What do you want to do in Polson Park?

By Staff Friday, September 29, 2006 Daily Courier Vernon
A public hearing on the future of Polson Park will be held sometime before Oct. 23 to determine whether or not the track and field will be moved elsewhere.Since the destruction of the historic grandstand on Aug. 15 the future of the park in the heart of Vernon's downtown has been unclear.At Thursday's Greater Vernon Services Commission meeting Vernon mayor Wayne Lippert said that the public needs to have their voices heard in what events the park will host in the future. He said the Downtown Vernon Association and Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce, among other groups, want the park to continue to be a focal point of downtown."I would still like to see public input because it is one of the centrepieces of the City of Vernon," Lippert said. Parks director Al McNiven gave a brief presentation showing how building a facility comparable to Kelowna's Apple Bowl could never fit within the confines of the park. He said other uses may need to be proposed for that section of the park."In order to deal with the decision of the grandstand what you really need to do is think about what you want to do in Polson Park," he said.McNiven said that staff has been looking into acquiring land for another major sports complex for Greater Vernon. He said it would make more sense to build a track and field on a larger parcel of land than squeeze an under-sized track into Polson. "If down the road you build a new track and field facility, with the cost it takes to build it - I don't think this is the site you want to use," he said.With the shape of the current oval, McNiven said the space is not long enough to fit a regulation sized track."You can't hold a sanctioned track meet there," he said. "That track is the reason you didn't have a shot at hosting the B.C. Summer Games last time around."