vancouver park board pushes forward with $1.4b ask for facility upgrades
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a majority of the vancouver park board voted tuesday night to ask the city for $1.43 billion in the 2027-2030 capital plan to upgrade recreational facilities.
the move came after the board heard from dozens of speakers representing an array of facility users.
the special park board meeting tuesday was prompted by a motion from park board commissioner brennan bastyovanszky, who called for the massive investment in response to a recent audit of the city’s recreation facilities that found 72 per cent were in poor or very poor condition. the motion also noted the city is expected to be home to 250,000 more residents by 2050, putting additional pressure on parks and recreation facilities.
the park board system comprises 240 parks and beaches, 19 community centres, 14 aquatic facilities, 155 sports fields and eight ice rinks.
three of the seven commissioners — tom digby, scott jensen and angela haer — attended the meeting in person, and bastyovanszky attended remotely. commissioners jas virdi, marie-claire howard and laura christensen did not attend.
just before the vote, haer left the meeting, leaving the board without quorum. christensen then joined remotely, allowing the vote to proceed. digby, jensen and bastyovanszky voted in favour of the motion. christensen abstained, but that is still counted in the affirmative, bastyovanszky confirmed after the meeting.
the original motion sought a “historic investment” of $1.35 billion, of which $200 million would go to aquatic facilities, including the replacement of the kitsilano pool and a new 50-metre pool; $200 million would go to community centre renewals that prioritize hastings, kensington and renfrew; and $300 million would go to seawall repairs, playgrounds, sports fields and infrastructure upgrades.
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toward the end of the meeting, jensen asked that the amount be increased to $1.63 billion based on requests made by speakers.
“that (original) number is shy of some of the goals we want to accomplish,” jensen said.
the amount was then revised to $1.43 billion, which was ultimately approved.
there were 63 registered speakers, including representatives from the vancouver skateboard coalition, kitsilano showboat society, kits pool swimmers, sunset community centre association, west end community centre association, hastings community association, pacific lifesaving club and the vancouver youth soccer association.
while these groups were supportive of the overall motion, some questioned how the money would be spent.
for instance, groups representing users of the vancouver aquatic centre wanted to see a 50-metre replacement pool, not a proposed 25-metre pool with large hot-tub and lazy river. the pool was briefly closed after a chunk of concrete fell from its ceiling in early november.
city auditor-general mike macdonell said in a statement last september the city would have to make difficult decisions as to which city assets to keep and replace and which ones to decommission.
at a public appearance on wednesday, vancouver mayor ken sim pledged to spend $400 million to rebuild five community centres in the city’s next four-year capital plan if his abc vancouver party wins another council majority in this year’s election.
when postmedia asked sim about the park board’s broader $1.4 billion request from the night before, the mayor replied: “people can make any plan they want. we really like our plan. it works in our fiscal envelope. it’s five community centres, which is super ambitious, and it’s something that we know we can do.”
the park board chair will now prepare a letter for the mayor and council outlining proposed spending priorities for parks and recreation and invite them for discussions, bastyovanszky said.
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according to the motion, a final version of the city’s capital plan, as it relates to parks and recreation, is scheduled to go to a vote before the board in early july.
city staff are then scheduled to give a presentation to council on the city’s overall capital plan in late july. council will then vote on the full plan.
vancouver voters will get the final say in a referendum coinciding with the october 2026 municipal election.
with files from dan fumano, douglas quan and joe ruttle
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