What’s more, as the City embarks on the Vancouver Plan process, setting out a long-term strategy for growth and change, it’s also a good time to reflect on the opportunity to daylight some of these historic waterways. Restoring natural systems like this have many benefits – including habitat creation, strengthened ecosystem services, improved rainwater management, aesthetics, and more.

The Park Board has undertaken some important work with the Tatlow & Volunteer Park stream restoration (see their webpage here, and an earlier VPSN blog post here), but there are LOTS of opportunities to carry this work further, to re-wild the city, and to (re)create a more sustainable urban hydrology in Vancouver.

Enjoy!

Winteraction – Saturday, January 27 – Various locations

Our pals at Frida + Frank have teamed up with local placemakers in Vancouver and North Vancouver (and beyond) to convene a day of “winteraction” aimed to showcase what they call “seasonal effective design.” There’s lots of fun things to choose from!

Community Science Day 

10 AM – 4 PM, Britannia Community Centre

The Open Science Network will be part of the Community Science Day at Britannia Community Centre on Saturday January 27. We will have a number of science activities both inside and outside.

:: More Info – Community Science Day Facebook Event Page

Giant Raincoats in North Van

10AM – 5PM, Outside North Vancouver City Hall (141 14th St W, North Vancouver

This Saturday, come have some fun in the rain with GIANT RAINCOATS hung up outside North Vancouver City Hall! This wacky interactive art project celebrates the fun of winter fashion and invites people to gather together to escape the rain!

:: More info – Giant Raincoats Facebook Event Page

The Alternative Route 

11:30AM – 6PM, Cambie Bridge South

The Alternative Route is a wayfinding project inspired by spontaneity, public engagement and fun! Anyone is welcome to participate by writing on the chalkboard arrows or by following the directions already written on one. This is your opportunity to help others discover great things happening in the city and how to get there.

:: More info – Alternative Route Facebook Event Page

POP! A Rainy Day Refuge 

11:30 – 6pm, under the Cambie Bridge – South

A day of free activities taking place in a G I A N T B U B B L E that will blow you away! POP! is a one-day public event brought to life through a partnership between the CityHive Youth Hubs, frida&frank, Vancouver Design Nerds, and Viva Vancouver as a part of winteraction.

• 11:30-1:45 | Bubble Platform Design Jam by Vancouver Design Nerds
• 2:00-4:00 | Public Spaces Storytelling by the Civic Engagement Youth Hub
• 4:30-6:30 | Live performance by Soft Fit and Big Zen

:: More info – POP! Facebook Event Page

Hot+Noisy Chinatown Mahjong Social 

3-6pm Keefer Plaza, 180 Keefer Street

An afternoon of events featuring Fai Chun writing 手寫揮春, Paper-cutting 剪紙, Make your own lion heads for procession to Keefer Triangle… and of course the opportunity to play, teach, or learn Mahjong and other Chinese games 齊來參與麻雀耍樂及各種遊戲.

:: More info – Hot + Noisy Mahjong Social Facebook Event Page

LuminoCITY 

4-7pm – Adanac Vernon Plaza

LuminoCITY is an art installation that aims to combat winter blues and brighten people’s day by creating an immersive environment filled with warm light. Each of the 179 tealights represents a day of Autumn or Winter. This piece is inspired by candles and the Danish concept of “hygge” which means wellbeing.

:: More info – LuminoCITY Facebook Event Page

Short Winter, Never-ending Picnic 

6PM-10PM, Dude Chilling Park, 2390 Brunswick Street

A group-initiated, collaborative, inclusive and free picnic! Please bring shelter, things to sit on, food, non-alcoholic drinks, anything you think would be nice to share. Everyone is invited! Please bring your friends, we’d like to meet them. Free hot chocolate and other hot drinks will be provided. Please bring your own cup if you’d like some! There’s also a pre-picnic pancake dinner (reservations required)!

:: More info – Short Winter Facebook Event Page

Dance Through Downtown

800-Robson, 8-10pm

Join the Party4Health team in creating a spontaneous dance party throughout Vancouver’s central core. The music and dancing start at 8pm… but who knows where it will end!

:: More info – Dance Through Downtown Facebook Event Page

Tatlow and Volunteer Park stream restoration open house

Saturday, January 27 at 11AM – 2PM

City of Vancouver Park Board staff are planning to restore a historic stream that ran through Tatlow and Volunteer Park. They’re holding the final public open house to share a refined concept plan, discuss the challenges and goals related to this stream restoration, and outline the next steps for the project.

The event takes place at the VPL Kitsilano Branch (2425 MacDonald Street).

:: Further information – City of Vancouver – Tatlow & Volunteer Park Restoration
:: Read more – Improving our urban watershed: Tatlow and Volunteer Park stream restoration (VPSN Blog, March 2017)

Hot Tea, Rain City 

Saturday, January 27, 2PM to 5PM at Jim Deva Plaza 

The City of Vancouver wants to talk to you about rain! Visit the Hot Tea, Rain City mobile tea and conversation cart at Jim Deva Plaza (Bute and Davie Street) to share your ideas on how we can better enjoy Vancouver’s public spaces during the cold and wet winter months… and how we can better embrace Vancouver’s rainwater as a valued resource for our communities and natural ecosystems.

Hot Tea, Rain City will feature some of Vancouver’s top tea masters serving up warm cups of tea in the Gong Fu Cha style. Gong Fu Cha (功夫茶) or “Tea with Skill” is a way of tea making that originated in the Fujian Province of China and is practiced all over the world by tea lovers.

:: More information – City of Vancouver Event Page

On March 8, 2017, I braved the rain to attend a City of Vancouver open house at Volunteer Park that sought public input on plans to restore historic Tatlow Creek. I’m particularly excited about this project given my awareness of the many positive impacts of creek daylighting.

As I’ve described in a previous VPSN blog post, daylighting is a strategy that restores creeks and streams to a more natural state. As its name suggests, the practice involves uncovering buried, culverted creeks and bringing them back to the surface. While accomplishing this goal in a built-up area can present difficulties such as up-front costs and working around existing structures and property ownership, the long-term benefits include:

• storage and absorption of stormwater runoff over vegetated and riparian surfaces to improve water quality and prevent stormwater surges;
• cooling the air to reduce the heat island effect;
• providing public places of respite, recreation and access to nature;
• improved aesthetics and neighbourhood beautification;
• increased wildlife habitat and biodiversity;
• opportunities for education about local history and ecology; and
• opportunities for stewardship, a sense of pride, community spirit and connection.

With such a range of benefits, several cities around the world have adopted the practice of daylighting. Seoul’s Cheong Gye Cheon Project is a stand-out example. Initiated in 2003 and lauded as a success, this project involved removing a downtown freeway to restore the creek beneath. The most noteworthy benefits have been the increased natural habitats for various fish, bird and insect species and a significant cooling effect, with temperatures along the stream as much as 5.9° C lower than in nearby areas.

Several locations in Vancouver have also seen successful creek restoration, including Spanish Banks, Musqueam, Hastings and Still Creek, with salmon returning to spawn in Spanish Banks, Musqueam and Still.

Tatlow Creek, past to present

Formerly known as First Creek, Tatlow Creek was once fed by the area’s groundwater and flowed through both Tatlow Park and Volunteer Park before entering English Bay. As explained by the City’s presentation at the open house, urban development caused the original Tatlow Creek to be diverted and buried. The natural watershed was replaced by underground pipes, resulting in a deeper water table and altered hydrological processes. The existing stream currently begins in Tatlow Park, enters a culvert under Point Grey Road and discharges into English Bay through underground pipes.

Tatlow Park today

The project aims to uncover and restore further the stream that once flowed through what is now Volunteer Park. Fed by stormwater runoff, the restored stream will be filtered naturally through a series of pools alongside the stream before entering English Bay. This creek daylighting project also includes restoring the shoreline at the foot of Volunteer Park, currently overrun with invasive species, to a more natural state. Improved waterfront access for pedestrians and native plantings alongside the stream will create a riparian habitat for birds and pollinator species. 

Seeing benefits

The project aligns with the Vancouver Park Board’s Biodiversity Strategy as well as the Access to Nature goal that the City of Vancouver has articulated as a component of its Greenest City Action Plan. It has also been identified as a “potential new water focus project” as part of the City’s Integrated Rainwater Management Plan. According to the City, the project will:

• create an ecologically diverse stream corridor in Tatlow and Volunteer parks;
• improve access to the shoreline through new paths;
• restore and enhance riparian and shoreline habitat for birds and other wildlife; and
• improve rainwater management.

Have your say

Design concept A: Nature park. Image: City of Vancouver

During the open house, two design concepts were presented. One (“Nature park,” above) had the overarching goal of maximizing habitat creation and biodiversity. The other (“Gathering and play space,” below) focused on increased amenities for humans such as a larger number of pathways and play areas, formal stream crossings and picnic tables. The design concepts can be viewed in comprehensive form on the City’s website.

Design concept B: Gathering and play space. Image: City of Vancouver

The City is in the late phases of concept development and will use the feedback obtained from the public to create a final concept for board approval this summer. Detailed designs will be carried out through fall and winter 2017, with construction beginning in summer 2018. The project is slated for completion in summer 2019.

Want to provide feedback to the City on this project? The preliminary design concepts and a questionnaire are currently online and available until April 3, 2017.