BURNABY – Burnaby’s popular and picturesque Deer Lake Park Festival Lawn will become home to a B.C. Spirit Square that will enhance festival space and give the community a central place to gather and celebrate, Premier Gordon Campbell said in announcing $500,000 in provincial support for the project.Linked by trails and bike paths, this Spirit Square will be a great example of a community gathering place that is centrally located, easily accessible and ready to celebrate BC150, the anniversary of the founding of the crown colony,” said Campbell. “This city was named for an area explorer and legislator, and we hope that through this Spirit Square, residents and visitors alike will be able to share and celebrate both the community and the province’s rich heritage and diversity.”The funding will support a level stage area with terraced lawn seating, a perimeter area for concession facilities, concert sponsor tents and service access.“Improvements at Deer Lake Park’s Festival Lawn means we’ll be able to enhance the potential for this gathering place, this place of celebration, where we’ll be able to host outdoor musical and cultural events for up to 10,000 people,” said Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan. The $20-million B.C. Spirit Square program is helping to create or improve outdoor public meeting/celebration spaces in communities across B.C., based on 50/50 cost-sharing with local governments to a maximum provincial contribution of $500,000. Spirit Squares are one of four programs announced by Premier Campbell at the 2006 Union of BC Municipalities convention aimed at making B.C. communities greener and healthier places to live, with reduced greenhouse gases, improved air quality and increased energy conservation. The other programs are LocalMotion, Towns for Tomorrow, and the Green City Awards. For more information about B.C. Spirit Squares, and for links to these other programs, visit www.spiritsquares.gov.bc.ca.
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Don Quixotes Note: It seems that the Provincial Government is announcing these Spirit Square Legacy grants every second day. Hopefully our City has applied for such a grant for Polson Park. Is it up to the City or GVSC to apply and what is happening with the Insurance money from the Arson in that park?
We have a grants officer in Vernon and it might be interesting to get a report on the outstanding grants that are being applied for, grants that have been applied for and were not successful and those grants that were successful. A Quarterly report to Council and the public might be useful? Other Councils regularly announce their grant requests to the media and this keeps the public aware of the ongoing battle to secure grant monies for our community.
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