Two large lawns for picnickers, playgrounds for tots and children and a path snaking around them is the plan for a new Burke Mountain park.
This week, city staff revealed the proposal for Queenston Park, a 1.38-acre lot in the Smiling Creek neighbourhood, off Coast Meridian Road, that council last December earmarked $620,000 to design and build this year.
The concept for the small, passive park comes after city staff hired a consultant, spoke with the city's Universal Access-Ability advisory committee and, last month, with dozens of residents at an open house - most of whom backed the park features.
But at Monday's council-in-committee meeting - after talking about how to get the public more involved in park planning- councillors said they wanted to see more at Queenston Park.
Coun. Craig Hodge, a long-time Burke resident, said the recently built Millard Orchard Park on Burke has been very popular, largely because of its sports court. Young kids use the swings and slide but, after the age of six, they need a paved surface to play ball hockey and basketball, Hodge argued.
Coun. Mae Reid supported Hodge, saying the extra $60,000 to build a sports court could come out of casino revenues. "I think every school in Coquitlam has a new playground now" because of the city's gaming funds from Boulevard Casino, she said. "We should be using that money now in our parks."
Coun. Brent Asmundson, another Burke resident, also wanted a sports court while Coun. Neal Nicholson said he'd like to see a washroom - a facility that would add another 50% to the park budget.
Lori MacKay, Coquitlam's general manager of parks, said a loo wasn't deemed "a priority for stakeholders" during the consultation as Queenston Park is classified as a neighbourhood park - not a destination place. "City council can put washrooms in every park but that can be a financial pressure," she said.
Meanwhile, Coun. Terry O'Neill complained that nearly one-fifth of the park can't be used due to a coded watercourse and riparian area. "We are cutting off a large swath of this park to protect a ditch. It doesn't make sense to me," he said.
Queenston Park is due to be built by November.
