The park board was either featured or mentioned in the Vancouver Courier 229 times between Jan. 1 and Dec. 19, which is one of the reasons it was named this newspaper’s 2013 Newsmaker of the Year.
The conflicts between the park board and community centre associations about the joint-operating agreement and with residents over the proposed 12-foot wide, paved bike path through Kitsilano and Hadden Beach parks were detailed in the Courier’s Newsmaker issue, so let’s take a look at other events overshadowed by the board’s dramatic year.
In January, the park board approved a move that saw Discovery Square on Burrard Street at Dunsmuir renamed Art Phillips Park, a year after Vision Vancouver vice-chair Aaron Jasper brought forward a motion recommending the change.
In July, the park board launched a “culinary makeover” of its concession stands by adding veggies and dip, yogurt parfaits, vegan fruit bars, salads and seasonal corn-on-the-cob to its standard fare of hot dogs, burgers, and fish and chips. The move was just one part of the board’s Local Food Action Plan approved July 8.
In August, the park board invited the world to celebrate all the wonders of Stanley Park with a two-day party to mark the city’s 125th birthday.
More than 200 events took place at five main festival sites, drawing tens of thousands each day to dance, walk, drink and learn how experts get those tiny bands on hummingbirds. The weather cooperated, making it one of the most successful events in the park’s history.
In September, the park board, at the urging of Vision Vancouver chair Sarah Blyth, found a permanent home for the “Dude Chilling Park” sign, mysteriously erected overnight in November 2012 in Mount Pleasant’s Guelph Park. As it turned out, the guerilla art installation had been designed to highlight the Michael Dennis sculpture of a lounging figure at the park. The sign was immediately removed by park board staff, but in September it found a new home in the Brewery Creek Community Garden in Guelph Park.
Also in September, the park board officially opened Creekway Park on Bridgeway Street near New Brighton Park at a cost of $1.2 million.
The former parking lot was transformed into an ecologically rich park including native plants, bird habitat, pedestrian/bike paths and a daylighted stream. The reclaimed section of Hastings Creek had been buried for almost 100 years.
Not only was Kits Beach named one of the top 10 city beaches in the world in 2012 by CNN Travel, in September 10 new tennis courts opened at the popular park.
The five courts to the north end of the property were built to meet International Tennis Federation tournament standards while all 10 were resurfaced with asphalt and Plexipave sports coating and had new drainage and fencing installed. The wheelchair accessible facility replaced courts built in 1952.
In November, Blyth had an opportunity to meet her fictional counterpart Ron Swanson from the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation.
And while Blyth swears she’s never taken any of his “Ronisms” to heart in making decisions, you have to wonder if his new book Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals, penned by the very real Nick Offerman, may have been the inspiration for a motion she brought forward this year.
In October, Blyth successfully recommended book exchanges be created at community centres or in field houses. Blyth also wants a mobile phone app developed through which book exchange users can post the titles and locations of their latest deposits.
In December, Blyth was replaced as chair of the park board by Vision Vancouver commissioner Niki Sharma as part of an annual rotation, while Constance Barnes replaced Aaron Jasper as vice-chair. Vision Vancouver commissioner Trevor Loke was named chair of the park board committee, while Jasper was named vice-chair.
