Richmond's parks and trails are often cited to explain why Richmond is a great place in which to live.
The city has won awards for innovative design and overall excellence.
The popularity of the new Railway Greenway is the most recent example of our creative parks and trails planning.
City Council fulfilled its long-held vision for the area after it refused to allow residential development on the corridor and instead provided a linear park for the enjoyment of all.
Pedestrians, bicyclists and skaters have enthusiastically enjoyed travelling the full length of the Greenway from the Middle Arm to Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site on the South Arm.
As our community grows, the need for new parks and outdoor public amenities will expand with it. City Council is working hard to address this demand.
This summer, we will complete a number
of projects. Already popular, the relocated bike terrain park recently opened in its new venue at Garden City Park.
An accessible playground is being built at King George Park.
Work is also progressing on the relocation and expansion of the playfields in Minoru Park, which will include Richmond's first combined baseball/soccer field to have an allweather artificial turf surface.
Another new park is under development in partnership with the private sector in the rapidly-growing Capstan Village area.
In our City Centre, you will soon see some interesting changes. A realignment of River Road to connect with Gilbert Road east of the Oval is nearing completion. Once that new roadway is open, the section of the existing River Road immediately east of the Oval will be closed to feature a new park with a public pier.
A number of other waterfront properties further along River Road will eventually
become the 40-acre Middle Arm Park. These amenities will add immeasurably to our quality of life since they are connected to our rapidly growing City Centre.
In south-east Richmond, a new park will soon be located on the former Fantasy Gardens site. As part of redevelopment, the city secured 12 acres for parkland.
The new park promises to restore elements of the site's original botanical gardens along with other recreational, agricultural and heritage features.
Later this summer, the city will open a new play environment at the Terra Nova Rural Park. Featuring a variety of fun and creative play elements from slides, swings and ziplines to climbing structures, a maze and a rope ferry, we look forward to these imaginative additions to this unique and diverse park.
Yet the most important new jewel in the crown may well be the Garden City Lands, a 136-acre open space located at the edge of our City Centre.
In June, city council approved a legacy plan which provides a combination of recreational,
wellness and cultural uses along with urban agriculture and environmental preservation in keeping with its inclusion in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
As with Terra Nova, time will be taken to implement the park plan so that it adds significantly to the quality of our public space.
One of the first features to be completed should be a perimeter walking trail to enable residents to enjoy the site as it matures.
These are some of the components of the city's 2022 Parks and Open Space Strategy adopted last Fall (available on the City website at www.richmond.ca/parks/about/planning).
In that document, City Council set the priorities for our network of parks and trails to meet the needs of our community over the next decade. All residents of Richmond can enjoy diverse outdoor recreation and wellness opportunities while celebrating our natural environment.
Summer is here; enjoy our ever-expanding parks and trails network!
