2019 Parks Excellence Award
Forsyth Park is a new, 7.5 acre neighbourhood park that has transformed a previously used, unsafe, and heavily littered area into a destination nature-inspired playground. The park also includes an off-leash dog area, picnic areas, pathways and trails and now acts as a connector among two schools, cycling and walking routes, and to the future City Greenway. Phase two for the project will include a sports field/courts, parking lot and washrooms.
The design for Forsyth Park emerged out of substantial community consultation which included public open houses and surveys. This process assisted in the development of a list of community needs, all of which were included in the final design of Forsyth Park with the goal of creating a park that could cater to all facets of the surrounding community.
To ensure all mobility levels and ages were able to use the park, each pathway is accessible by wheelchair and walker users, skateboarders, bicyclists, children on tricycles, pedestrians and joggers. Accessible play equipment, picnic tables, and bench pads were also included. All primary pathways are wide and paved, including a ramped pathway up to the playground hill.
Forsyth Park has been developed in an area where household incomes are lower than other parts of Surrey, and fills a much needed gap, providing active living and outdoor spaces where community members can gather and socialize.
“We are honored to award the City of Surrey the BCRPA Parks Excellence Award for their work on the Forsyth Park project,” said Rebecca Tunnacliffe, CEO of the BC Recreation and Parks Association. “This project has taken a previously unsafe and unused parcel of land and transformed it, with the guidance of its citizens, into a vibrant community hub that facilitates an active lifestyle and connection to others and to nature.”
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Left: Grand Opening of Forsyth Park
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Left: Off-leash dog area at Forsyth Park
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Left: Nature play area at Forsyth Park for kids of all abilities
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2019 Facility Excellence Award
The new 15,000 square foot Trail Riverfront Centre serves as the home of Trail’s cultural, literacy and heritage services, including the Trail & District Public Library and Trail Museum & Archives. Since opening in April of last year, the accessible facility has welcomed over 78,000 visitors, patrons and members through its doors, far exceeding all forecasted expectations. The integrated concept allows patrons to flow freely between library and museum spaces, welcoming everyone from young families to seniors. The increase in patrons has also seen a new cohort of youth who are enthusiastically utilizing the Centre to supplement their education needs.
The Trail Riverfront Centre is centrally located and designed purposefully to reflect the continued impact industry plays in sustaining the quality of life in the region. Exhibits inside the facility tell the socio-cultural history of the community, with particular emphasis on the role sport has played as the social fiber of the community and in raising the profile of Trail on the international scale.
“It is our pleasure to present Trail with this Facility Excellence Award for the Trail Riverfront Centre. This project clearly reflects outstanding design and cutting-edge innovation that provides the citizens of this remarkable small interior town an integrated recreation, historical and cultural experience,” said Rebecca Tunnacliffe, CEO of the BC Recreation and Parks Association.
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Left: Trail Riverfront Centre, home to the Trail & District Public Library, the Trail Museum & Archives and the
Trail Visitor Centre.
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Left: Stairwell of the Trail Museum & Archives, showcasing the region's history
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2019 Program Excellence Award
for populations over 15,000
The MYzone Drop-in Afterschool Program provides school-aged children accessible, affordable, and high quality afterschool programming between the hours of 3:00pm – 6:00pm when productive engagement is necessary to optimize developmental learning. The design of the program is based on extensive national and international research that identified the highest-impact evidence-based components to incorporate into the program and its curriculum.
MYzone addresses the need for quality afterschool programs in the second largest municipality in BC with the largest cohort of school age children in the province. The program’s design seeks to mitigate other key factors that can create barriers to a child’s positive development such as the absence of appropriate supports to new immigrant and refugee families, inaccessible child care, lower income, and transportation accessibility.
In response, the program embraces a universal approach to access and offers a convenient drop-in, sliding-scale, low-to-no fee format, allowing children open access and providing greater flexibility to families. The program strikes a balance between structured and unstructured activities providing active play and recreation, homework support, social-emotional skill development, leadership building, and peer and staff relationship development.
With its great success, and continued and growing support from stakeholders and community partners, the program has now expanded to 20 locations in Surrey with two more sites slated to be launched in the fall.
“The MYzone Drop-in Afterschool Program is a highly deserving recipient of the Program Excellence Award for the critical role it plays in providing an innovative, accessible, and flexible program to support the developmental needs of school-aged children and their families in Surrey,” said Rebecca Tunnacliffe, CEO of the BC Recreation and Parks Association.
2019 Program Excellence Award
for populations under 15,000
The Kitimat Mini Mud and Mud Games are team-focused recreational events open to all ages, providing active participation to both children and adults. The fun-filled Mud Games competition includes an eight kilometer course made up of 31 obstacles, utilizing as much of the natural environment as possible. A continuous shuttle service is provided to rotate spectators along the course so they may watch friends and family make their way through the obstacles. The course is designed by a local resident on his personal property, and constructed by multiple sponsors specifically to challenge participants mentally and physically.
The Mud Games began as a partnership between the District of Kitimat, the local Chamber of Commerce and a local business owner to bring together the community and invite participants from around the region to take part in a fun, entertaining, and team-building competition. The weekend originally included one event for participants aged 12 and over, but was met with so much enthusiasm from children under 12 years old, the event organizers designed a smaller, more manageable course for children, called the Mini Mud Games.
The mandate of the District of Kitimat’s Leisure Services is to promote a healthy lifestyle both physically and mentally within the community while encouraging the development of sportsmanship, leadership, skills and development, self-esteem, enjoyment, and creativity within the recreation community. The Kitimat Mini Mud and Mud Games were designed to reflect and support this mandate.
“It is our pleasure to present the City of Kitimat with this Program Excellence award for Kitimat Mini Mud and Mud Games. This program engages community members of all ages in a unique, homegrown outdoor recreation program that while offering up a physical and mental challenge for participants, also provides an opportunity for deeper engagement and community connection for all,” said Rebecca Tunnacliffe, CEO of the BC Recreation and Parks Association.