Stanley Park Seawall could be closed all summer
This Stanley Park Seawall’s part was hit hard by this winter’s windstorms.
Photo from http://flickr.com/photos/squeakymarmot/326941775
The Stanley Park Seawall will remain closed this summer as it will take at least a year to restore the Park after last winter’s devastating storms. The Vancouver Park Board has unveiled its $9 million plan for the public.
It focuses on clearing minimal debris, and stabilizing slopes as soon as possible, so closed-off areas can be re-opened. The Board’s Jim Lowden said it will take some time. He said, “The objective here is to acknowledge that you can’t make it perfect, but to try to make it have as little impact as possible on the Seawall, and make it predictable.”
Close to 10,000 trees were knocked down during December’s windstorms, with Prospect Point being hit the hardest. The road there will likely be relocated. The $9 million comes from private and government donations. Less than $1 million will be recouped by selling downed logs. The plan will be presented at next Monday’s public meeting.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130)
More from Vancouver Sun
Stanley Park’s normal forest sounds will take on an industrial note this spring and summer as loggers begin to clean up and stabilize vast areas of the park damaged by the winter storms.
Joggers, walkers, tourists — in fact anyone visiting the park this year — will be hard-pressed to escape the noise, Vancouver Park Board chair Ian Robertson acknowledged today.
But those sounds, and the inconvenience and short-term damage caused by heavy machinery, are inevitable if the city’s crown jewel of parks is to start healing from the devastating storms that knocked down as many as 10,000 trees.
“Depending on the time of the year and the actual work being done, yes, there is going to be some noise and some sights that we are not used to seeing,” Robertson said.
Stanley Park will also get a face-lift around Prospect Point while Park Drive is rerouted away from the precipice and the seasonally-crowded parking lot at the lookout is removed.
In unveiling its draft park restoration plan, the park board said it wants to turn the precipice area near the Prospect Point Cafe, including 60 parking spaces, into a planted area with crushed gravel walkways.
