This Saturday is the last chance to have your say about the Topaz Park makeover.
The third and final phase of public engagement is taking place in the park from noon to 4 p.m. on April 21.
“We’ve spent the better part of a year with stakeholders and user groups,” says Thomas Soulliere, director of parks, recreation and facilities for the City of Victoria. “At this point we’re not looking for new ideas about park elements, but looking at the details of what is in the proposed plans and what specific things we need to change in the final stages.”
The new park is pegged to host a second artificial turf field, an updated playground, pickleball courts and tennis courts, a fitness area, skate park, bike skills park and a picnic area.
Personally, Soulliere says he is most excited about the skate park, but he notes that the public has played a major role in telling the City what they want to see.
“We’ve had a fantastic turnout, ” he adds. “Thousands of people turned up. The process we’ve been doing is to collect as much data as we could and touch back with the community.”
Saturday’s event will include stations where people can get more information and provide feedback on the plan, with Parks and Recreation staff available to keep an eye on children if parents want to have time to look over the final park proposal. Games, park equipment and hot dogs will also be available.
After this event City staff will take the resulting suggestions and make a final presentation about design and implementation strategy to city council in July.
Soulliere says it’s a major plan, and once the final options are approved by council, it will still take a few years to execute.
