The Gastown Waterfront

The Central Waterfront Port Land Policy Statement (link to pdf) was origanlly passed in 1994 as a means of laying down general guidelines for the lands situated between Canada Place and Portside Park to the east.

In establishing general principles for the development of the Gastown waterfront, the document is intended to be quite flexible, and is therefore open to changes, such as the recently proposed Whitecaps stadium.

[For a larger view, click on map and/or picture below Source: link here]

As part of its broad vision, the policy statement calls for a "downtown-oriented" area at the western end of the site, closest to Canada Place. On the far eastern side nearby Portside Park, a "community-oriented" area is recommended, while a "transition" area is supposed to sit between the two.

Among some of the more specific proposals for the central waterfront include the possibility of a casino or convention centre expansion (remember, this report was written in 1994), additional office and/or residential development, and the extension of the Gastown street system down to the water.

Development of the entire site is estimated to take between 10 and 20 years.

With regards to the proposed Whitecaps stadium, the project would clearly lie at the "downtown oriented" end of the site. One question that arises, however, is whether the city will agree to build a sports arena in a space that could potentially be used for much-needed downtown office buildings instead.

Secondly, it's worth considering how the new stadium might look on Vancouver's skyline, along with the new convention centre on the other side of Canada Place. How will a collection of low, flat buildings look from across the water?

Building over the railyards will of course be a major development constraint to consider as well. It'll be interesting to see what the city decides, once it completes its review of the stadium proposal this spring.

At the very least, it's good to have people thinking about what we might wind up doing with the Gastown waterfront. Feel free to add your comments below.

Comments

[pauly]

Is a stadium installation the best way to utilize some of the last remaining waterfront properties near the downtown core? After seeing many stadiums near precious water fronts in many cities, in my opinion these stadiums usually end up being under-utilized and void of people most of the week. I think mixed use development is usually a better choice for all business and community interests.

[charles]

Agreed. You can probably build a small stadium with plenty of atmosphere on the False Creek Flats, as long as they orient it in such a way that it has city and mountain views.

The Vancouver waterfront should have more park space and mixed use buildings. The stadium will just be another box, which will translate into a dead zone.