New Westminster council is set to vote on a pilot project to revitalize the city’s premier waterfront park, after vandals did nearly half a million dollars of damage to it.
A portion of Westminster Pier Park has been cut off from the continuous riverfront esplanade for more than three years due to an active development site.
That’s resulted in fewer visitors and encouraged an “unsavoury” group of people to gather, drink and party in the park’s more isolated portion, according to New Westminster Coun. Daniel Fontaine.
“The public bathrooms were closed, there was discarded needles in the toilets, there was damage to the inside, significant amount of damage to public toilets at the park as well, and probably more importantly, the children’s playground was off limits for a big chunk of it because of some damage that had taken place to the park itself,” he said.
“We have very little green space, very little park space in the downtown area of New Westminster, so it’s crucial that a park like Pier Park here on the waterfront remains open to families and to kids and unfortunately for many, many, many weeks if not months, it was off limits to parents.”
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According to a staff report headed to council on Monday, the cost of damage to the bathrooms, playground and elevators totalled $458,000 in 2024-2025.
Last month, the riverfront esplanade connecting the River Market to the west end of the park reopened, and the whole park is slated to be open to the public by the end of the summer.
That’s prompted the proposed $419,000 pilot project, which aims to revitalize the area by drawing more visitors, boosting maintenance and deploying more city staff to discourage problem behaviour.
The lion’s share of that money would go to hiring new park liaison officers, who would function similarly to bylaw officers in the park, along with private security.
“We’re going to have more foot patrols, more security kind of there will be some police additional police presence as I understand it, but we’re also going to look at bringing down more security on site during the day and in the evening,” Fontaine said.
“A lot of the damage was happening after dark. That’s when there were these assuming these parties and these various activities that taking place. So there’s going to be more of that 24-7 coverage.”
The plan also includes $30,000 to increase maintenance service levels, including more frequent bathroom cleaning, and $71,000 to stage events and festivals to draw more people down to the park.
“It’s a beautiful waterfront, it’s the jewel of New Westminster right here. And there are people that do come from other parts of the Lower Mainland,” said New Westminster Coun. Paul Minhas.
“It’s a great idea that we have opened it up, people are looking forward to it, I’m looking forward it, and just making sure that the people feel safe is one of key priorities for us in council right now.”
Funding for the plan would come from reallocating dollars from existing city budgets.
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