The noise of hammers and saws could soon be heard in Capstan Village as the city has issued a permit to start building a brand-new community centre.
The new recreational facility at No. 3 Road and Capstan Way could simply be called “Capstan Community Centre.”
This is the name recommended by city staff, which they say reflects the history of the area, distinguishes it from the rest of City Centre and will help residents find it easily.
So far, the developer, YuanHeng, has received a building permit to build the shell of the community centre. Once it receives its final building permit, it's expected to take about 33 months to build, according to the developer.
The community centre will be about 33,000 square feet in size and its construction will be paid for by the developer in exchange for being allowed to build more residential units.
The name of the community centre comes from the area it’s located in – Capstan Village – with a staff report explaining that horse-powered capstans – devices for pulling heavy objects – were used to tow water pipes across the Middle Arm of the Fraser River.
This is where Capstan Village, Capstan Way and Capstan Canada Line Station all derived their names.
The YuanHeng development was approved in 2016 and the total floor area will be about 1.2 million square feet.
There will be 871 market units and 63 affordable rental units.
Naming of the new community centre is on the agenda for next week’s parks and recreation committee meeting.
The city’s naming policy – for public buildings, parks or places - dates from 1997 and is meant to “honour or memorialize” people, corporations, events or places that have “attained achievements of extraordinary and lasting distinction and contribution to the City” as well as pay tribute to whatever the use of the facility is.
The Richmond Board of Education is reviewing its facility naming policy – adopted in 1990 – in the near future.
Board chair Sandra Nixon said the idea is to have an updated process that’s “clear and transparent” and supports the school district’s commitment to “equity and specifically, to addressing bias, privilege and systemic discrimination.”
Other name suggestions for the community centre in Capstan Village were Riverfront Community Centre and North Richmond Community Centre.
