More seating and picnic tables outside Port Moody city hall, better signage to guide visitors to destinations like the Noons Creek hatchery and even the installation of permanent misting stations are among the enhancements being considered to the city’s civic complex.
Tuesday (June 13), council will consider whether funding of $150,000 should be used to hire a landscape architect and planning consultant to complete exterior upgrades to the complex that also includes the public library and recreation complex.
The work had originally been approved for 2019, at a cost of $100,000; however, the project was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another $50,000 for the project was added to this year’s capital budget.
In a report, Port Moody’s general manager of community services, Anna Mathewson, said the enhancements will “focus on small-scale improvements that can make an immediate impact for the community, rather than larger capital projects or improvements to the civic complex which would take more consideration.”
Some of those improvements include:
- improvements to the drainage at the entrance to the recreation complex
- better lighting and placement of bike racks to enhance pedestrian safety and movement through the civic complex
- enhancements to the existing playground at the recreation complex so it can be used by summer camps and other programs
- screening garbage areas
- moving the area outside Arena 1 where the Zamboni drops snow its scraped from the ice so it’s further from the public walkway
Mathewson said the designation of the civic complex as a cooling area during hot weather means ideas such as the installation of permanent misting stations and water fountains should also be considered.
She said grouping all the improvements as part of an overall plan will be more efficient than dealing with them as individual projects.
Mathewson added a recent council decision to explore the creation of a leash-free area for dogs behind city hall could also be integrated into the plan for things like the installation of seating.
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