Park Board outlines three major redesign options for West End beaches

Park Board outlines three major redesign options for West End beach park areas

Option 2: "Carve" for the West End waterfront. (Vancouver Park Board/City of Vancouver)

A complete redesign of downtown Vancouver’s West End beaches and parks fronting English Bay is being pondered, based on the work performed to date as part of a years-long planning process.

Staff with the Vancouver Park Board and City of Vancouver today released three potential concept options for a new round of public consultation, with the intent being to make the waterfront more resilient to rising sea levels, while also improving public spaces for leisure, recreation, gatherings, and events.

The master plan project spans an area of 95 acres, including English Bay Beach, Sunset Beach Park, Morton Park, Alexandra Park, and Beach Avenue.

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The planning process began before the pandemic, and a third-party team comprised of Vancouver-based landscape architectural firm PFS Studio and Oslo-based Snohetta was contracted in September 2020 to perform design and planning work.

While there are clear differences and tradeoffs between the three conceptual designs, all of the options have some common features, notably raising and extending the higher ground at English Bay and Sunset beaches.

Site area for the English Bay Beach Park and Sunset Beach Park master planning process. (City of Vancouver)

English Bay Beach. (Shutterstock)

All options include a separated bike lane on Beach Avenue and Pacific Avenue, eliminating short sections of the Beach Avenue and Davie Street roadways to seamlessly tie in the English Bay Beach waterfront area with Moncton Park (where the “A-maze-ing Laughter” laughing men statues are located) — accompanied by major design changes to the area of the intersection of Davie and Denman streets — and design changes to Beach Avenue east of Jervis Street.

As well, TransLink’s No. 23 Main Street-Science World Station/English Bay bus route, which uses a small community bus shuttle, would continue to use Bidwell Street with the route ending on Davie Street, and there would be “connecting transit” into Stanley Park.

The large surface parking lot at Sunset Beach Park would be replaced by green spaces and/or a sport field in all of the options. It is also noted the specific vehicle parking needs of the future new replacement of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre will be determined at a later date.

All options also include a new replacement or improved ferry dock at its current location next to the aquatic centre, and an upgraded adjacent dog beach.

The inclusion of additional pavilions, concessions, spaces for food carts/trucks also aligns with the Park Board’s call to explore new additional revenue options.

Palm trees at Sunset Beach at English Bay in downtown Vancouver. (Shutterstock)

sunset beach park parking lot pop-up plaza june 5 2021

Installation of the pop-up plaza at the Sunset Beach Park parking lot on June 5, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

With a growing local population on the downtown Vancouver peninsula, as well as a growing city and regional population and increasing tourism visitation, there is a need for new additional and improved functional public spaces, while also adapting measures that help mitigate the impacts of rising sea levels.

Here is a breakdown of the three different design concepts:

Option 1: “Weave”

A new lawn area replaces part of the sandy beach area of Sunset Beach to establish a larger area for events and festivals. A new event-supporting pavilion is also located adjacent to this event-friendly space.

The seawall is raised, and steps or terraces for seating and water access are added, along with new gathering spaces.

A new “Welcome Centre” multi-purpose building with community spaces and a concession/cafe serving would be built on the northern end of English Bay Beach, near the foot of Gilford Street. To the west of the Welcome Centre, an enhanced tidal habitat will be created.

An additional food and beverage area is eyed for Sunset Beach Area near the foot of Broughton Street. The English Bay Bathhouse will be completely rebuilt.

A skatepark is incorporated into the easternmost end of the waterfront area, directly underneath the Burrard Street Bridge.

A bike lane will run through part of the green space between Burrard and Cardero streets — roughly half the length of the park. This is in addition to the bike lane on Beach Avenue and Pacific Avenue.

Furthermore, Beach Avenue’s configuration will be a two-way street west of Denman Street, and one-way east of Jervis Street. It is noted the No. 23 bus route will remain on Pacific Street east of Jervis Street.

Overall, this option prioritizes optimizing the public use and activation of the entire beach park area.

west end waterfront concept vancouver park board april 2023 weave

Option 1: “Weave” for the West End waterfront. Click on the image for an expanded version. (Vancouver Park Board/City of Vancouver)

Option 2: “Carve”

This option also entails an enhanced tidal habitat on the westernmost end of English Bay Beach, but with the added feature of a looping structure that extends over the water to create a unique pedestrian pathway and public space.

Instead of a “Welcome Centre,” the area adjacent to the tidal habitat would be used for the new location of a replacement bathhouse building, which would be a key feature of the new public plaza at the corner of the intersection of Beach Avenue and Davie Street — where Morton Park is currently located. A waterplay/splash pad feature would also be another feature of the plaza area.

On the easternmost end of the waterfront area, next to the aquatic centre, there would be another structure over water to create a unique pathway for both pedestrians and cyclists. The designated bike path through a part of the park runs between Burrard and Bute streets — about one-third of the length of the park.

It includes a concession building, more space for food carts/trucks, and an event-supporting pavilion next to the “Festival Lawn” — where the Sunset Beach Park parking lot is currently located.

This concept also introduces some rainwater gardens and intertidal areas, in addition to the tidal habitat. But it does not propose raising the section of seawall in the area.

As for the changes to Beach Avenue, it will be two-way west of Denman Street and one-way between Jervis and Thurlow streets. The No. 23 bus route will be split between Beach Avenue and Pacific Street running in one direction on each street.

Overall, this option introduces improvements to public use and activation, in addition to ecological considerations.

west end waterfront concept vancouver park board april 2023 carve

Option 2: “Carve” for the West End waterfront. Click on the image for an expanded version. (Vancouver Park Board/City of Vancouver)

Option 3: “Seed”

The third option overwhelmingly focuses on ecological considerations at the expense of the full potential for improved recreation and leisure uses, and spaces for events, festivals, gatherings, and other activations.

There would be significant ecological restoration and biodiversity areas, including riparian, salt marsh, and meadow areas.

Pathways for pedestrians would be setback considerably away from the water’s edge, and the existing segment of seawall would be completely buried.

There would be no bike path through the park.

Habitat islands would be created in the waters of English Bay just off the westernmost end of English Bay Beach. Such habitat islands would be similar to the Habitat Island (“Beer Island”) added to East False Creek as part of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Village development.

On the easternmost end of the waterfront area — between the aquatic centre and Burrard bridge — this concept includes a plaza area, skatepark, and sports field.

Beach Avenue will be reconfigured to one-way east of Denman Street and will intersect Denman Street north of Davie Street. Between Jervis Street and Thurlow Street, Beach Avenue will be one-way with traffic calming measures. The No. 23 bus route will remain on Pacific Street east of Jervis Street.

west end waterfront concept vancouver park board april 2023 seed

Option 3: “Seed” for the West End waterfront. Click on the image for an expanded version. (Vancouver Park Board/City of Vancouver)

An online survey for public input is open from now through May 21, 2023.

Feedback gained from this round of public consultation will lead to the creation of a draft final conceptual plan. The final plan will be presented to both Vancouver Park Board commissioners and Vancouver City Council between Fall 2023 and early 2024 for review and decision.

If a master plan concept is approved, it is anticipated the changes will be implemented incrementally over 30 years. Currently, there is no funding in existing capital budgets that is specifically set aside for constructing changes.

In April 2021, a new semi-permanent fixed bike lane design — replacing the previous pandemic-time configuration of traffic cones — opened along Beach Avenue, and re-established the eastbound vehicle traffic lane and the reintroduction of eastbound services on Beach Avenue for the No. 23 bus.

Separately, the Park Board recently started planning work for the replacement of the aging Vancouver Aquatic Centre. The capital budget sets aside $140 million for this project, with targets to begin detailed design work in 2024 and construction in 2026.

April 2021 completion of the fixed bike lane barriers and new configuration of Beach Avenue. (City of Vancouver)

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