A new park is coming to the False Creek area of Vancouver, and the City is now taking public input on the project, currently referred to as East Park, from now until Thursday, December 8.
An official name for the park will be determined later in the development process, and the site is a 1.2-hectare parkland east of the Creekside Community Centre, between the Southeast False Creek seawall and East 1st Avenue, a short walk away from Science World.
The East Park project would also see the the waterfront area of False Creek between Creekside Community Centre and Science World revitalized.
"The project will connect Southeast and Northeast False Creek, completing a cohesive open space system which provides key connections to the waterfront, neighbouring parks and community amenities, and to the existing network of pedestrian and cycling routes in the surrounding neighbourhoods," the Park Board said in a news release on Wednesday.
Context maps. (City of Vancouver)
The park will be situated between the burgeoning Railyard neighbourhood and the Olympic Village neighbourhood, on the ancestral and unceded land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
"Once a place with a diverse ecosystem where the host Nations stewarded healthy relationships with the land and water, the shoreline of False Creek was dramatically altered in the 1900s to support industry," the Park Board said. "The streams that once flowed into False Creek were filled-in as the city grew, burying thriving ecosystems and depleting the health of the land, and the water."
The Park Board and City of Vancouver hopes this redevelopment project "reinstates Indigenous values with a diverse ecosystem resilient to climate change" and creates a new park "where everyone feels welcome."
The design of the park will be guided by the Northeast False Creek Parks Guiding Principles, which include -- among many things -- connection with local First Nations' cultures, acknowledging racial and cultural inequities, ecologically-rich spaces, flexibility, and a green and lush shoreline.
The project was initially birthed in Summer 2020, when a temporary wildflower pollinator meadow, walking paths, and seating areas were built in the area as the City conducted research and analysis on the future of the site.
The City is now accepting ideas and hopes for the park, with a second round of public engagement that will include an initial concept plan(s) and survey scheduled for Spring 2023. A third round of public engagement in Fall 2023 will then be focused on the chosen concept plan, with the final plan to be presented to the Park Board in Winter 2024.
Public input on the project can be submitted at the City of Vancouver's Shape Your City portal, here.
