That time animatronic dinosaurs nearly ruled Stanley Park

Dinosaurs in Stanley Park. (Robert Legere/submitted)

The Vancouver Park Board has long had a history of experiencing financial issues with maintaining some of its destination attractions in major popular parks.

In late 2009, just weeks away from hosting the Winter Olympics, the Park Board initially decided to permanently wind down its operations of the petting zoo in Stanley Park and the Bloedel Conservatory atop Queen Elizabeth Park due to recession impacts to the municipal government’s finances.

A grassroots campaign ultimately saved the Bloedel Conservatory, which is now under the same operating umbrella as Van Dusen Botanical Garden.

You might also like:

But the petting zoo closure went on as planned in 2011, and it was later discovered that dozens of animals had allegedly been inadvertently sent to a slaughterhouse.

More recently, over the past year, there has been much controversy over the Park Board’s poor maintenance practices of the beloved historic Stanley Park miniature railway attraction. After a public outcry to fix the trains and two-km-long tracks, the railway ride attraction is finally set to reopen later this month in time for its Bright Nights in Stanley Park Christmas season return — its first operation since before the pandemic.

In 2007, just before the municipal government’s recession-induced financial issues, the Park Board had plans to create a semi-permanent dinosaur exhibition in the heart of Stanley Park.

News reports at the time indicated the Park Board had a vision to bring in between 25 and 30 life-sized animatronic robotic dinosaurs for a new attraction called “Dinosaur Experience,” which would be located near the miniature railway and petting zoo. Up until the 1990s, this area was previously home to the Stanley Park Zoo.

Dinosaurs in Stanley Park. (Robert Legere/submitted)

Animatronic dinosaur. (Shutterstock)

There would also be an indoor display of skeletons, fossils, and other dinosaur exhibits.

The exhibit would be seasonal for six months each year for three years, starting in 2008. It would run from May 1 to October 31.

This was seen as a revenue-generating opportunity, attracting up to 400,000 people in the first year of the attraction. It was predicted the admission-based attraction could bring in more than $4 million over the first year alone.

But as it turns out, the Park Board started the procurement bidding process for such an attraction without the approval of the elected commissioners. After a month of controversy that the pre-historic exhibit would bring an amusement park-like vibe to the area of Stanley Park, the commissioners shot down the specific idea but remained committed to “look at a broader range of ideas to attract paying customers to the park.”

Sounds familiar? It should because this past summer, the cash-strapped Park Board approved an action plan to identify potential new revenue-generating opportunities to help support the growing cost of maintaining and renewing parks and recreation facilities.

The miniature train provides net revenue for the Park Board; before the pandemic, its annual operating costs were $1.3 million, but the revenue it pulled in each year was over $2 million. In order to fix the attraction in time for the 2023 Christmas season, the Park Board relied on private donations instead of its capital budget.

Within an hour and a half of the start of ticket sales on Thursday morning, all 23,000 train ride tickets across all available slots running six hours every evening from November 30 to January 1 sold out.

Stanley Park Railway’s Easter Train. (Vancouver Park Board)

Stanley Park Railway. (City of Vancouver)

Christmas train mode for the Stanley Park Railway. (Vancouver Park Board)

Easter train mode for the Stanley Park Railway. (Vancouver Park Board)

Just last week, Park Board commissioners also doubled down on optimizing their golf courses, given that they generate major revenues to support the costs of non-golfing parks and recreation programs elsewhere in the city.

Gross revenues across all of the golfing facilities reached over $14 million in 2022, representing a 40% increase from 2019, with nearly $6 million in net revenues directed towards the Park Board’s general budgets for operations and maintenance at non-golfing parks and recreation facilities.

Golf operations are, in fact, the Park Board’s highest revenue-generating activity, followed by recreation admissions and pay parking.

So far, the next biggest revenue-generating idea for the Park Board is an unsolicited recent proposal turn Stanley Park’s former polar bear zoo enclosure into a permanent Scandinavian spa attraction.

The most significant revenue-generating business opportunity rejected by the Park Board happened in 2008, when it voted against the construction of an observation tower atop Queen Elizabeth Park to take advantage of Little Mountain’s panoramic views.

Artistic rendering of the 2008-rejected proposal to build an observation tower at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver. (Henriquez Partners Architects)

Remnants of the former polar bear zoo exhibit of the Stanley Park Zoo:

The abandoned polar bear enclosure of the former Stanley Park Zoo. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Conversion of the former polar bear exhibit of the Stanley Park Zoo into a permanent Scandinavian spa attraction:

stanley park zoo polar bear enclosure spa

Cold and hot pools; conceptual artistic rendering of the spa attraction at the former polar bear enclosure of the closed Stanley Park Zoo. (Tony Osborn Architecture & Design)

Underground cave pool; conceptual artistic rendering of the spa attraction at the former polar bear enclosure of the closed Stanley Park Zoo. (Tony Osborn Architecture & Design)

Cafe in the indoor space; conceptual artistic rendering of the spa attraction at the former polar bear enclosure of the closed Stanley Park Zoo. (Tony Osborn Architecture & Design)

You might also like: