Overview
The Prince George Community Foundation, Rotary Club of Prince George, and Colliers Project Leaders are proposing a mega park in Prince George. The cost of design and purchase of play structures would be funded by these proponents. They have approached the City to inquire if the City would like to partner with them on the project.
It is assumed the City will provide the land and the services to the property such as water, sewer and power as well as basic park amenities such as parking and washrooms. The City will also be responsible for all regular maintenance and insurance costs. Those costs are not known at this time.
Before making a decision, City Council would like to know if Prince George citizens are interested in this amenity by conducting a survey. The survey closes on June 9 at 4:30pm.
The most suitable location for this park is the six-acre site near the corner of Ospika Blvd. and 22nd Ave.
Other features have not been determined but the proposed park would include:
- Pump track
- Junior Adventure Park (18 months – 5 years)
- Youth Adventure Park (5+ years)
- Senior Friendly Outdoor Fitness Station
- Spray park
- Accessible Playground
Parks Background
Currently the City owns and maintains over 19 square kilometres of parks and open spaces. This is the almost equal to five Stanley Parks.
- 50 playgrounds (one is accessible)
- 11 basketball courts
- 3 volleyball courts
- 13 tennis courts
- 4 pickleball court
- 2 lacrosse boxes
- 3 skate/bike parks
- 1 lawn bowling pitch
- 106 km of trails
- 37 hectares of sports fields (18 soccer fields and 25 ball diamonds)
- 200 hectares of park greens
- 5 off leash dog parks
At the time of the 2017 Park Strategy, the City owned 66 playgrounds and 50 per cent were more than 31 years old. It was also determined that more than 50 per cent of the City’s playgrounds and hard surface courts were in need of repairs or replacement. Since this report, the City has removed 19 playgrounds, replaced 18 others and added 2 new.
A 2015 assessment of the City’s parks and expenses found that when compared to Kamloops and Lethbridge (similar population sizes), Prince George had the largest inventory of parkland (more than twice as much) and the smallest annual budget (less than one quarter of the other two cities).