A public plaza to the south of Coquitlam city hall that’s undergoing more than $4 million in renovations is nearing its opening — more than seven months late.
On Tuesday (March 8), Scott Groves, Coquitlam’s strategic and capital projects director, told the Tri-City News the construction work at Buchanan Square is expected to be largely done by the end of March.
The news comes more than a year after city council voted 5–4 in February 2021 to move forward with a new design that includes a metal structure — and not fabric sails — above the civic space on Burlington Drive.
The updated square was due to be open last summer.
Groves said the delay was because the contractor had difficulty securing the steel due to the global supply chain issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As well, he explains there were challenges with the electrical hookups in the plaza, which is sited over an underground parkade, and with the size of a rubber landing pad for the slide.
Groves said while the plaza will mostly be complete this month, the lighting features will be strung up in the spring.
“We expect the public will be able to use the renovated Buchanan Square during spring break,” he said, adding that the capital project came in on budget.
Besides the overhead metal structure, string lighting and slide, there will also be benches, timber seat steps and ping pong tables for public use.
A waterproof membrane for the underground parkade was also installed.
Buchanan Square is located between city hall and the Coquitlam RCMP detachment.
