Downtown Green Spaces Strategy will include a number of public amenity projects

The Winnipeg Foundation will invest $3 million into capital projects in downtown Winnipeg during the next five years. The initiative, called the Foundation's Downtown Green Spaces Strategy, was announced today at a special community gathering as the Foundation released its 2007 annual report. The funding will take the form of grants to a number of different public amenity projects. The money has not yet been allocated and the Foundation is still considering a number of proposals which will make up the strategy.

"Our Foundation's vision is ‘A Winnipeg where community life flourishes' and we believe that a flourishing community requires a flourishing downtown," says Richard L. Frost, Chief Executive Officer of The Winnipeg Foundation. "Downtown is the centre of our city, and an inclusive area that we all share. It is where the image of our city is created and it's vital to our economic development. As a community foundation, it is only fitting that The Winnipeg Foundation make significant investments in this area."

The new strategy will augment some of the major commitments the Foundation has already made to downtown projects, including: $2.5 million over five years for the Centennial Neighbourhood project, $6 million over 10 years for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and $1.6 million over five years for the Manitoba Children's Museum. Criteria for proposals include: location, community engagement and appeal, strength of partnerships and resource alignment, sustainability and other considerations. Projects currently being considered include revitalization of: Old Market Square, Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts, Central Park, Edmonton Street, McFadyen Park, Upper Fort Garry Gate, a playground at the Forks and St. Boniface City Hall.The strategy outline will be found in a special insert section in tomorrow's Winnipeg Free Press.

The annual event also included a special grant announcement: The Winnipeg Foundation has now made $200 million in grants to community organizations since it was established in 1921. The milestone comes just six years after the Foundation reached the $100 million grant threshold in 2001.

The Winnipeg Foundation, your centre for community philanthropy, makes grants in support of a wide variety of charitable projects, including community service, education, healthcare, heritage, environment, arts and recreation. In 2007, these grants totaled $17.8 million and supported 680 charities. These grants are made possible by permanently endowed funds, established by people from all walks of life, generating interest that supports the community.

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For more information, contact:
Richard L. Frost, Chief Executive Officer,
944.9474,
rfrost@wpgfdn.org