An Embarassment
We took a walk around the False Creek Seawall on Saturday, eager to see the now-completed Athlete’s Village and how they’ve fixed everything up along the seawall to welcome the world.
But the condition of the seawall in North East False Creek hasn’t improved. It’s still a small strip of dilapidated asphalt bordered by sections of rusty chain link fence at each end, and there is a lot of litter along the way.
Instead of the new landscaping we expected to see, Concord has sprayed a soylent green all over the bordering dirt and grass. God only knows what it’s leaching into False Creek. That plastic spray-lawn may be green in colour, but it’s anything but a green welcome to the world’s athletes and media.
Soylent Green?
(More photographs available here.)
Concord has had twenty years to complete that section of the seawall, yet it still isn’t finished. It’s very narrow compared to the rest of the wall, and there’s no separate bike lane despite repeated requests. The large crowds spread across the entire width of the walkway are clearly frustrating the cyclists that usually tear past.
Is this really the best we can do to welcome the world to our city? Is this the best we can do for the residents who live in this community? It’s not that Concord has done nothing. They have. They took away everything in their storage yard adjacent to BC Place referred to by many as an industrial junkyard. It was removed at taxpayer expense, mind you, and they’ve vowed to bring it all back again after the Olympics are gone, but still, they did do that.
And they’ve sprayed seawall borders with that green, lawn-like substance, and put up large, bright, colourful banners advertising condo towers on the very site they promised to develop into Creekside Park. They’ve also done that.
Condos Instead of Creekside Park. What kind of Vision is that?
But the rest of the city looks great. It’s a shame that this is the section of seawall the world’s athletes, their families and media have to walk past every day.
It wasn’t Concord. The City sprayed the seawall… they also cut down the cottonwoods. I asked them when they were doing it why they were cutting down trees and I was told “they are weeds”.
Concord Pacific currently has a legal obligation to build a park on this site. Their flagrant disregard for this legal obligation is shocking. But what is even more shocking is that the City Council is aware that Concord’s banners falsely portray that site and yet the City does nothing.
Perhaps Council’s view of a green city is nothing more than spray paint.
Hi Tim, it actually was Concord – that’s their private property right now. Concord also cut down 13 trees on the waterfront for which they face by-law violations and a fine of up to $20,000 each. The news article is here: http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=25541c36-da95-479a-83ec-7e265cf5597b
Uhmmmm… wonder — the yucky green stuff looks like industrial grade lawn seed. I remember watching them men in white suits spray a pay with this stuff and — well — grass grew out of it….
Uhmmmm… wonder — the yucky green stuff looks like industrial grade lawn seed. I remember watching the men in white suits spray a redeveloped park with this stuff and — well — grass grew out of it….