PARK RENEWAL AIMS TO PLEASE KIDS AND FAMILIES, NOT DRUG
USERS

Grandview Park To Get $1.5 Million Facelift For Beautification And A
Design Aimed At Deterring Crime

On a typical day in Grandview Park, children and parents play in the
rundown playground beneath rows of large leafy trees. But on a
concrete plaza a stone's throw away, there is another sort of gathering.

Usually it consists of young men openly drinking beer, smoking
cigarettes and sharing a joint. The Commercial Drive park is also home
to drug dealers who sell crack, heroin and more.

The uncomfortable divide is driving the Vancouver park board to
redesign the area, which is one of the most highly used inner-city
parks.

Planners hope the changes will open up the popular area to more
activities and help discourage crime, says a landscape designer for
the Vancouver park board.

"Sight lines will be improved in the new design. There will be a large
new open grass area -- something the park hasn't had in a long time,"
David Yurkovich said of the $1.5-million project, slated to begin in
July.

The renewal project is the result of lobbying by local residents who
feel the park is rundown and prone to crime.

Yurkovich said residents identified an area close to the playground as
"partly problematic" and requested the new playground be separated
more from the rest of the amenities.

A local resident who uses the park frequently with his girlfriend and
her children explained the problem.

"That's a high-dollar drug-trafficking business right there," said
Troy Wolfe, pointing to a group of young men.

"It's crack, crystal meth and heroin. ... You have little kids with
their parents walking past these guys every day," said Wolfe.

Daniel Gray, father of a three-year-old daughter, acknowledged there
are parts of the park he avoids and said the park could use a facelift.

"The kids in the summer want to take their shoes off and run in bare
feet, but there's just no way they can do that. I wouldn't take the
chance," Gray said as he pushed his daughter on a swing.

Some of the young men who frequent the park deny dealing drugs and say
they take steps to respect the family space.

Donny James, who was hanging out at the plaza, said he and his friends
were simply enjoying the sunshine and drinking beer. He acknowledged
some parents have complained, but he feels his friends are entitled to
use the plaza.

"Sensible parents aren't going to let their kids come down here [to
the plaza] and hang out with a bunch of adults drinking beer and
smoking cigarettes," said James, who also welcomes the
improvements.

Grandview Park is one square block in the heart of Commercial Drive
and is characterized by its large trees and sloping ground.

Among the proposed changes are making the park more visible from the
street; building a new playground and water park across from the
daycare; moving the existing field house to create a large, open grass
area; building new washrooms at the corner of Commercial and William
Street; and planting new gardens to beautify the park.

"I think if we change the physical layout, the kids can use all the
elements of the park," said Louise Debruijne, a volunteer at a local
daycare.

The park will be closed for construction from July to March 2011.