One of the "worst parks in Vancouver" to receive $4 million redesign

Yaletown Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Nearly two decades after it was first built, Yaletown Park in downtown Vancouver could see a significant redesign that improves its function and purpose as an inviting public space.

In recent years, this particular City-owned, 0.4-acre urban park at the northwest corner of the intersection of Mainland and Nelson streets has gained some notoriety for being one of the worst public parks in Vancouver, especially for its relatively young age.

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In fact, according to the Vancouver Park Guide website‘s 2020 rankings, compiled by a team led by CBC journalist Justin McElroy, Yaletown Park ranked near the bottom of the list at 233 out of 241 parks across the city.

As described by the Vancouver Park Board, the space is covered with granite block paving, with curving pieces of old granite curbs for informal seating under flowering trees.

Yaletown Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Aerial of Yaletown Park in downtown Vancouver. (Google Earth)

But the park has noticeably seen limited use, as it is neither an optimal green space nor an optimal paved public plaza for lingering and community events. It lacks optimal drainage as a plaza-like space, the uneven paved surface makes it difficult to walk through, and the undulating mounds of paving around the trees give the space a moonscape-like appearance and further limit usability.

Metal structures along the Nelson Street side of the park were intended to be covered by climbing vines, but the growth has never worked as originally intended.

The most prominent feature of the park is just outside of its technical boundaries. On the Mainland Street curbside parking space fronting Yaletown Park, a heritage railway caboose car has been in place since 2011 to celebrate Yaletown’s railway history.

Yaletown Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

yaletown park railway caboose car mainland street

The heritage railway caboose car on Mainland Street fronting Yaletown Park in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

If all goes as planned, Yaletown Park could see a complete overhaul, with the City of Vancouver’s draft 2023-2026 capital plan calling for $67 million in renewal and upgrades of existing parks, including $4 million for Yaletown Park, $10 million for the first phase of upgrading the West End’s waterfront parks (Sunset and English Beach), and $16.8 million for a renewed and expanded public park in Southeast False Creek between Science World and Olympic Village.

“The 2023-26 Capital Plan identified funding to redevelop Yaletown Park and we look forward to developing this space to respond to the goals outlined in VanPlay, Vancouver’s Parks and Recreation Services Master Plan, and help serve the needs of park users and the community,” reads a Park Board statement provided to Daily Hive Urbanized.

“This work will be funded through the Downtown South Development Cost Levy and any changes to the park would be subject to an extensive public engagement process. Funding is available to advance this work within the 2023-26 Capital Plan, but no timelines have been confirmed at this stage.”

The Park Board and Vancouver City Council will consider the draft capital plan this March, as part of its 2023 budgeting process.

Based on the draft capital plan’s proposal, planning for the Yaletown Park design could begin in 2024, with construction starting by the end of 2026 and completion by 2028.

There are some limitations on what kind of improvements can be achieved at this park site, as it sits directly on top of the underground parkade serving Wall Financial Corporation’s abutting Yaletown Park condominium complex.

The existing park was designed by landscape architectural firm Durante Kreuk, with the developer providing $500,000 towards the park’s construction, and the municipal government covering the remaining half through the Downtown South Development Cost Levy.

The condominium complex’s ground level activates its Yaletown Park frontage with retail spaces. Starbucks was the longtime tenant of the largest retail space up until late 2019. In early 2022, the former Starbucks space reopened as Ignite Pizzeria.

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