I'd like to think that the open house questionnaire had something to do with this, I gave them a huge earful...must've been at least a thousand words in total:
New plan for Hastings Park would see PNE, Playland expansion
By Gerry Bellet, Vancouver Sun
December 18, 2009 5:03 PM
Vancouver council has adopted a master plan for the redevelopment of Hastings Park over the next 20 years calling for
an expansion of both the PNE and Playland that could cost $204 million.
The plan calls for Playland to be pulled back from Hastings Street in order to create a park corridor between the Sanctuary area and Empire Fields.
Playland would be made bigger by 30 per cent at a cost of about $36.5 million, in an effort to transform it from a local attraction into a destination attraction.
The park would expand into the area north of present-day Playland.
The PNE, meanwhile, would get an $89-million overhaul, with renovations to existing buildings and the addition of buildings to bring in more year-round revenue.
About $40.6 million would be spent on rehabilitating the livestock barn, Agrodome, Forum, Rollerland and garden auditorium, with $48.5 million being spent to replace lost exhibition space and add a new amphitheatre for year-round use.
An estimated $46.4 million will be spent on open spaces, stream and greenway connections, improvements to the festival area and infrastructure, and removal of parking lots south of Miller.
About $32 million will be spent on new parking at the northwest corner of the property.
The rearrangement of parking could add between 25 to 35 acres of parkland to the site.
Richard Newirth, the acting managing director of cultural services for the city, said a more in-depth proposal will be presented to council sometime in mid-2010.
“They adopted a high-level plan; now staff will come back with the details,” he said.
But critics say the master plan ignores earlier commitments by city council to downsize development on the site in order to create more park space.
“The idea was to create a fair within a park, but this isn’t what this plan will do,” said Vancouver Hastings MLA Shane Simpson, who spoke against the proposal.
He said former councils had committed to adding another 45 acres of greenspace to Hastings Park, for a total of about 70 acres, but the new plan reduces that amount by about 40 per cent, with the overall green space being about 50 acres.
“It’s this reduction that concerns me and I know the neighbourhood is not happy with it. What they [the city] seem to be doing is just greening the PNE and Playland,” he said.
“There is a difference between ensuring the viability of the PNE and Playland and trying to maximize the return, which seems to be the priority of this plan. You also need to balance the needs of the community,” he said.
David Bornman, chair of the Westcoast Christian School, located across from the Pacific Coliseum, said the plan was a reversal of the 2004 proposal to create a park that held an annual fair.
“Instead of a fair hosted by a local park, they are going to add more indoor space so they can raise more revenue. So a local park is going to be used as a revenue stream,” said Bornman.
He was disappointed that a number of improvements to the park that local residents want, such as access from Hastings Park to New Brighton Park, don’t seem to be a priority.
“In 2004 we had a vision of Hastings Park being 70 per cent greened and having a portable fair in tents. This is really disheartening,” he said.
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http://www.vancouversun.com/plan+Has...215/story.html
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Thank you for posting that.
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