February 19, 2025
NEWS RELEASE(External link)
At today’s meeting, Council approved a development permit application to relocate the Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition hosted by the Parksville Beach Festival Society to a portion of the kite field within the Parksville Community Park. The permit approves the land alteration and construction necessary to facilitate a new formalized area for the event.
The relocation project which includes utilities, excavation and fill, is expected to complete in May. The City’s 2025-2029 financial plan includes $150,000 with the Parksville Beach Festival Society contributing $50,000 towards relocation costs. The move will free up the small sand courts near the gathering plaza for alternate programming, open waterfront views, and result in less congestion in the new gathering space.
This popular Parksville event has outgrown the existing small sand site near the waterfront walkway. The new larger sandbox will be in the southern portion of the kite field, adjacent to the sand volleyball courts, large gravel lot and Sandcastle Drive. The site is 150 metres from the current competition area and 200 metres from two washroom buildings. The location allows easy access for visitors, competitors, volunteers, and event setup crews from the large gravel lot and access from Sandcastle Drive will enhance accessibility. The new rectangular site will facilitate better use of space for the sculptures and improve accessibility within the site. The new site could potentially accommodate more sculptures as applications to participate in the exhibition exceed the number the existing space can accommodate.
The Parksville Beach Festival Society and the sand sculpting exhibition hold significant importance to the community playing a crucial role in bringing the community together, supporting local non-profits and boosting the local economy. The sand sculpting competition has a rich history dating back to 1982 when the first BC Open was hosted. The event has grown significantly, welcoming international visitors to our region. The four-day competition is open to professional and master-level sculptors and the sculptures remain on display for five weeks. The 2025 competition runs July 10 to 13 and the exhibition July 14 to August 17, open daily from 9.30 am to 8.30 pm.
For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
communications@parksville.ca;(External link) 250 954-3073
February 6, 2025
NEWS RELEASE(External link)
At the February 3 meeting, Council approved a pilot project for the delivery of mobile food services in the Parksville Community Park. In October 2024, the agreement with the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce ended and Council instructed staff to review the food truck program for 2025.
The pilot project is intended to provide improved concession services in the Parksville Community Park through a variety of mobile food vendors. City staff will coordinate, schedule and manage the delivery of mobile food concessions services in the park as a pilot project in 2025. The daily pad rental rates to be paid by the vendors will help offset the costs for electrical and water hookups as well as the enhanced level of service for waste disposal by the City. An analysis of the 2025 pilot project will be provided to Council following conclusion of the summer season.
Through an expressions of interest now posted to the City’s website, we are seeking mobile food vendors to provide services from the two existing food truck pads in the Parksville Community Park from May 1 to
September 30, 2025. The expressions of interest is open until March 3 and successful vendors will be advised by March 14. Details about the program may be found at this link.(External link)
For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
communications@parksville.ca;(External link) 250 954-3073
May 2, 2024
NEWS RELEASE(External link)
Parksville is the perfect place to visit in the summer (and other times of the year of course) and this summer promises to be busy with many activities for residents and visitors. Planning is well underway for this year's events and festivals, some new and some beloved summer traditions.
The City is excited to announce the upgrades in the Parksville Community Park are now complete with just a few finishing touches to come. We listened to concerns from park users about improved accessibility, the need for a new washroom facility, and expanded opportunities for unprogrammed public spaces. With major construction happening in the park last summer, we know the experience was not ideal and we sincerely thank everyone for their patience and flexibility. While we were able to host many large events last summer, community events in the Parksville Community Park will be better served this year with the new washroom facility, improved accessible connections throughout the park, upgraded sports courts, new fencing and viewing platforms at the sand volleyball courts, a beautiful new gathering space and improved drop off areas.
In 2023, the City managed 700 event bookings; currently, more than 400 events are already booked at City-owned locations or on City streets. Areas of the City available for events include the Parksville Community Park, Springwood Park, Foster Park, Memorial Plaza as well as many pocket parks and City green spaces. The City provides these spaces at no cost to special events organizers and residents. Many municipalities charge fees for the use of public facilities to defray the associated costs, including increased maintenance such as additional washroom cleaning, litter pickup, refuse removal, and the staff time required to coordinate and schedule events. These costs are an "in kind" donation by the City to an event. In addition, Council provides direct support through grants-in-aid to many not-for-profit groups that contribute to our City’s culture and vibrancy.
We appreciate the hard work of groups and organizations who host community events, many of which are supported by volunteers. Several large-scale events planned this year include Canada Day celebrations, Parksville Beach Festival and Quality Foods Sandcastle Competition and Exhibition, Parkville Community Car Show, Seaside Cruizer events, Quality Foods fireworks and children’s sandcastle event, Summer by the Sea Street Market, and events at the Parksville Outdoor Theatre such as Rock the Park, Tim Hortons summer concerts, Parksville Beer Festival, Completely Creedence and Trooper concerts, theatre performances, and Symphony by the Sea.
Staff work hard to ensure events on public properties are safe and pleasant for all attendees. Our thanks go out to the event organizers who go above and beyond to meet and exceed the City’s special event terms and conditions. We look forward to hearing about your Summer in the City experiences; have your say and share ideas on Let’s Talk Parksville!
For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
communications@parksville.ca;(External link) 250 954-3087
August 31, 2023
LINK TO PDF(External link)
Between Tuesday, September 5 and October 3, Sandcastle Drive in the Parksville Community Park will be closed to all vehicle
traffic. This second closure, requested by the contractor, will facilitate construction of the new gathering plaza.
Regular vehicle access to Sandcastle Drive will be closed at Salish Sea Drive. Sandcastle Drive along to Arbutus Point will be open to pedestrians and bicycles. Additional accessible parking is available near the Lions Ventureland Playground on Salish Sea Drive. Vehicle parking in the gravel lots near the sports fields and behind the curling rink will be open for public use.
Signage will be posted at the entrance and throughout the park.
The City sincerely understands and apologizes for the disruption to residents and visitors who will use the park during this time. Please refer to Let’s Talk Parksville for information about the many planned improvements to the Parksville Community Park.
July 13, 2023
LINK TO PDF(External link)
One of the most exciting summer festivals in the Parksville Community Park each year is the five-week Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition and the Parksville Beach Festival events which complement the exhibition. The event opens to the public on Friday, July 14 at 2 pm and events and activities are scheduled through August 20. We look forward welcoming the thousands of visitors to the park for festivities.
Planned construction of several upgrade projects in the Parksville Community Park are either completed or well underway with completion of all projects expected by year end. The Parksville Outdoor Theatre was completed in July 2022, surfacing and play equipment upgrades to Lions Ventureland Playground and the resurfacing of the racquet courts to accommodate pickleball and tennis were completed earlier this year. Yet to come is completion of the new gathering plaza, accessibility upgrades and a new washroom facility.
The City of Parksville and Parksville Beach Festival are working together to accommodate the world class sand sculpting exhibition and special events during construction of the gathering plaza. Because visitor experience and safety are important to both Parksville Beach Festival and the City, work underway at the gathering plaza will be reduced to help ensure an enjoyable visit to the park. Once again, we thank residents and park visitors for their patience and understanding during construction.
Most of the park including such areas as the sports fields, Lions Ventureland Playground, waterfront walkway and beach area are accessible to the public. During the five weeks of Parksville Beach Festival, there will be no road closures in the park, washrooms near the festival site are open to the public, additional accessible parking spots are available near the playground, and until further notice, food trucks will be located along Sandcastle Drive towards Arbutus Point.
The community event scheduled for September 16 to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Parksville Community Park will be postponed until spring 2024.
Please refer to Let’s Talk Parksville for information about the City’s improvements to amenities in the Parksville Community Park.
For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
250 954-3073; communications@parksville.ca(External link)
July 7, 2023
LINK TO PDF(External link)
At the July 5 meeting, Council approved the contract award to Milestone Contracting for construction of the new washroom building and accessibility improvements in the Parksville Community Park. The contract award was for $1.450 million with $600,000 allocated from the Growing Communities Fund Reserve.
Demand for additional and accessible washroom facilities continues to increase as more residents and tourists visit the Parksville Community Park and from increased attendance at community events and festivals hosted in the park as well as new amenities including the Parksville Outdoor Theatre, gathering plaza, and popular accessible Lions Ventureland Playground.
The accessibility improvements will enhance safety and pedestrian movement to and from the sand courts, playground and gravel parking area, and construct new outdoor showers and a multi-vehicle pullout for drop-off purposes. Combining the relocated washroom building and site improvements into a single project is logical due to shared location in the park. This project also provides an opportunity to extend accessible connectivity from the large gravel parking area to the new gathering plaza, existing washrooms near the playground, waterfront walkway, and to the arboretum and racquet courts through to the new outdoor theatre.
The washroom and accessibility improvements project is a combination of Council approved projects which support goals to build a new accessible washroom building, increase park safety and accessibility, enhance pedestrian circulation, and build better connections to amenities in the park. These elements were identified as action items in the Community Park Master Plan (2017) and support the Parks, Trails and Open Spaces Master Plan (2018).
In February, the City of Parksville received $4.789 million from the new Growing Communities Fund. This funding provided one-time assistance to local governments across British Columbia for projects which support community growth. The funding amounts were determined by the population size and growth of each of the 188 municipalities and regional districts receiving the funds.
Please refer to Let’s Talk Parksville for information about the many improvements to the Parksville Community Park.
June 14, 2023
LINK TO PDF(External link)
The City has been working with contractor, Milestone Equipment Contracting, to establish a firm schedule for necessary road closures as part of the gathering plaza project in the Parksville Community Park. To achieve this work, project construction will require two temporary closures of road access to Sandcastle Drive to vehicles this summer. Signage will be posted at the entrance and throughout the park.
The first closure will begin on Monday, June 19 through Monday, July 3 with regular vehicle access to Sandcastle Drive closed at Salish Sea Drive. Sandcastle Drive along to Arbutus Point will be open to pedestrians and bicycles. Additional accessible parking will be available near the Lions Ventureland Playground on Salish Sea Drive. Vehicle parking in the gravel lots near the sports fields and behind the curling rink will be open for public use.
This planned construction schedule ensures Sandcastle Drive will be open for this summer’s popular Parksville Beach Festival and Quality Foods Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition to be held July 13 to August 20. Sandcastle Drive will close again on August 23 to accommodate project completion. As with previous years to facilitate Canada Day celebrations and activities, the Parksville Community Park will be closed to all vehicles.
The City sincerely understands and apologizes for the disruption to residents and visitors who will use the park during this time. Please refer to Let’s Talk Parksville for information about the many planned improvements to the Parksville Community Park.
The City recognizes that over the extremely busy weekend just past, the service in the public washrooms in the Parksville Community Park did not meet capacity. Due to construction of the gathering plaza, the washroom building near the gazebo is closed and although we brought in additional portable toilets, these facilities were not able to keep up with demand. Ongoing vandalism to the washrooms is also of concern to the City.
Significant improvements to the current situation are being made prior to the upcoming long weekend which we hope will address concerns expressed by park users:
- Four additional portable toilets will be added making a total of 18 portables. Eight near the playground, four at the north side of the gathering plaza project, two at Arbutus Point, and four south of the playground. The KinHut washroom near the sports field is also open to the public.
- Three handwashing stations will accompany each pod of four portable toilets with two on the south side of the playground and one at the north side of the construction. City staff will ensure there is water.
- An increase in the cleaning service on all portable toilets by our contractor with service on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. City staff will monitor, clean and add toilet paper when required.
The gathering plaza project, along with other significant improvements will make the park more enjoyable for users, improving safety and accessibility while addressing the need for multiuse facilities. We sincerely apologize for the disruptions experienced by park visitors as the improvements throughout the park are completed over the next few months.
Let’s Talk Parksville and the City’s website(External link) will continue to provide updated timelines and details.
May 12, 2023
LINK TO PDF(External link)
Work on our many upgrade projects in the Parksville Community Park which began in March are now well underway including the construction of the new gathering plaza.
Areas of the park adjacent the gathering plaza project are unfortunately affected by construction. The washrooms near the gazebo remain closed and the splash park which would typically open this weekend will also remain closed until further notice. We are working with the contractor to do our best to see the splash park open as soon as possible but, in the meantime, nature’s splash park, the Parksville beach is always open!
Visitors to the park should expect significant disruptions over the next three months. We appreciate the patience of park users as we work to complete the planned projects which also include sports court resurfacing to start next week, a new washroom building and improvements to the volleyball events area, skatepark and pedestrian and vehicle connections throughout the 100-year-old Parksville Community Park. Additional portable washrooms are available throughout the park and visitors should expect intermittent closures to Sandcastle Drive. The gravel lot behind the curling club is open for public use.
The gathering plaza project will transform a central area in the heart of the park into a new vibrant space for visitors to gather, engage and celebrate. The gathering plaza project, along with other significant improvements, will make the park more enjoyable for users, improving safety and accessibility while addressing the need for multiuse facilities.
This image showing construction progress was captured on May 2.
For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
communications@parksville.ca;(External link) 250 954-3073
Council Report - Contract Award, Parksville Community Park Washroom and Accessibility Improvements (July 5, 2023)
