A new-look activity hub could be on its way to Mission.
An updated plan for the Mission Leisure Centre and Centennial Park corridor was presented to council on Feb. 20 by parks director Louis Dauphin.
Dauphin presented a birds-eye-view of the sites with locations of new features. Council unanimously approved bringing the project forward for public engagement.
However, Mission Mayor Paul Horn hopes there will be more visual renderings available for public engagement.
“I cannot emphasize this enough – it is about diagrams, it is about visions. This aerial view gets us to start but I really would like us to … give people a picture that this shows what a park could actually look like. We’re so used to the humble here and I think that we forget that we can have something that’s a lasting beautiful thing.
Initial concepts for the Leisure Centre area would remove the baseball/softball field and replace it with a soccer field, basketball court and tennis courts. The surrounding area would also include a new youth foundry building, boardwalk, community garden, expanded parking, and revised spray park, in addition to existing features.
Coun. Carol Hamilton says different activities such as a horseshoe pit or table tennis should be incorporated into the Leisure Centre hub if the diamond is repurposed.
Meanwhile, updates to Centennial Park would include an amphitheatre, accessible paths, washrooms, lights for tennis courts and a BC Heritage site. Upgrades to the playground, dog park, lacrosse box and parking were also a part of the plan.
Horn would like to incorporate a walkway into an area of Centennial Park west of the lacrosse box and near tee one of the disc golf course.
“It’s the place that discs and balls go to die and there is no finding them ever again unless you’re willing to do battle with the brambles monster,” Horn said.
Coun. Mark Davies says it’s important to think about the user experience of the park going forward.
“What is the experience of a resident in the spring or the summer or the fall or the winter when they’re going through this hub? If they’re walking up, is there different lighting at different times? Are we doing events? What’s Christmas in Centennial Park like? I think that needs to be somehow worked into this and spoken to,” Davies said.
Last year, council earmarked $1.5 million for improvements to Centennial Park and $2 million for upgrades to the lacrosse box via the the province’s Growing Communities Fund.
Horn says the phasing of the project will be important moving forward.
“I think people in the community have a right to know that we’re not talking about necessarily building all of this at once for a whole bunch of reasons,” he said.
The potential new high school in the area could impact the plan, depending on the needs of the district during construction.
Public engagement is the next step for the activity hub plan. The city will consult with the Mission Sports Council, among other stakeholders as part of the process.
READ MORE: Initial concept for destination spray park presented to Mission council