Tag Archives: grandview park

People’s Park Still Under Attack

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This morning during a walk along Commercial Drive I wandered past Grandview Park. Last year the park had been hotbed of protest from self-appointed “stewards” who saw any development/renos as tantamount to treason to the “alternative” roots of the Drive. In an article authored by Gumboot correspondent Michelle Burtnyk-Horn, we explored the controversial issue. Then after much bluster and a few acts of horrible vandalism by anarchists, the renos went forward and hundreds of thousands of federal and municipal dollars were poured into the upgrade the park.

Are paint bombs what we can expect moving forward?

Today Grandview park has been transformed. Gorgeous and fresh grass is everywhere (good by worn dirt patches). An awesome jungle gym rises above a state-of-the-art playground. To the south of the park is one of Vancouver’s first dedicated bike polo courts. Tucked next to Stellas is a recently opened gorgeous and clean bathroom. Despite all of these improvements, it seems a small vicious group, having lost the war, have decided to keep fighting a battle under the cover of night. Last night, several agitators broke into the park smearing the new washroom with paint and throwing paint bombs at the windows of the new restroom facility. When I spoke with parks officials this morning they were as frustrated as I was. The clean up team’s supervisor predicted this would just be the start of the vandalism.

I truly hope not because it makes me mad just thinking about this sort of thing happening every couple weeks. Unfortunately, something tells me he’s likely right. This sort of careless (seemingly ideologically motivated) property destruction is offensive but common in many parts of the Drive where people seem to cling to the past rather than embracing the present and looking forward to the future.

If this property damage continues, it makes me wonder what can be done to stop it. More police patrols? Maybe, but can they really be there all the time? Could cameras be installed? Likely that would only incense some of the agitators more. But do we really want to be held hostage by people who would vandalize community murals? These are some tough questions that I and other Commercial Drive residents will likely need to ask. In my mind sacrificing a little privacy to catch some of these criminals may be worth it.

Your Digital Fill – When Community Consultation Breaks Down

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Kinda sad. Kinda crazy. Kinda something. See what happened at a recent Park Board meeting at Strathcona Community Centre when the Vancouver Park Board met with residents and community activists (and crazy people) to discuss the Grandview Park re-design.

Grandview Park – a redesign for beautification or gentrification?

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Grandview Park ... all guns and drugs? Or good 'ol family fun?

 I vividly remember listening to a lively CBC radio debate – lively enough that the tension seemed to permeate along with the radio waves through the room – in Fall 2008 about the potential redesign of Grandview Park in East Vancouver. Stephanie Maingot, Commercial Drive resident, was advocating for the allotment of $1 million from the city in order to ‘redesign’ the park, which she described as being fraught with drug dealing, crime, violence and illegal protests. The tension within the interview arose when Ms. Maingot was unable to pinpoint exactly how these funds would be used to address these issues, and was likely fuelled by the fact that the radio host, at the height of the interview, slipped in the fact that he is a proud East Van resident. Ms. Maingot’s plight is supported by both a group of neighbors calling themselves the ‘Friends of Grandview Park’ and the Commercial Drive Business Improvement Association. For more on Ms. Maingot’s views, check out this Vancouver Courier story in which she was interviewed on the topic. 

Earlier this year, the Vancouver Parks Board announced that this redesign project was approved, with construction set to begin in Summer 2010. The ‘Friends of Grandview Park’ were very involved in this approval process, presenting to the Parks Board on the necessity of this redesign. More details and conceptual design options can be found on the Parks Board site. Of course, there are those in opposition to the redesign, stating gentrification of the area as their main concern. The argument can be found on their Defend Grandview  website. 

Now. I live quite close to Grandview Park, and frequent it regularly. I’ve seen some shady transactions take place, very open displays of drunkenness, and homeless people sleeping in bushes. I’ve also seen amazing drum circles, children playing, and lovers picnicking. DG correspondent Kurt Heinrich was lucky enough to see a bike polo match the other weekend (which may or may not be played by resident ‘hipsters’). One can’t help but feel a sense of community when visiting Grandview Park, and if not accept, then tolerate the more systemic issues that confront residents that frequent the park. I don’t have anything against the redesign, per se – I can’t really argue against park improvements such as a better drainage system, new playground equipment, and more benches and flowerbeds – but it seems to me that a $1 million dollar redesign of the area will do little to address the more systemic issues that face the individuals who visit Grandview Park and the surrounding area. How will this redesign address homelessness? Mental health and addiction concerns? Poverty?  Is the intention of the ‘Friends of Grandview Park’ group to see these individuals move along to another park, or are there other initiatives happening parallel to this that provide support for our community members? If so, I haven’t seen any indication that this is occurring.. As a wise man once said, “Every society is judged by how it treats the least fortunate amongst them”.

Hipster Bike Polo Comes to the Drive

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What do you get when you combine trash talking, Marxist philosophizing, skinny jeans wearing hipsters, bikes, trendy bowl helmets and plastic mallets? Why hipster bike polo of course.

Yesterday afternoon I had the fortune of pitching a lawn chair, beer in hand to watch a group of 12 guys (and a couple girls) zoom around the south side of three parallel tennis courts mounted on there trusty “steeds”. I was stationed on the grass above the tennis courts of Grandview Park  on the drive and was fortunate enough to take in several matches.

Each game was three aside. Each side’s goal was marked by two cones a few feet apart, that like hockey stood several feet from the back wall allowing polo players to zip around behind the goal and even pass the ball, backwards through the cones, to players waiting in front.

As a sipped my beer, loud Arcade Fire and other indie beats blasted from a boom box (that’s what we’re calling it these days!) on the other side of the tennis courts as the waiting polo players drank beers, smoked a joint, mowed on snacks and fixed upside down bikes that had been jostled during the last match. Inflatable rubber tubing was everywhere.

So was hardcore hipster sports action.

The whole scene was a groovy window into a community I’d never really witnessed first hand before. It had its own culture and its own vibe. I was surprised to see that despite one handed steering and the somewhat limited mobility of a bike, no one was splayed out on the concrete from a “hardcore” crash. In fact there were hardly any collisions at all. Perhaps its the sport itself, or maybe its the hipsters that were playing it. Could these fine young lads be far off from the upper crust British polo fore-bearers of centuries past? You be the judge!