The Vancouver Park Board is seeking
experienced consultants to help it dream up a new, long-term master plan
for all of the city’s parks and recreation facilities.
It’s been 23 years since the park board last
updated the master plan that governs the more than 230 public parks and
55 recreation facilities enjoyed by more than 600,000 residents and an
unknown number of visitors from neighbouring municipalities and around
the world.
And given a lot has changed since 1992 – the
year the Blue Jays won their first World Series, Justin Trudeau was an
18-year-old camp councillor and Vancouver councillors approved the
design of the central library – the park board believes it’s time for a
plan that reflects a new reality, said research and planning manager
Dave Hutch.
“Our demographics are changing, we’re becoming
an older city, and trends in park use and recreation are changing as
well,” Hutch said Monday. “It will make sure we’re investing in the
right things in the right places in the city.”
Fewer people play racquetball. Skateboarders
have sanctioned city parks. Parkour exists. Baby boomers are more
interested in walking instead of activities.
But more drastic is the change in where people
live given geography will shape where the park board focuses its
resources, Hutch said. He cited the 60,000 additional people living on
the downtown peninsula and the explosion of growth along the Cambie
corridor as examples.
The park board wants to hire outside help
because of the workload anticipated in refreshing the plan, which will
involve significant consultation with the community, Hutch said.
It’s also looking for experts that have
experience planning parks and recreation in other major centres in North
America or even around the world.
It’s a competitive bid process so Hutch could
not reveal how much the park board hopes to pay these consultants, but
there is $1.5 million set aside for planning in the park board’s
three-year capital plan.
It will take several months for the park board
to select a consultant. If all goes well, it will start the anticipated
18-month master planning process by summer 2016.
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