The Metro Vancouver Regional District Parks System is one of the jewels of our region. There are 354 buildings within regional parks with a total assessed value of $267 million that are maintained by the regional district. Another 40 are managed by other organizations within regional parks. Some of the buildings are for public use, such as washrooms, picnic shelters, and concessions. Others support park operations, and others are special-purpose, such as caretaker homes, heritage buildings, or vacant buildings. The regional district recently completed an audit of all buildings they managed within their parks.
There is a cost to maintaining buildings, and the park system's goal is to protect nature and connect people with nature. With this in mind, the regional district considered which buildings should be maintained, kept for now, or removed through sustainable deconstruction practices. The regional district assessment found that 74% of its buildings should be maintained, 11% should be put on the keep-for-now list, and 15% should be removed.
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| Example of a derelict barn that is slated for removal. |
Some buildings support wildlife, including bats, barn owls, swallows, swifts, river otters, and skunks. For any building slated for deconstruction that supports this wildlife, additional measures will be implemented to ensure the wildlife isn’t affected, including providing replacement habitat, such as owl nesting boxes.
For example, in Aldergrove Regional Park, the following buildings have been slated for removal in the audit:
- Barn
- Horse Feed Storage Shed
- Louck's Big Barn
- Main Barn Rental Outbuilding
- North Shed Rental Outbuilding
- Rental House Rental House
- Storage Shed Rental Outbuilding
- Storage Shed 1
- Rental Outbuilding
- Storage Shed 2
- Tackroom Shed
As for next steps, the audit will help guide the maintenance of buildings within the parks and also which buildings will be removed over time.
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