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Washrooms, picnic tables part of $3.7M festival hub in Coquitlam park

A washroom facility and gathering space are being proposed as part of a new $3.7-million festival hub for Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park.
Terra Lightfoot leaves the stage after a headline set at the 2019 Kaleidoscope Art Festival in Coquitlam.

A washroom facility and gathering space are being proposed as part of a new $3.7-million festival hub for Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park.

Construction is expected to get underway this fall on the project after council approved a detailed design and budget Tuesday. According to a staff report, the work will be completed next May, just in time for the busy summer festival season, which sees events such as the BC Highland Games and Scottish Festival and Canada Day festivities fill the park.

"These proposed improvements will deliver a festival site that the community will enjoy year-round and that will support all scales of cultural and recreational opportunities in the park for many years to come," said a city staff report.

The project is part of the Town Centre Park Master Plan, adopted in 2018, and includes a new gathering space, with picnic tables, benches, umbrellas, lighting and movable seating.

There will be a new washroom and food service building next to the plaza, which could expand into a full concession if a commercial operator is interested in taking over the space, said a staff report. Lawns and landscaping are also being improved, with additional planting beds and 57 new trees.

Since opening in 1989, Town Centre Park has become the city's main hub for large events, like Kaleidoscope Arts Festival and Lights at Lafarge. The city said the improvements and additional washrooms are necessary to accommodate the growing crowds, which have seen an uptick since the opening of the Evergreen Extension.

The improved festival hub is just one phase in a longer term plan for the park that includes additional washrooms, a new lake loop pathway with improved lighting, enhancements to the forested area on the north and south ends of Lafarge Lake, and the development of new enhanced playgrounds and water play areas.

All of the improvements are outlined in the master plan (coquitlam.catcpmp), which will guide the development of the park for the next 20 years.