Has Vancouver’s Lost Lagoon become a ’44-acre mud puddle?’

One of Vancouver’s astir recognizable civic assets has been neglected and degraded to nan constituent it’s go a “44-acre mud puddle” according to a longtime West End resident.

James Borthwick has lived successful nan neighbourhood for astir six decades and acknowledges he’s fortunate to person his highrise position of Stanley Park.

But he says for nan past 2 decades nan metropolis has ignored Lost Lagoon, allowing it to go a swampy messiness bereft of nan wildlife that erstwhile teemed successful it.

“It’s turned into a mud puddle alternatively of nan beautiful wildlife sanctuary it’s ever been,” he told Global News, adding that nan swans and herons person abandoned nan lagoon.

“You could spot they weren’t paying attraction to nan fountain,” he added. “It’s embarrassing. Completely embarrassing.”

The iconic Jubilee fountain, erstwhile nan look of postcards mailed astir nan world, has been offline for adjacent to a decade.

Vancouver Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby acknowledged nan lagoon isn’t successful its finest form.

He said its existent woes are some biology and economic.

“We would emotion to cleanable up nan lagoon, and if we had nan money we would,” he said.

Digby said that arsenic an artificial municipality lake, Lost Lagoon is beset by sedimentation, invasive species, and toxins washing successful from nan adjacent Stanley Park causeway.

Amid ongoing drought and climbing temperatures owed to ambiance change, it’s besides often go murky owed to algae blooms, he added.

“Lost Lagoon wants to beryllium an intertidal area connected to Coal Harbour, that’s what it ever was biologically and it is really calling america to spell backmost to that,” he said.

“If we were capable to hole this that you would person a awesome intertidal area present pinch each kinds of clam life and water life … but correct now it simply exists arsenic this pond, and unluckily it’s not very healthy.”

Fixing nan fountain, Digby said, remains extracurricular of nan parkland board’s budget.

In December, metropolis unit reported upgrading and reactivating nan fountain would costs astatine slightest $7 million. At nan time, nan committee approved $2.6 cardinal to refurbish and reactivate 11 different h2o features successful nan city, including nan waterfall astatine Queen Elizabeth Park.

Trending Now

“Unfortunately location are presently nary plans to put nan awesome finance that’s needed to revitalize this into a existent biodiversity area we tin beryllium proud of,” he said.

Urban planner and erstwhile Vancouver metropolis councillor Gordon Price said eschewing that finance shows a deficiency of imagination connected nan portion of nan city.

He based on nan metropolis should unit Metro Vancouver for backing to amended nan area successful relation pinch nan major h2o main project presently being tunnelled beneath Stanley Park.

“Nature ever wins, yet your problems will look complete time, truthful you are ever moving into that. The mobility now is really overmuch should we walk and what should we do?” he said.

“Think big, aliases much important, conscionable deliberation creatively and imaginatively, tie connected First Nations traditions, tie connected our ain history, and do thing that’s due for nan period that we are in.”

Borthwick, meanwhile, views nan rumor successful simpler terms.

“It utilized to beryllium great,” he said.

“Fix nan fountain. Bring backmost nan wildlife.”