Spruce-up spree sweeps through downtown

Cleanup crews will be blitzing Winnipeg’s downtown over the next month to beautify the city’s core.

As an addition to the annual citywide spring clean up, four neighbourhood action teams will spend the next four weeks in downtown Winnipeg removing graffiti and picking up garbage.

“We’re going to have hundreds of crew members in our downtown and across Winnipeg, and hundreds of pieces of equipment to get our downtown and our entire city cleaned up,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said from Old Market Square Wednesday morning, where crews were sweeping and picking up litter.

The trial program aims to improve the downtown’s aesthetic for Winnipeggers and tourists alike, Gillingham said.

Crews will clean graffiti, replace broken, damaged or faded signage, pressure wash parks equipment and clean debris from streets and sidewalks.

Last year, the city debuted its neighbourhood action teams, which spent four weeks in each ward over the summer and fall to help patch potholes, prune trees and pick up trash.

Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) said when spaces like the downtown are clean and cared for, it sends a message that residents take pride in the city they live in.

“It is often the first impression people have of Winnipeg … that is why this work matters. It’s not just about sweeping streets or picking up litter. It’s about making people feel welcomed,” she said.

Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of street maintenance, could not estimate how much this year’s cleanup will cost. It usually costs the city about $6 million annually.

The cleanup begins the same week Take Pride Winnipeg released its annual litter index, which identified north central Winnipeg — which includes the downtown core — as the grimiest area in the city.

Gillingham also asked residents do their part to clean up their neighbourhoods.

“That would make a huge difference. It would get us accomplishing our goal of a cleaned-up city faster,” he said.

A block over from the mayor’s announcement, JP Boulley was doing some spring cleaning in front of the Travellers’ Building at 283 Bannatyne.

Using a leaf blower, he meticulously cleaned around the benches and along the sidewalk adjacent to the building, before its commercial tenant, Peasant Cookery, installs a patio ahead of warmer weather.

Boulley has been the building’s maintenance man for more than 30 years and says garbage in the Exchange District is always an issue. He’d like to see the city do more to keep the area tidy.

“This is where all the garbage ends up anyway,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff that the city cleaners don’t even get to.”

Crews will commence a citywide cleanup Sunday.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca