Parksville Community Park Improvements

August 31, 2023

LINK TO PDF

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

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 100^th 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

July 7, 2023

LINK TO PDF

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

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 will continue to provide updated timelines and details.

May 12, 2023

LINK TO PDF

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; 250 954-3073

March 21, 2023

LINK TO PDF

Work on the new gathering plaza for the Parksville Community Park has begun. The gathering plaza project will transform a central area in the heart of the park into a new vibrant space for visitors to the park to gather, engage and celebrate. The gathering plaza project, along with other significant improvements planned for this year, will make the park more enjoyable for users, improving safety and accessibility while addressing the need for multiuse facilities.

Construction fencing has been installed and portable toilets are now in place. The public washroom near the gazebo will soon be closed for several weeks to allow for the installation of underground services. While this washroom is closed, signage will direct people to the portable toilets as well as the Kin Hut washrooms near the sports fields.

Visitors to the park should expect significant disruptions over the next six months and we do appreciate the patience of park users as we work to complete several planned improvement projects which also includes sports court resurfacing, 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.

The upgrade to the Lions Ventureland Playground is nearing completion and should be ready for visitors the week of March 27, weather dependent.

Let’s Talk Parksville and the City’s website will provide updated timelines and details.

For more information:
Deb Tardiff, Manager of Communications
dtardiff@parksville.ca; 250 954-3073