead was waiting for the bus in front of the rubble where the bus shelter once stood, with her five-year-old daughter Madison at her side and her 19-month-old son Easton in a stroller in front of her.

Redhead said she has tried to avoid catching the bus there since the January 2018 incident — especially when she has her kids with her.

“The only time we come here is if we must,” she said. “When I was a kid it was fine, but now I’m nervous about bringing my kids in here.”

Redhead said she and her family have lived nearby for the past five years. She goes to the bank, pays her bills and stops for coffee with friends all within walking distance of the mall. But lately, she’s been trying to avoid the area.

“You can’t be too sure what’s gonna happen,” she said. “It’s unpredictable.”

Barb Baker said she’s been catching the bus in front of the mall to get to and from work for the past 15 years. She’s never seen any violence firsthand, although she said she’s heard stories.

“As much as you hear about, ‘somebody got stabbed, somebody got shot,’ it was never during the morning when I kind of get here (or) the evening when I’m leaving,” Baker said as she waited for her bus Tuesday afternoon. “Nobody’s ever screamed or yelled or brandished a knife or anything.”

Still, Baker said she almost always waits for the bus outside — although she’ll miss having the option of shelter while the new bus shack is being constructed.

“I thought it was safe enough, and I’m upset that they did take it down,” she said. “Because in the pouring rain, it is nice to duck into something.”

caitlyn.gowriluk@freepress.mb.ca