Nanaimo City Council have reconsidered their approval of an $10.8 million boat storage and public amenity building at Loudon Park, in the fact of public pressure. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

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NANAIMO — City Councillors have walked back their approval of substantial planned upgrades at Loudon Park.

In front of a standing-room-only crowd on Monday, May 5, Council opted to reconsider their approval for a $10.8 million upgrade to the park, featuring a large boat storage and multi-purpose building and public washrooms, which would have come at the expense of nearly 30 mature trees and key greenspace.

Coun. Tyler Brown, who voted in favour of the project during a 5-4 vote in early April, said he still believes in the project as presented, but it was clear Council wasn’t on the right path.

“Upon review, I think there is an option for a much better [design] that would mitigate concerns and also provide community amenity space that’s not just for this park or this neighbourhood. We are a growing community…unfortunately, we’ve actually lost community amenity space that hasn’t been replaced, and we need a bunch more of it.”

A capacity crowd, including some standing in the back of the room, lobbied for Council to reconsider their initial decision to redevelop Loudon Park. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Brown and Coun. Sheryl Armstrong reversed their votes from the initial approval, for similar reasons, and turned what was a 5-4 approval of the project into a 6-3 defeat.

Armstrong said she’d voted in favour of development at the park every time, but emails and conversations in community since helped change her mind.

“One thing that was never put to us in the past was the fact that we could build this separately on where the washrooms are now, and one of the reasons was because there were some concerns about being close to the water. But now, based on what we’re hearing from the community, I think that there’s an option to look at this and consider both the needs.”

A separate, smaller build falls more in line with the so-called ‘option B’ which Councillors initially expressed some support for at the committee level, before deciding to pass on at the Council table.

It would include a new boathouse and storage facility, and public washrooms, and was projected to cost around $6.5 million.

Rendering of an initially approved, but now halted, redevelopment of Loudon Park. A majority of the building would be devoted to boat storage. (City of Nanaimo)

The reconsideration vote Monday came around two hours after multiple delegations appeared before Council to lobby for a change of heart.

Heather Baitz spoke on behalf of the Nanaimo Climate Action Hub, which helped organize a large rally featuring around 150 people at the park in late April.

She said the approved design replaces green space with a 10,000 square foot building which favours “a small subset of the park users over the broader public.”

“Although the building will be stunning to look at, there won’t be much left of the actual park for us to use all those beautiful shade trees shown in the architect rendering will be gone and there will be no shade at the beach.”

Baitz said replacing the park space with a large, mostly private-use building, does not serve all users.

“If I want to take my kids to Loudon Park after school or to go for a swim on a hot summer afternoon, and I didn’t reserve [the planned multi-purpose] room, the only part of the building open to us will be the public washrooms and the outdoor showers. Based on the floor plan diagram that’s about eight per cent of the building area, the rest of it will be locked.”

Several delegates spoke about their own experiences at Loudon Park, and their desire to see a more balanced solution which serves the paddling clubs, as well as the community at large. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Some on Council were not moved by community opposition in recent weeks.

Mayor Leonard Krog refuted public comments about the area being “precious green space”, suggesting it was a “monoculture” of 29 trees, “surrounded by very little else in terms of vegetation.”

He said the proposal Council approved in April serves the needs of community, not only for park and lake users, but those calling for suitable rental space in the neighbourhood.

“We’ve heard people suggest we rebuild Departure Bay Activity Centre. Sorry, folks, we know that’s off the table, we’ve already had a report on that. People have talked about expanding the Kin Hut. Sorry, that’s on Ministry of Transportation lands, and I suspect, will inevitably end up being the property of Snuneymuxw First Nations, so that’s not going to work.”

Krog, along with Coun. Ian Thorpe and Janice Perrino, remained in favour for the initially approved upgrades.

Council debated for around 30 minutes on the next steps, before opting to defer any decision to the next meeting.

Multiple around the table cited the fact the meeting had extended to near 11 p.m., and making a decision of this magnitude shouldn’t be rushed through.

The project is expected to be discussed at the next Council meeting, scheduled for May 26.

A rally of roughly 150 people was held at Loudon Park in late April, with signs attached to all 29 trees which were slated to be removed to accommodate construction. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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