Blanshard - Fisgard Park - Part 2 - If We Have to Have It
I will admit, I was a little surprised by the amount of interest there was in my last article. As I reflected on some of the responses I heard, there were a couple of things I want to add. First, if it isn’t clear from my years of writing a blog about a pedestrian’s perspective on cities, I am a huge lover of public space, I just want it to be good. And second, I really wish we could have conversations about things as mundane, but important as public space, without retreating to determinations of right or wrong. Things are improved through listening and discussion. It would be really good if we could look at each item, especially when it comes to city building by throwing things at the wall; saying what might not work; what might be a good start, but needs to finessed; etc. Anyways… Okay on with Part 2 and my look at the Blanshard - Fisgard Park.
So as I said in my last article, I am not convinced yet that there is a need for this new park. I think that there are a lot of better places we could spend 11 million dollars and have a much larger impact on the recreation of Victorians. I still believe that putting this park here will negatively impact our attempts at improving recreation in other spaces nearby through dilution, especially Centennial Square, which is just a block from here. We heard just this week that the City is contracting with Dialog to plan Centennial Square, which is good to hear, imagine if they had an extra 5 million dollars to put into the project?
In any event, I said I would look at what could we do with this space if it is to be used as a park? So far I have only heard two snippets of what we may see go into this new park. The Deputy City Manager was quoted by Capital Daily as saying: “We’ll be reintroducing nature back to this part of the city,” said Soulliere, adding that an area for playground equipment will likely be included as well. In response to my article, Councilor Caradonna said that we can expect to see a dog run. On the dog run in particular, I am pretty skeptical about use as there are at least two dog runs across the street at the Hudson project and so most owners, most of the time, will be choosing the ones at the foot of their buildings. As for green space sure, of course it is nice to have some grass in the summer, but given the noise here, I am not sold this is going to be the draw that this space will need. If by green we mean trees, then yes of course, any project plan going forward should include trees. But beyond that is going to be the draw to get this park used? I think that there are quite a few options that the city could move forward with. The challenge is that whatever it will be will require a significant investment in the space. This is another area I get concerned, I mean we saw a great plan for Peter Pollen Park in James Bay and years later still nothing is happening there. I have come up with three options that I think might work, if you have a thought on what you would like to see here, I would love to hear about in the comments. The first one is a sports focused park; the second a high intensity Children’s Park; and finally a community and event focused space. Before we get into each specific example, it is important to become familiar with the very unique layout of the park. As it stands the City has bought two properties here, the third is owned by the Bayanihan Community Centre. This gives the park a barbell shape sort of. Using the measuring tools on VicMap, the space comes out to 7/10s of an acre. That makes this park just a little smaller than Franklin Green on the other side of North Park.
I understand from some members of the community centre, that the city has tried to acquire their property as well, but that they were not interested. I actually believe that having the community centre in the middle of the property is one of the things that could give this park a boost, provided that the City works with them to integrate the two spaces. Having the community centre there, puts eyes on the park and creates numerous opportunities for activation. Okay onto what I think are some possible ways of setting up the park.
Sports Park
If you walk around the neighbourhood there are a couple of places that you will notice get used a lot when it comes to parks. The first and by far the most, is the basketball court at Central Park. This basketball court is packed with use, year round, with the exception of those days with worst weather. I believe that the addition of a couple more basketball courts on one end of the park would work well. They would obviously have to be well fenced. I measured the space and I think that two courts side by side should fit and still leave a good space at the east of them to have some bleachers and table space. On the other portion of the park you could add another popular sport, pickle ball. The court in Franklin Green gets a fair bit of use in the nicer months though it is in need of a surface treatment, as it is getting buckled by some tree roots. A couple of courts here would be popular. I would consider finishing out the space with two or three bocce courts. Please excuse my drawing skills.
Playground Park
While the Deputy City Manager said that they would consider adding some playground space. I am not sure that a small play structure is going to be enough of a draw. Central Park, which is about 400 metres from this park has an amazing playground already and as I said in my previous article, there are already two small play structures and park spaces within the Hudson project across the street. If we want a park here to be well-used, it will need to be a destination playground. The one that I was thinking about and that came up quite a bit in response to my last article, is Rainbow Park in Yaletown in Vancouver. I have not had a chance to visit the park, but everything I have read and watched on the space makes it look pretty amazing. Furthermore, it is a destination park not just for those that live close by, but for people from the whole lower mainland. You can get more info on the space here. Make sure you watch the video to get a feel for the park. What I love is the fact that it is has so many different ways of activating the park for people of all ages and abilities. Rainbow park is only just a smidge larger than this space so it is definitely possible. Of course, it is a huge investment on top of the money that the City of Victoria just spent on buying the land here.
In this example I think you would focus most of the play space at the northern portion of the park. Create a proper entrance to the park at Blanshard and Fisgard with some community space and smaller play space at the southeast corner. I love the idea of putting a food kiosk in public spaces as they have done in the Vancouver example, however since we have seen how loathe Victoria has been to try putting food kiosks or food trucks almost anywhere, I am sure it wouldn’t happen here.
Community / Event Park
This last one I think perhaps has both the best chance to be created and also would likely have the best chance for long-term success. In this suggestion I think you would want to work very closely with the Bayanihan Community Centre to get them to be the caretakers of the space and hopefully work with other community groups to ensure that the space would get used on a regular basis.
In this option, the northern space is a large picnic space with a small stage so that on occasion there could be performances here for those that are sitting and eating. Among the picnic tables are a few BBQs so that people can come down and cook right by their tables. BBQs in parks are very popular in other parts of the world (there even used to be some in Beacon Hill Park and Franklin Green when I first moved here..), it would be great to see some brought into this space. The southern portion has a small playground at the east end and then a large open area that could be used as a market space, or for outdoor dances, or to park food trucks. Again, I would hope that the City would work with the Bayanihan Community Centre to come up with a schedule of events and perhaps for those times that it is not being used it could be turned over to another community association or non-profit for another purpose. There are almost no end of ideas of what you could use the space for. I would love to see a weekend market like we used to have on Government Street or similar to the Moss Street Market in that space. It would be important in all of the examples, but perhaps most important in this one, that the City make sure to has the park and the community centre fit together seamlessly.
All I know is that a simple, off-the-shelf park with some grass, benches, a playground and a dog run, will not get used to the extent that the space needs to be for the amount of money the City is spending here. To make this park really work there is going to need to be a lot more money spent. Oh, wait I should have thrown in a rain park option… Oh well. Still, put your option below, the more ideas the better!
