Parksville Community Park Improvements - Update

July 7, 2023

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.