Park Board considering new years-long attraction at Queen Elizabeth Park

The temporary zipline atop Queen Elizabeth Park in Summer 2015. (Daily Hive)

Could there be a new years-long attraction at Queen Elizabeth Park just in time for the fair-weather seasons?

The Vancouver Park Board has begun the process of seeking interest from a company interested in designing, implementing, and operating an attraction-based experience at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Currently, the procurement process is amidst the Request For Expression Of Interest (RFEOI) stage, with the experienced proponents invited to indicate their interest and submit their preliminary ideas to the Park Board by no later than March 19, 2024.

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The selected operator will have to move quickly, as the intention is to have the attraction ready for public enjoyment by later this spring or summer. The term for operating the attraction is three years, with an opportunity to extend.

The attraction will operate daily based on agreed-upon dates and hours, weather, and safety concerns, ensure site safety and maintenance at all times, and make operational considerations around affordability and accessibility.

Queen Elizabeth Park’s fountains and the Bloedel Conservatory. (karamysh/Shutterstock)

Views of the downtown Vancouver skyline and North Shore mountains atop Queen Elizabeth Park. (kwho/Shutterstock)

Furthermore, the operator will “provide significant revenue streams” back to the Park Board based on an agreed-upon structure and schedule.

Octavio Silva, the manager of business development at the Park Board, told Daily Hive Urbanized the initiative falls under the umbrella of the “Think Big” strategy, which was approved by the Park Board’s elected commissioners in July 2023. This strategy aims to generate new long-term and sustainable revenues to help support the costs of operating and improving Vancouver’s parks and recreation system.

“This RFEOI follows the Park Board’s procurement policy which seeks to create open, transparent and competitive procurement process that provide [the] best value for the Park Board and its citizens,” said Silva.

A new additional attraction that would operate for years at Queen Elizabeth Park could not only provide the Park Board with much-needed new revenue, but also help increase foot traffic and visitation, and support other attractions and businesses at the park, including the Bloedel Conservatory.

queen elizabeth park ferris wheel zipline f.jpg

The temporary attractions of the Ferris wheel and zipline at Queen Elizabeth Park. (@hsuehchiayu/Daily Hive)

Silva did not provide any specific examples of what the attraction-based experience could be, but there are precedents for this specific park, which takes advantage of the park being on Vancouver’s highest elevation and its accompanying views of the downtown Vancouver skyline and North Shore mountains.

Queen Elizabeth Park has been a location of choice in the past for other attraction-based experiences, but within a much narrower window of operation, lasting for only weeks or months.

In the summer of 2015, the Park Board permitted a pilot project to partner with a private company to operate a temporary zipline attraction above the quarry garden at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Over its 87 days of actual operation (weather permitting days), the zipline saw about 23,600 riders, with 75% coming to Queen Elizabeth Park just for the zipline. The private operator generated a total of $335,000 in revenue, with $45,000 going to the Park Board based on the formula of a Park Board return of 10% for $75,000 to $250,000 of the revenues, 35% for $250,000 to $400,000, and 40% for over $400,000.

For about a month, timed with the Christmas 2016 season, the Bloedel Conservatory’s special holiday programming included the nightly operation of a Ferris wheel.

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