Thermea floats idea of hotel, parkade addition; residents push back

Thermea is looking to expand but not all area residents are on bord with the plan. CTV’s Danton Unger reports.

Thermea Spa Village is floating around some ideas for expansion, including a larger parking lot, a 60-room hotel, and new amenities. But the plan is making waves in the community.

Residents around the Crescent Drive Park have been banding together to share their concerns with the proposed expansion.

“We’re pretty, pretty upset to tell you the truth,” said Muriel St. John, who has lived on Crescent Drive for 21 years. She said late last year, residents neighbouring the Nordic spa received a letter noting Thermea is “in the beginning stages of a plan to enhance our facilities.”

Last month, they were invited to community consultation meetings, where they were told Thermea is considering building a new parking space with up to 300 stalls, along with a two-to-four-storey boutique lodge with up to 60 rooms for guests, and a new flotation pool, among other amenities.

The plans also include adding a sidewalk along Crescent Drive and relocating or hiding the delivery and garbage disposal area.

“That means more cars, more people around, more activity, more safety issues,” said Jane Markesteyn, who lives across from the spa. “The end result of an expansion is an increase of what we already think is too much.”

Thermea opened in Winnipeg back in 2015, leasing land from the city between Crescent Drive Park and Golf Course.

Residents like St. John believe the spa has already outgrown the area, noting the line of cars regularly parked on the street.

“You can’t get out of your driveway. And now they want to expand? It’s beyond belief,” she said.

She’s worried the proposed expansion will come at the cost of city green space.

“Thermea has a very good business, and a lot of people use it, and they really, really like it. And we wish them well,” St. John said. “But we want them to look on private land to expand, not on city-owned property.”

Jeff Mayo, the general manager of Winnipeg’s Thermea Spa Village, said since its opening the response from Winnipeggers has exceeded his expectations.

“That success, however, has also created certain operational challenges, including parking and traffic-related irritants,” he said in an email to CTV News. “Had we anticipated this level of attendance from the outset, the site would have been designed differently.”

He said that is what has prompted this latest step by the spa.

“We are currently at the very early stages of reflection and concept development,” he said, “and we have proactively launched a consultation process with the local community to better understand residents’ concerns and integrate their feedback into our thinking.”

Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort-Rouge, East Fort Garry) said many residents have been talking about the proposed plans.

“Fort Garry is an amazing, interconnected community where word travels fast, and word that potentially conflicts with green space travels faster,” she said.

Rollins said no plans have been submitted to council or committee yet. However, given the community response, she is holding a virtual meeting with residents on Tuesday to hear their concerns.

“Until (we see) a plan, a fully baked plan proposed by Thermea or whoever is representing them, then it’s really just up for discussion in the community,” Rollins said, adding she is expecting around 200 to participate.