POLICY REPORT

BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT

Date: March 26, 1998

Authors: P.Rutgers/257-8463

M.Desrochers/257-8402

Dept. File No. 1063

CC File No. 8009

TO:	Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM:	General Manager of Community Services General Manager of Parks and Recreation
SUBJECT:	Hastings Park Restoration and P.N.E. Lease Extension

CONSIDERATION

A1)THAT Council accept the letter dated February 12, 1998, from Jan Pullinger, Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture, (attached as Appendix A) as an alternative to the conditions described in resolutions D and G passed by Council when considering a P.N.E. lease extension on April 22, 1997, thereby leading to a termination date of December 31, 1999 for the P.N.E. lease.

A2)THAT no month-to-month extensions of the P.N.E. lease will be granted beyond December 31, 1999.

A3)THAT Council authorize the expenditure of up to $4.2 million on Phase 2 of the Hastings Park Restoration as shown in Appendix C, with specific contracts for landscape design, engineering, removal of asphalt, landscape construction and planting to be let by the Vancouver Park Board. Source of funds to be the Hastings Park Capital Account and Hastings Park Reserve.

OR

B1)THAT Council terminate the lease with the P.N.E. on December 31, 1998.

B2)THAT no month-to-month extensions of the P.N.E. lease will be granted beyond December 31, 1998.

B3)THAT Council authorize the expenditure of up to $4.7 million on an expanded Phase 2 of the Hastings Park Restoration as shown in Appendix D, with specific contracts for landscape design, engineering, removal of asphalt, landscape construction and planting to be let by the Vancouver Park Board. Source of funds to be the Hastings Park Capital Account and Hastings Park Reserve.

(No legal rights shall be deemed to flow from approval of these recommendations until an agreement to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Community Services, the General Manager of Parks and Recreation and the Director of Legal Services has been completed and approved by Park Board and Council.)

GENERAL MANAGER’S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services submits A1, A2 and A3 or B1, B2 and B3 for Council’s CONSIDERATION.

COUNCIL/BOARD POLICY

In January 1990, City Council approved "THAT the site be restored to dominant park use with abundant green space and trees, instead of asphalt and buildings." In March 1997, after a two-year community consultation process, both City Council and Park Board approved the Hastings Park Restoration Plan (see Appendix B).

In November 1994, City Council authorized a legal agreement to be signed with the P.N.E., including a clause that the P.N.E. vacate the site at the end of 1996. In February 1996, the termination date was extended until September 1997. In April 1997, the termination date was extended until the end of 1999, subject to a number of conditions being met.

PURPOSE

The General Manager of Community Services and the General Manager of Parks and Recreation seek direction from Council and Park Board on the termination date of the P.N.E. lease at Hastings Park, whether it should be December 31, 1998 or December 31, 1999. This decision will determine the scope and size of Phase 2 of the Hastings Park Restoration.

BACKGROUND

In March 1997, City Council and Park Board approved the Hastings Park Restoration Plan. At the time of this approval, the P.N.E. lease was to expire at the end of September 1997.

On April 22, 1997, Council approved:

A.THAT Council agree to a lease extension for the PNE, so that it can continue to operate Hastings Park through December 31, 1999, subject to the PNE, the City and the Park Board achieving an agreement by June 15, 1997, on transitional park development during the remainder of 1997, 1998 and 1999 consistent with the approved park concept.

B.THAT Council agree to pay the PNE $85,000 a month, for the period October 31, 1997 through December 31, 1997, and subsequently $500,000 for the period January 1, 1998 through December 31, 1998 and $500,000 for the period January 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999, for the maintenance of Hastings Park, source of funds to be lease revenue from the Hastings Park Racecourse.

C.THAT upon the termination of the PNE’s tenure at the end of 1999, Council accept payment of $1,100,000 from the Province of British Columbia to assist in the continuing restoration of Hastings Park.

D.THAT a firm agreement on a Leisure Entertainment Centre, resulting from the Request for Proposals (which close June 5, 1997), be brought before Council by December 31, 1997. Failure to do this would result in termination of the lease effective December 31, 1998.

E.THAT if the lease expires on December 31, 1998, the Province agree to pay the City the sum of $600,000.

F.THAT the existing assets in the Coliseum and the Agrodome be turned over to the City on December 31, 1999 or December 31, 1998, should the lease expire at that time.

G.THAT the Province guarantee that if the Request for Proposal is successful, the annual PNE Fair would continue to be part of the operation of the Leisure Entertainment Centre.

On July 10, 1997, City Council approved:

A.THAT the lease extension to the PNE until December 31, 1999 be granted on the basis of:

i)City Council’s conditions described in their resolutions B, C, D, E, F and G passed on April 22, 1997; and

ii)City Council being able to implement the two phased transitional park development plan as outlined in this report.

B.THAT Council authorize the expenditure of up to $3.0 million on Phase 1 of the Hastings Park Restoration with specific contracts for design, building demolition, landscape construction and related project management and design to be approved by the Vancouver Park Board. Source of funds to be the Hastings Park Capital Account.

C.THAT the implementation of Phase 2 park development be the subject of a report back with more accurate park development costs and be subject to Council’s acceptance of the final temporary improvement costs.

D.THAT Council agree to pay the PNE $85,000 in compensation for maintenance expenses during the month of October 1997.

DISCUSSION

P.N.E. Lease

To date, a formal lease extension with the P.N.E. has still to be executed. The principal reason for the delay has been difficulty in obtaining acceptable security for conditions C and E (from April 22, 1997), those requiring payment to the City at lease termination. However, this has now been resolved, and the payments will be secured by irrevocable letters of credit. Now, the only outstanding issues pertain to conditions D and G, those dealing with the relocation of the P.N.E. to a Leisure Entertainment Centre.

No firm agreement on the Leisure Entertainment Centre was brought before Council by December 31, 1997, as required by condition D, nor is there a guarantee that the P.N.E. will continue to be part of the Leisure Entertainment Centre, as required by condition G.

However, on January 14, 1998, the Province announced that it had reached an in-principle agreement with Landmark Entertainment Group for a new Leisure Entertainment Centre that will include the P.N.E. Unfortunately, there are apparently a number of details to be worked out and a site for the Centre has yet to be identified, so the agreement cannot yet be called "firm".

As an alternative to conditions D and G, the Province has offered a letter from the Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture confirming the Province’s intention for the P.N.E. to be off the Hastings Park site after the 1999 fair and on a new site by the year 2000. This letter is attached to this report as Appendix A.

If Council is prepared to accept this letter in place of conditions D and G, the lease with the P.N.E. can be completed and signed. As conditions D and G were introduced from the floor of Council on April 22, 1997, members of Council are in the best position to judge the suitability of the letter as a substitute. Accordingly, this alternative is submitted for Council’s consideration as A1. Should Council not support A1, the P.N.E. lease would be terminated December 31, 1998, as stated in B1.

Regardless of whether the termination date is December 31, 1998 or December 31, 1999, staff recommend avoiding the situation that has developed with the P.N.E. since its lease officially expired last fall: in absence of a year-long or two-year-long lease, an unwritten month-to-month lease has developed between the P.N.E. and the City. It is possible that this situation may occur again once the termination date in 1998 or 1999 has arrived. Accordingly, staff recommend that Council approve either A2 or B2, which state that no month-to-month lease is inferred or will be granted beyond the chosen termination date.

Hastings Park Restoration

Phase 1 of park restoration involved the removal of five buildings (the Display Barn, the Poultry Building, the B.C. Pavilion, the Food Building and Showmart), the dismantling and storage of the Challenger Relief Map of B.C., and the creation of a tree nursery on the site of the former B.C. Pavilion for the summer of 1998. Park Board will soon complete Phase 1, and is now preparing for Phase 2.

Phase 2 is the construction and delivery of the first segment of park land. Under the Transition Plan negotiated with the P.N.E. last summer, Phase 2 involves the creation of a portion of the "sanctuary" in the south-central area of Hastings Park (see Appendix B for a map of the Restoration Plan). Its most notable feature is the pond, and trees will be planted around the edge of the waterbody.

The "sanctuary" is for most residents the principal feature in this new park. The project involves the "daylighting" of the old stream that used to run through the site, which was culverted 50-60 years ago, and the collection of rain water from the residential area south of the park to feed the stream. The pond that will be created in Phase 2 will act as a reservoir and as a filtration system whereby plants and animals will clean the rain water prior to it being fed into the stream (and eventually into Burrard Inlet).

A moderate amount of rain water run-off is available now (from within the park site and the residential area to the south of Hastings Street) and this amount will increase over the next decade. Initially, the pond will need to be supplemented by the municipal water supply. A recirculation system will be installed and remain active until the later phases of park restoration, once the stream connection between Hastings Park and Burrard Inlet can be completed.

The "sanctuary" will be easily accessible to residents from the area west of Renfrew Street (the Showmart and Food Building will no longer act as a barrier to entering the site), and from the area south of Hastings Street (a pedestrian-actuated traffic signal is recommended for the intersection of Hastings and Lillooet).

Depending on what Council decides as the termination date for the P.N.E. lease, Park Board has prepared two options for Phase 2. The first option assumes the P.N.E. lease continuing until December 31, 1999. This option, as stated in resolution A3, would provide 4.4 hectares (11 acres) of parkland by the summer of 1999 and is shown in Appendix C. Due to the continued presence of the P.N.E., the pond will not be built in its final configuration, resulting in eventual reworking of the pond’s edge once the P.N.E. vacates Hastings Park.

The second option for Phase 2 assumes that the P.N.E. lease expires December 31, 1998. This option, as stated in resolution B3, would be provide 5.6 hectares (14 acres) of parkland by the summer of 1999 and is shown in Appendix D. Under this scenario, the pond would be built in its final configuration. As well, this option would tie into three existing open spaces on site (including Momiji Garden), thus adding 2.4 hectares (6 acres) to the open space system. This expanded park option would essentially provide 8.0 contiguous hectares (20 acres) by 1999.

Should Council select to terminate the lease with the P.N.E. on December 31, 1998, staff will work out with the P.N.E. a timetable for removal of P.N.E. assets, particularly for the Playland site since this may be the next phase of park restoration (if approved, this would be the subject of a future report to Council).

Park Restoration Budget

It is estimated that the budget required to complete the first option is about $4.2 million. About $200,000 of temporary public works are required to accommodate the 1999 Fair and Playland. Park Board has reduced these costs as much as possible - last summer, these temporary works were estimated to be in the order of $500,000. Reductions have been achieved, largely as a result of a simpler treatment to the edges of the pond and park space.

The expanded park as described in the second option is estimated to cost about $4.7 million. This option reduces to zero the amount of temporary public works required, thereby allowing the $200,000 from the first option to be directed at expanding the "sanctuary" in the easterly and westerly directions.

Financial Services confirms that the funds to undertake Phase 2 (whether $4.2 million or $4.7 million) are available in the Hastings Park Capital Account and the Hastings Park Reserve Account.

A detailed breakdown for both options is provided below:

	Park with 1999 Fair	Expanded Park without 1999 Fair
SIZE: - restored park land - existing open space TOTAL by 1999:	4.4 hectares 0.0 hectares 4.4 hectares	5.5 hectares 2.5 hectares 8.0 hectares
CAPITAL COST: - permanent work - temporary work - soft costs TOTAL:	$3,750,000 $200,000 $250,000 $4,200,000	$4,400,000 Nil $300,000 $4,700,000

The ongoing operating cost for maintaining the park space (4.4 ha in the first option and 8.0 ha in the second option) is estimated to be in the order of $125,000 to $250,000 per year. As more park is restored, the annual operating cost will increase.

As well, once the P.N.E. vacates Hastings Park, the Park Board will be required operate the ice rink in the Agrodome at an estimated cost of about $250,000 per year. The Park Board will also maintain the non-restored areas of the site as well as the parking lots and unrenovated buildings, and this is expected to amount to about $300,000 to $700,000 per year, depending on how much revenue is generated from parking and how often the remaining buildings are used or if they are "mothballed" until permanent uses are in place.

Scheduling

The following schedule is expected for implementation of Phase 2:

Time Period	Activities
April-July 1998	Preparation of detailed design plans and construction drawings
August 1998	P.N.E. Fair
Sept.-Oct. 1998	Removal of "aquastage" and asphalt, and relocation of utilities
Nov.1998-Feb.1999	Excavation, filling, earthworks and installation of park utilities
March-June 1999	Landscaping of park site
July 1999	Opening of park site

CONCLUSION

Council and Park Board made a landmark decision in 1997 by approving the Hastings Park Restoration Plan. 1999 will be a landmark year as it will the year of the opening of the first segment of parkland in a restored Hastings Park.

* * * * *

Electronic copy of appendices not available for this report.

Originals on file in City Clerk’s Office.

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver