Details scarce on Creswin stadium payout (The Manitoba version of an Afghan Hiest)
An architectural rendering developed by Creswin for a new stadium for the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (blueandgold.ca)
Documents released under Manitoba's information laws confirm businessman David Asper's Creswin Properties was paid more than $4 million by the province in a failed bid to build a new stadium for the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
But citing confidentiality concerns, the government release of more than 30 pages of itemized payments is short on the details.
The documents show Creswin was compensated a total of $4,079,556.34 for architectural, legal, planning and communications work on the stadium project, which Asper spearheaded prior to exiting the process last December.
Creswin was paid thousands for work such as reviewing emails, updating websites, media monitoring, making phone calls and electronic tax searches.
In December the province, the football club, the City of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba approved a new $190-million deal to build a 33,000-seat stadium on the U of M campus, which is now under construction. That agreement included paying $4 million to Creswin for previous work the company had done to move the stadium plan forward in the previous three years. Creswin, meantime, was cut from the deal.
The Creswin concept for the proposed Blue Bombers stadium featured angled canopies partially covering the seats and field. (blueandgold.ca)While the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) documents list dozens of generalized expenses incurred by Creswin, details of the various billings were withheld, citing confidentiality.
"Documents held by the Department contain sensitive financial and commercial information and as such are held in strict confidence by all parties," provincial bureaucrat Craig Halwachs of Manitoba Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade said in a letter to CBC News.
"Disclosure of this information could result in financial harm or harm future negotiations of the respective parties."
Creswin was compensated a total of $1.8 million for architectural fees, $850,000 for legal fees, $660,000 for marketing and communications, $476,000 for business planning and development and $246,000 for administration and organization.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2011/02/05/mb-creswin-bombers-stadium-asper.html?ref=fh,www.mywinnipeg.com#ixzz1DCS7hN8A
But citing confidentiality concerns, the government release of more than 30 pages of itemized payments is short on the details.
The documents show Creswin was compensated a total of $4,079,556.34 for architectural, legal, planning and communications work on the stadium project, which Asper spearheaded prior to exiting the process last December.
Creswin was paid thousands for work such as reviewing emails, updating websites, media monitoring, making phone calls and electronic tax searches.
In December the province, the football club, the City of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba approved a new $190-million deal to build a 33,000-seat stadium on the U of M campus, which is now under construction. That agreement included paying $4 million to Creswin for previous work the company had done to move the stadium plan forward in the previous three years. Creswin, meantime, was cut from the deal.
The Creswin concept for the proposed Blue Bombers stadium featured angled canopies partially covering the seats and field. (blueandgold.ca)While the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) documents list dozens of generalized expenses incurred by Creswin, details of the various billings were withheld, citing confidentiality.
"Documents held by the Department contain sensitive financial and commercial information and as such are held in strict confidence by all parties," provincial bureaucrat Craig Halwachs of Manitoba Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade said in a letter to CBC News.
"Disclosure of this information could result in financial harm or harm future negotiations of the respective parties."
Creswin was compensated a total of $1.8 million for architectural fees, $850,000 for legal fees, $660,000 for marketing and communications, $476,000 for business planning and development and $246,000 for administration and organization.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2011/02/05/mb-creswin-bombers-stadium-asper.html?ref=fh,www.mywinnipeg.com#ixzz1DCS7hN8A
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