Connecting the traditional University of Winnipeg campus with the new addition, the recently completed green corridor serves an important function. There’s no question that this project will create a much-needed link between the two elements of the university, and will add a feeling of cohesion that was previously lacking.

However, it does raise a set of questions – first and foremost, “Since when is it the university’s job to engage in downtown development?”

Precisely because it involves the university getting into downtown development – territory they have treaded on quite a bit lately with their recent campus additions, such as the bus loop – this is something of a loaded issue.

There has been sounding off on both sides, but our largely University of Manitoba-centric mainstream media has prevented the issue from being covered in any kind of depth. 

Here’s my sounding off.

Personally, I see little harm in this endeavour. It seems a move in keeping with the school’s predominant philosophy, which emphasizes the importance of getting involved in social issues, an umbrella under which helping out with the downtown landscape might fall.

And from a purely aesthetic point of view, the area that comprises the downtown corridor has been ugly for ages.

When I was a student at the U of W, I never quite understood what the area was. It seemed like a parking lot, but was it the school’s parking lot, or one belonging to another institution?

I felt awkward walking through there, looking over my shoulder at every step for fear of shadowy security guards tackling me to the ground. Once I started taking the medication these forebodings pretty much stopped, but the fact remains.

Another huge plus of the green corridor project is that it generates new green space downtown – an element that improves every downtown.

And with a little help from the City of Winnipeg, the area’s sewer system, which was in bad need of upgrading, has been revamped. In a world where much of our useable water is wasted due to inefficient water transportation, it seems that this improvement alone would make the green corridor worth a shot.

But this is one of the main issues pointed to by detractors, as the sewer improvements will benefit residents of the neighbourhood as well as students, which means that the U of W is going beyond the U of W, so to speak.

They are becoming a city player, which is an unsavoury thought anywhere masses of people are paying thousands of dollars in good faith that their money is going to the right causes.

Another troubling issue is the security cameras and lighting that were simultaneously installed.

Putting aside the obvious losers in this deal – those who want to sneak off to smoke a quick joint between classes – it definitely seems odd that the university will now be monitoring the activity of a whole section of Portage Avenue.

Those who are afraid of the area will likely appreciate these measures, but those of us who have read our George Orwell recognize the signs…

It is also possible that with the building of the green corridor and large-scale projects like the Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex, crucial improvements to the so-called old campus will be put on hold.

With all this expansion, perhaps we miss out on basic, but important, revamping (have you used a computer in the library?).

It is always important to question the effect of grandiose moves on the day-to-day operations of an institution. But as I am not familiar with the school’s books, I cannot speak to the specifics of this effect.

With all that being said, the need to connect the two campuses is ample justification for the green corridor. A downtown certainly shouldn’t revolve around its students, but allowing them to pass to and fro with relative ease is definitely a selling point.

Thanks to the green corridor, it will now be more pleasant for those grizzled fourth-years to balance their coffee, cigarette, laptop and binder as they rush to a chemistry class.

It’s nice to know you’re in a school that cares.

Trevor Graumann is The Uniter’s comments editor.

Published in Volume 66, Number 6 of The Uniter (October 5, 2011)