Imagine Rocky Point Park without its outdoor pool, or with an added new leisure pool and community building.
Those are elements of two draft design concepts for Port Moody’s iconic waterfront park, as well as Old Orchard Park just across Burrard Inlet, that residents can comment on in a pair of upcoming information sessions.
An online session using the Zoom meeting platform will be held Wednesday, Oct. 25, from 6 to 7 p.m., while the next day an in-person open house will be held at the Galleria at city hall (100 Newport Dr.) from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
Each session will feature information and draft design concepts about future plans for Port Moody’s two waterfront parks.
A community survey for each park will also be available until Nov. 10 that can be filled out online at engage.portmoody.ca or by requesting a paper copy at city hall.
“As the Metro Vancouver region’s population grows, Rocky Point and Old Orchard parks face intensifying usage pressures which can lead to heightened stress on aging infrastructure and the natural environment,” said a news release from the city, adding the new master plans for the parks will help guide the city in their development over the next 10 years.
Based upon recommendations made in a report prepared by landscape architecture and urban design firm Hapa Collaborative that was presented to Port Moody’s parks and environment committee in July, the city has developed three possible concepts for Rocky Point Park and another for Old Orchard.
The draft concepts for Rocky Point Park are:
- The Lookout, which features a new dining and picnicking area where the pool is currently located, a reconfigured central lawn more oriented toward the existing stage, a larger playground and a new waterfront garden and spray plaza just east of the pier
- The Round, which features a dining plaza with parking for food trucks in place of the pool, a new stage with the inlet as its backdrop, a new splash park and wading pool, a new plaza leading from the central lawn to the waterfront and pier as well as a perched beach just to its east
- The Walk, which features an upgraded pool with the addition of a new leisure pool and community building, a smaller central lawn oriented toward a new stage with the inlet as a backdrop, a waterfront boardwalk just east of the pier and a picnic grove
The draft concepts for Old Orchard Park include:
- a new path that gently meanders down toward the beach
- a playground
- a new washroom and changing facility as well as a picnic shelter
- a lounge deck just above the existing beach
- two habitat islands extending out into the inlet from each end of the beach
In its report, Hapa said Rocky Point Park should be an “active and inclusive community hub and waterfront destination” that can serve as a gathering place for events and recreational activities, while Old Orchard would retain its character as a “local, family-oriented beachfront park that supports a calm and peaceful environment.”
The new master plan for the two parks is expected to be ready for consideration by council in the winter.
