Park Board to repair and reopen Harbour Green Dock in Coal Harbour

The dock at Harbour Green Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

After being closed for more than four years, the Vancouver Park Board has reversed course on the future of the Harbour Green Dock, located at Harbour Green Park just west of the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Work is now underway by a contractor to repair the floating structure to reopen its use as a public pedestrian walkway and short-term recreational moorage. In addition to repairs, the structure will become more resilient to the conditions of Coal Harbour.

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The Park Board anticipates the work on the dock will reach completion in Summer 2022.

The dock has been closed to the public and all vessels since February 2018, when the state of deterioration led to structural issues. The Park Board previously stated the dock’s original design failed to dissipate the berthing energy of vessels, and the structure was affected by the wakes of the high volume of vessel traffic in Vancouver harbour. Additionally, the dock has seen misuse from larger vessels that exceed the capacity of the dock.

Over the decade prior to the dock’s prolonged closure, four separate repairs were conducted on the structure, which entails a concrete float and gangway supported by piles.

The dock at Harbour Green Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

In Spring 2019, Park Board commissioners approved the decommissioning and removal of the dock and its temporary storage at an off-site location, with the structure eventually repaired for future use. But this work to remove the dock from the location was never carried out.

The Park Board has indicated it determined in February 2020 that moving the structure over a long distance would cause significantly more damage than leaving it in place. Furthermore, an appropriate and cost-effective storage site located nearby could not be found. The pandemic delayed the process of commencing the repair work.

At the time of the 2019 decision, it was deemed that restoration work on the dock would cost between $350,000 and $550,000, while a full rebuild to accommodate larger vessels would cost over $2 million. The Park Board states the current upgrades being performed have a contract value of $462,400.

The dock was built in 2003 as a community amenity contribution by development in Coal Harbour.

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