Parks Capital Project Highlights 2021

Thanks for your feedback. The London/Steveston Park and school site is comprised of both City and School District owned properties. The tennis courts are located on School District property and are maintained by them. Please consider getting in touch with the school principal regrading your concerns about the state of the tennis courts and the appropriate person within the School District to address them. On the City owned portion of the site to the west, near the new playground, a half-court basketball plaza was recently added and is open to the public to use and enjoy. There are plans to add an off-leash dog park to the City owned portion of the site in the future, however, we are not aware of any plans from the School District to upgrade the facilities located on their property, which surrounds the school building.

Thank you for your question. Construction will begin prior to bird nesting season and be subject to bird nest surveys in order to minimize disturbance to birds.

Treatment and handling of existing aquatic wildlife will be incorporated into a wildlife management strategy being developed by a Qualified Environmental Professional. Please note that the City is obligated to follow Provincial and Federal regulations for handling introduced aquatic species as the lakes connect to the City’s storm system which connects to the Fraser River. We will seek humane treatment wherever removal is required.

At a minimum, the contractor will be required to retain one east-west and one north-south publicly accessible connection around the area throughout construction and that areas under construction be opened up as they are completed and safe to the public. We anticipate that the majority of the work will take six months to complete and are aiming to minimize any major disruption to one year from spring to fall.

Thank you for asking. The targeted date for opening the Railway Granville Bike Park is June 4 and are in the process of completing the final details on the site including the installation of rules of use and safety guideline signage. Once these final critical pieces of the bike park are completed / installed, we will be opening the site for public use. 

Thank you for commenting. As part of the new waterfront developments from No 4 Road to Shell Road, and in response to the added density and need for additional park space, the City will acquire two new parks, pedestrian connections through the developments, and an enhanced dike trail. Tait West Park, which is located at the north end of No 4 Road and includes, trails, open flexible lawn areas, and planting, was completed a few years ago and is open to the public. Construction on the second park, Tait Riverfront Park, which is located at the north end of McLennan Avenue, has just started. This park will include pathways, a basketball court with informal skateboard elements, a playground with a water play pump, picnic areas, open lawn, planting, park furnishings, and an artist-designed park shelter. Park construction is expected to be complete in the Fall of 2021.

Thank you for your feedback. The City of Richmond’s Public Tree Management Strategy 2045 identifies growing the urban forest canopy on public land as key goal. Every year, Park Services plants hundreds of trees as we strive to increase the size and diversity of Richmond’s forest. This is key to addressing urban heat island effect, providing habitat and increasing the City’s resilience to Climate Change.

Thank for your feedback. The City of Richmond Parks Services Department recently completed some hazard mitigation pruning and tree removals throughout the Horseshoe Slough Recreational Trail area to improve public safety. The City would certainly look to planting replacement trees in this recreational area when and where possible.

Thanks for this question. Currently, there are outdoor fitness stations at Hugh Boyd Community Park and Minoru Park. While we do not have plans to add outdoor fitness equipment to any specific locations at this time, incorporating this type of amenity into playgrounds may be part of future planning and design processes. When opportunities arise, we will submit capital requests for Council approval.

Thank you for your question. At present, there are no major park capital projects identified in the Hamilton area; however, we understand that some of the existing sports amenities are showing signs of wear and tear. Parks Services is in the process of engaging of a geotechnical consultant to assess the condition of these locations, at which point staff will plan for future work and prepare a capital project submission for Council approval. In addition to the sports amenity assessment, ecological improvements to Hamilton Highway Park and additional tree planting at Hamilton VLA Park are currently in development and will be carried out in due course.

Thank you for asking. While there are no plans to add more benches in the Imperial Landing area, Parks will continue to monitor site usage and identify opportunities to add amenities that better serve the community where practical. We will pass along the request for more trash bins to the related department.

Thank you for your suggestion. While we enjoy wildlife sightings within the urban landscape, there are strict federal and provincial guidelines against introducing species of animals into human-made environments such as ponds. They may look suitable, but these environments may not contain the minimum habitat required for fish to survive. In addition to these issues, introducing wildlife to ponds in parks has the potential to create new conflicts for current park users and can make management of the ponds challenging.