MAYOR Sam Katz effectively killed rapid transit yesterday, saying he would instead spend $43 million fixing aging community clubs and building new recreation centres.

Katz made the sudden announcement at a chotic press conference at the Crescentwood community centre, where he was often interrupted and heckled by pro-transit activists. In a rare move, he was also escorted in and out of the building by at least two plain-clothed police officers.

"I believe a rapid transit will be part of Winnipeg's future, but this is a question of priorities," said Katz.

It's believed a majority of councillors support Katz on his decision to stall rapid transit.

More than $50 million has been set aside by all three levels of government to pay for rapid transit's first leg, connecting downtown with the University of Manitoba. Katz said he would spend most of that money on community clubs, reserviig $7 million for transit improvements such as environmentally friendly buses.

Katz promised to reach a new funding deal with the federal and provincial governments in the next two weeks. Those deals usually take months or years, but Katz said he has already begun negociations and both governments are willing to redirect their cash.

Katz will then put his proposal before city council at its Sept. 29 meeting, where its likely to pass.

The news of rapid transit's almost certain demise was met by support from some quarters.

Coun. Franco Magnifico said Katz has his priorities in order. "The mayor had to make a hard decision," he said. "Given the state of our economy in the city right now and some of the problems that we have, i think he's making the right decision."

Magnifico said he suports rapid transit, but "we can't afford it now," because past administrations have allowed sports complexes and other infrastructure to badly deteriorate.

Coun. Mike Pagtakhan also voiced support for Katz.

"You can't argue with having great community centres; it's something you can feel immediately," Pagtakhan said.

"They're both really good projects and if we do both, I'd like to do both. But if I had to choose between what he's proposing and the rapid transit, I would choose the former.

"I think they mayor is dead-on with what he's doing."

However, frustration was expressed by several councillors, environmental activists and student leaders.

Earlier in the day, several activists confronted Katz after a speech he delivered at the University of Manitoba. Their ranks swelled by the time news filtered out of Katz's afternoon press conference at the community club.

There, about 20 activists asked him to sign a so-called transit petition they began circulating yesterday. Katz refused.

Kaj Hasselriis, a spokesman for the fledgling group Winnipeggers for Bus Rapid Transit, also challenged Katz during the press conference.

Hasselriis said he was born in 1974, the same year the city began debating rapid transit. He said Winnipeg is a car dependent city, where people, especially youth and 20-somethings, have little access to public transit.

"You know what?" replied Katz. "You're going to have to put a bit of faith in me. I hear what you're saying and I don't disagree with you. But you tell me what you think is more important. Should kids have a place to go or do you want them on the streets getting into trouble?"

Couns. Jenny Gerbasi and Donald Benham, the most vocal supporters of BRT at city hall, said forcing Winnipeggers to choose between recreation programs for kids and bus rapid transit is among the more cynical stunts they've seen at city hall.

"We were elected to have some vision and leadership, and what we've seen today is a complete abdication of leadership," said Benham, who represents River Heights. "The very cynical attempt to put children up against (bus) rapid transit, is an attempt to manipulate Winnipeggers, and they will see right through it."

Though Katz pledged to begin work on "some form of rapid transit" within his mandate, Gerbasi feared political will and money won't coalesce again soon.

"If there's no political committment now, I suspect it willlbe another 20 years before we're talking about this again," said Gerbasi

It will also be months before council decides exactly where to spend the $43 million on recreation and community centres.

Earlier this summer, Katz released the city's huge public use facilities study, which called for a $591-million overhaul of the city's pools, libraries and rec centres. About 85 facilities, including the Crescentwood community club, were placed on a "to be closed" list, but the report recommended the construction of another 34 mini-water parks and multi-use community centres.

It was expected to take the better part of 2005 for city council to grapple with the report and develop an implementation plan.

But Katz has forged ahead by committing the first new funding before a clear list of spending priorities has been identified.

Many, if not most, councillors have said publicly that they are willing to delay rapid transit in favour of community clubs or other infrastructure spending.

But almost every other councillor, including members of Katz's inner circle, were taken by surprise by yesterday's announcement.

It was expected that Katz would delay his decision until the release of a series of studies done on the southwest transit corridor.

Earlier this summer, he said there were hidden costs associated with the southwest corridor. Then, he said he had not seen enough studies to be sure rapid transit should proceed. Last week, it became clear he intended to kibosh the project to spend the money elsewhere, but he would not specify where.