Bright may be an understatement. The City of Vancouver has turned one of downtown’s often grey and dreary alley ways into a vibrant pink and yellow urban park.
Located in an alley south of West Hastings between Seymour and Granville, the road and walls have been splashed with colour and decorated with basketball hoops. It’s now a place where people are meant to mingle and play.
“We wanted to make them more than just service corridors for dumpsters and vehicles and make them play spaces, as we know land is at a premium these days,” said Charles Gauthier, president and CEO of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA).
The project was a collaboration between the DVBIA, the City of Vancouver’s VIVA Vancouver program, and HCMA Architecture + Design.
“At about six o’clock they’re empty. We thought it was a way to activate the fallow time and also for people during the day around here who work in the business to come here and have a little fun at lunchtime,” said HCMA Architecture designer Steve Dipasquale.
In the next few weeks, more furniture, a “geolocation orb,” and decorative lighting will be installed. Both people and vehicles will be permitted to use the lane.
This is just the first in a series of redesigned alleys the “More Awesome Now” project will target. Transformations are also planned for at least two more locations, including east of Granville between Smithe and Robson Street and south of Alberni between Burrard and Bute Street.
The cost of the campaign runs at $200,000, paid for by the City and the DVBIA.
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