Project Information

Connaught Park East Fields Renovation

• Summary

Project Description

The Park Board is renovating the busy Connaught Park east fields and will be closing the fields for at least one year.

The athletic fields located at Connaught Park, 2690 Larch Street, are owned and operated by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation. A number of athletic teams and local organizations including the Meraloma Athletic Club teams, local softball leagues, the Kitsilano Community Centre, Kitsilano Secondary, the Fraser Academy, and St. John’s schools utilize these fields year round for practice, games, camps, programs and passive recreation including unsanctioned dog off leash use.

The Park Board has 141 grass fields of various sizes and conditions in its inventory that are used by sport leagues, clubs and teams, community groups, summer camps and individuals. Only 67 (47.5%) of these fields have drainage and irrigation systems. The Connaught Park east fields lack drainage and irrigation.

This park was identified for improvement through the Park Board’s Grass Playfields Capital Plan in the 2011 Capital Budget. The Connaught project has 3 phases. Phase 1 was completed 3 years ago, this project is the second phase, and the third phase is to be completed when funding can be sourced through a future capital plan or through partnerships.

This Capital Plan program provides drainage and irrigation facilities on grass fields to increase field use by up to 50%. These systems are essential to accommodate the growing need for field time from population growth and to accommodate a trend towards year round play, especially for summer use. The cost to buy and develop new land to accommodate this use would be in the order of millions of dollars.

The Connaught East fields also have uneven surface grades which this renovation will address. The southern rugby field in particular has been closed for a full year due to the uneven surface conditions. This project will remove poor fill soils from a historic ravine and provide drainage on a 4m grid and an automated irrigation system.

Construction is complete. The fields will remain closed until the fall of 2012. This length of closure is required to allow grass root establishment for field resiliency to the heavy use it will receive by athletic and community user groups upon re-opening. Alternate locations for field sport play during the closure are arranged by the Park Board at other City athletic fields. Please respect the construction fencing during this period.

Thank you for your patience throughout the closure.

Key Dates:

Information booth at the Kitsilano Picnic in the Park event: Sunday August 7, 2011

Community Participation

Please click here if you would like to receive notification of any upcoming meetings regarding this project.

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