A compromise over fencing to keep Blakeburn elementary students safe comes as the city of Port Coquitlam plans a party April 28 for the opening of a new park.
Last Tuesday, the board of education was told PoCo has agreed to put wire mesh on its fencing around the lagoons at Blakeburn Lagoons Park at its own cost while School District 43 has put up a four-foot fence near its school to protect students.
The district’s fence cost $3,700 and trustees were told the plan was a good compromise after the city initially balked at installing more fencing at the park.
It took meetings between SD43 board, city staff and PoCo Mayor Greg Moore to break the impasse.
“The fencing is actually up, the school is very pleased,” said Ivano Cecchini, the district’s assistant secretary treasurer for facilities planning and services.
But one PoCo trustee was not happy the district had to take responsibility and pay to put up its own fence when the park was a city project and the district had been generous in the past providing amenities in new schools for the city to use.
“It was very shortsighted,” said Judy Shirra, “It did put children in danger.”
But a Coquitlam trustee pointed out that kids are now safe. “We should stop worrying,” said Barb Hobson.
PARTY PLANNED
The official opening party will take place Saturday, April 28 from 1 to 3 p.m. and will include remarks from dignitaries, a ribbon cutting, refreshments, face painting, hands-on planting, guided walks and other activities.
The festivities will take place near the main entry point at the 2900-block of Elbow Place (parking is available in the lot next to Blakeburn Park off of Riverside Drive; for those walking, the park can be accessed from both Elbow Place and Fremont Street).
Off-limits to the public since 1978, when the settling ponds were closed down, the cleanup and redevelopment were made possible in 2015 with $1.9 million in funding from the federal/provincial Small Communities Fund, covering two-thirds of the project’s $2.8-million cost.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSET
Park construction began in spring 2017 and has included remediation of contaminated soils; reshaping and deepening the lagoons to serve as a wetland habitat for aquatic, bird and other wildlife; and creating spaces for the public to interact with nature.
Site remediation work included capping contaminated areas with clean soil and introducing special plants to absorb, immobilize and break down heavy metals.
“Aside from providing a new natural destination in our community, Blakeburn Lagoons [Park] will play an important environmental role,” stated Coun. Darrell Penner, chair of the city’s Transportation and Public Works Committee, in a press release. “The new constructed wetland will provide a rich wildlife habitat while also improving water quality and stormwater issues in the area.”
PARK FEATURES
Park features include:
• 1.6 km of looped walking trails
• a reflective space, with seating, plantings and views of the lagoons;
• educational signage and a picnic area;
• viewing platforms at key vantage points;
• six ecological habitat zones, including more than 100,000 indigenous shrubs and ground cover plants, more than 1,300 native trees and two acres of native grasses,
• and four wildlife-only habitat islands as well as vegetative buffers and fencing to protect environmentally sensitive areas from public access.
For more information about the project, visit www.portcoquitlam.ca/blakeburn.
