Prince George, B.C.-  The Park Strategy, which has been in the works for  over a year,  will be  put before  Prince George City Council this evening, for final approval.

The  strategy puts forth a five year plan,  with work starting this year to  dismantle 25  playgrounds in the City and  replace equipment in 5 others.  When it comes to playgrounds, replacing equipment  with  new  equipment that  meets current CSA  standards is a costly  measure with an average cost of $75 thousand dollars per playground.

By the end of the five year action plan,  the City will have reduced its playground inventory  from  the current 66, to  48.  The playgrounds which have been removed  will  see the sites “reviewed to determine  how they can be repurposed for alternative park use.”

The Strategy also calls for a  detailed examination of the Ball diamonds and Sports fields in Prince George.   There  are 56 ball diamonds, and 47 sport fields.  A detailed  inventory will be undertaken to  assess  use  and condition.

Later this year,  the Park Strategy  will start work on developing a  “Parkland Disbursement Policy” which will set the guidelines for the possible sale or  repurposing of “redundant  sites”  and provide funding  for park investment.

Once that policy has been developed and there has been public consultation, potential sites for disbursement or repurposing will be identified.

Why is the City  doing this?   The  demand  has changed  with  residents  desiring  more river access,  trails and destination parks  like  that at Duchess Park in the Crescents area.  There  are  dwindling resources to maintain the current inventory of parks so in order to  meet the demand  and put investments where they are most desired,  the staff report on parks  says “the quality of parks can be improved if the existing inventory is reduced,  services are realigned or additional resources are added.”