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Winnipeg City Centre sign sarcastically celebrates a decade of construction

A sign in City Centre Winnipeg is getting some attention for a strange celebration.

The sign outside of the Spectrum Health Centre reads, "Celebrating a decade of construction at Portage and Maryland."

Health centre owner Gordon Partridge said they've been at the location on Portage Avenue and Maryland Street for about 15 years and he doesn't remember a time without construction.

"If it goes away for a week it's back within a week. It just never stops," he said.

Partridge put up the sign to poke fun at the infamous construction corner.

"It's really taken off, a lot of people driving by I guess obviously noticed that," he said with a laugh. "Patients, it's become a long standing joke that they find our place by finding the construction. It seems to have hit a chord with people."

The latest construction adventure, also the catalyst for the sign, began last Friday without warning, Partridge said.

"The building was shaking because there was a jackhammer breaking up the cement in front of our front door. We had to transfer all of our patients who couldn't walk," he said.

Partridge said that there was so much rubble that the construction workers had one specific person to escort his clients out of the building.

"It was very thoughtful of them, but once again you would like a little bit of warning when something like that is about to happen," he said.

All jokes aside, Partridge said the construction cycle has become an issue. The walkway in front of the building has been torn up so there is no access to the front doors and Partridge said there's also no access to parking or even a way to cross the street.

"In our kind of business we have people in wheelchairs, a lot of elderly, or just people in a lot of pain, so it's been quite tough on them because there's not easy access anymore," he said.

Partridge said he's spoken with many different branches of the City in regards to the construction, timelines or better communication about when it's happening and it doesn't seem to help. But he holds out hope because it would be too costly and onerous to move locations.

"You think surely this is the last time and then sure enough the next week something happens," he said. "You put up hope that eventually they are going to get this right."