Sahalli Park Official Opening

Saturday, June 25^th at 1 pm

June 20, 2005 (No. 51) - The public is invited to join Park Board Commissioners and the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood when they dedicate Sahalli Park at 1 pm this Saturday, June 25. Located at 8th Avenue and Fraser Street, the official opening will feature an aboriginal prayer, speeches by Park Board Chair Eva Riccius and other community members.

The park site is bounded by 8th and 7th Avenues at Fraser Street and has been incrementally assembled from private and public properties over the past decade. At 0.6 hectares (1.48 acres), it comprises pathways, a picnic site, playground, viewing knoll, lawns, a community garden and a variety of trees and shrubs including an 80-year-old specimen fir tree.

The assembly of this land, in one of Vancouver's most park deficient neighbourhoods, is a testament to one of the Board's fundamental guiding principles of providing access to adequate parkland within all the City's neighbourhoods. Purchase price for the parkland over the years has totaled about $2 million, with park construction costs of about $165,000.

The park site's recent completion and the lack of a significant landmark or bordering street name prompted a park naming process. The name Sahalli was suggested and comes from the First Nations Chinook jargon language meaning "high ground", making it appropriate for the site.

The brief ceremony will be followed by cake, refreshments and a community celebration!

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For further information, contact: Terri Clark, Communication Coordinator at 604-257-8438.

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation maintains 200 parks and 40 major facilities throughout the City of Vancouver. The Park Board's mission is to provide, preserve and advocate for parks and recreation services to benefit people, communities and the environment.

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