Inspired by the City of Vancouver's 125th anniversary this year, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation conceived the Places That Matter project, created to recognize the historic places, people and events that have helped shape this city.
The project involves the installation of plaques at 125 publicly nominated sites, including the Bloedel Conservatory where a ceremony will be held Saturday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. (Those who attend the ceremony will receive free admission to the conservatory at 3 p.m. and can stay until 4 p.m. at no charge to check out the attraction's Jewel Box of Lights holiday event.)
It's a landmark moment for the conservatory and the non-profit group Friends of the Bloedel, who hastily organized three years ago in response to a recommendation by the Vision Vancouver-dominated park board of the day to close the iconic dome as a cost-cutting measure. For a month-to-month history of the efforts of Friends of the Bloedel to resurrect the conservatory during the past three years, scroll the archives of the group's president Vicky Earle's blog found at bloedel.wordpress.com.
For more information about Places That Matter nominees, visit placesthatmatter.ca.
Budget metrics
According to the website investopedia.com, the definition of the word metric is "parameters or measures of quantitative assessment used for measurement, comparison or to track performance or production."
"Metrics" is also the word being used by the Vision Vancouver-dominated city council and park board to describe their new approach to breaking down operating budgets, a method they say will make their spending more transparent.
Vision Vancouver park board vice-chair Aaron Jasper says new service metrics released as part of the 2013 operating budget show large increases in low-income access, service hours and facility use in the past fours years.
According to the metrics, since 2008 use of low-income access cards increased by 254 per cent at ice rinks and 40 per cent for pools.
These past four years have not been easy ones for the park board and I've written numerous stories about the way "efficiencies," a.k.a. budget cuts, have affected everything from hours of operation at community centre to grass cutting and maintenance in city parks. The park board's proposed 2013 operating budget is $57.6 million, a three per cent increase from 2012.
Jasper agrees it's been a tough four years for the board, but adds those hard calls are paying off. "Our priority was to keep community centres, ice rinks and pools open and affordable," said Jasper. "And we did that."
NPA commissioner John Coupar says while this operating budget doesn't include the severe cuts of recent years, there's still a long way to go. "We had all those cuts to park board maintenance and those dollars were spent on other priorities and not on our parks," said Coupar.
"There's still lots of work to be done, but [Vision] continues to greenwash when I'd rather see more boots on the ground, like gardeners. But at last night's meeting they created a sustainability office. I just don't think that's money spent wisely."
The budget went to council for approval after the Courier's deadline Tuesday. A special meeting to discuss the park board's operating budget is at 7 p.m., Dec. 13 at the park board office.
Twitter: @sthomas10
