August 13, 2008
Popular New Waverley West Neighbourhood Named After Long-Serving Police Chief: Mackintosh
– – –Bridgwater Forest To Include Geothermal Lots
The first neighbourhood to be developed in Waverley West will be called Bridgwater Forest in honour of the late Arthur Bridgwater, Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today.
“Arthur Bridgwater was chief of the Fort Garry Police Department from 1945 to 1974. It’s more than appropriate that his many years of dedicated public service be memorialized by naming this popular new neighbourhood after him,” Mackintosh said. “The name also reflects the natural environment of the neighbourhood, which includes several lakes and more than 25 acres dedicated to forest.”
Just as importantly, the name, which was chosen by an interdepartmental committee, maintains an important historic tie to the land, Mackintosh said. This has been the site of the Bridgwater Park police shooting range.
Mackintosh also announced the release of a further 214 new lots in Waverley West. The lots will become available in a builders’ draw in mid-September. Geothermal energy will be used to heat and cool a minimum of 54 (25 per cent) of the new homes. This will be the second building lot draw for Waverley West. The first draw released 184 lots, of which 134 have already been purchased.
“We knew Waverley West would be a popular choice for homebuyers so it’s important to release more lots to meet the demand,” Mackintosh said. “It’s also the first time in Canada that such a large part of a new neighbourhood in a major city will be devoted to geothermal. We are encouraging more homebuyers and builders to consider geothermal when they build in the neighbourhood.”
Bridgwater Forest is one of seven neighbourhoods that will be built in Waverley West in the next 20 years. During the annual Parade of Homes, which starts Sept. 6, there will be 16 show homes on display in the new neighbourhood.
The 3,000-acre neighbourhood is set within a mature forest and interwoven by cycle and walking paths, several small lakes and a scenic pedestrian bridge. Bridgwater Forest will include a mixed-use town centre, homes with back lanes and pedestrian sidewalks, the first in a new residential development in Winnipeg in decades.
Funds raised by the province from the development of Waverley West will be used for inner-city revitalization, a key element of the province’s overall housing strategy.
More information about Waverley West is available at: www.gov.mb.ca/fs/housing/waverley_west.html.
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