Vancouver Park Board wants to preserve Strathcona green space [Video]

The Vancouver Park Board wants to preserve a green space that residents say is a badly-needed outdoor space for the Chinatown and Strathcona neighbourhoods.

Commissioners voted unanimously to declare their intention to preserve the space, at the corner of Gore Avenue and Union Street, under the park board’s care and custody, then eventually turn it into a permanent park.

Until recently, the land was set to be the site of a temporary fire hall, drawing the ire of some in the community.

“This is a very meaningful spot,” said Independent Commissioner Scott Jensen, who seconded a motion at a Monday meeting. “It is a little piece of land, but it’s a little piece of land that means so much.”

It “has been sometimes known locally as everything from ‘Garbage Park’ to ‘People’s Park,'” according to the motion from Green Commissioner Tom Digby. 

But it’s not actually a park at all, his motion notes. Since 1971, it’s been a “city-owned road right-of-way, with Park Board crews receiving special funding from the city to maintain …