Cowboy hats may not be commonplace in New Westminster, but some features from Dallas could soon be popping up around town.
While attending a conference in Dallas last week, Mayor Jonathan Cote took note of a couple of projects he thought could easily be adopted in the Royal City. Instead of nailed-down chairs and benches, he noted that some areas have movable seats and chairs in public spaces such as parks, streets or public squares.
“It really kind of spoke to how people appreciate the flexibility of their public spaces,” he said. “I did ask one of the park’s staff, ‘Do these chairs go missing at night?’ They are there all the time, they are not monitored all the time. The answer was, ‘Yeah, occasionally one or two will go missing, but for the most part, people respect them for what they are.’”
One lunch hour, Cote watched as Texans moved around the chairs in public areas to suit their individual needs, with some placing their chairs in the sun and others preferring to sit in the shade. When the clouds moved in and the rain came, he said many people picked up their tables and chairs and moved them to a covered area to finish off their lunch.
Cote said small-scale initiatives have already proven to be successful in New Westminster. He said he was overwhelmed by the community response to a new community mural on Columbia Street and a parklet on East Columbia Street, both of which were introduced in the summer.
Council has approved a recommendation to implement a pilot public seating project next summer in high-pedestrian areas that include movable tables and chairs.
“I was in Seattle. They have these all over, especially around the Space Needle area,” said Coun. Lorrie Williams. “There was lovely seating. You could go and take your lunch and sit anywhere. I thought this was wonderful. They didn’t seem to be damaged. Nobody seemed to be abusing them.”
Coun. Mary Trentadue loves the idea, but hopes the city won’t just put the tables and chairs in “obvious locations” such as Westminster Pier Park.
“Sometimes I think we overlook creating these kinds of spaces in other locations of the city that maybe could use people gathering and getting together in places they might not consider,” she said. “I would just ask that we think outside the box and try to include some areas that are not the obvious locations.”
Cote also took note of some “free to play” offerings in Dallas parks that would be “perfectly applicable” in New West parks with concession stands. In Dallas, parks having concession areas are equipped with items that can be borrowed by park users, including board games, chess and checkers, equipment for bocce, badminton, croquet, ping pong and foosball.
“I thought it was a really unique, interesting concept,” he said. “Another thing they had is a reading room, which I also thought was fascinating. The city provided free newspapers and magazines in part of a park. People would come there and pull out the newspaper and were sitting there. They’d return them. It became a part of the park where people could do some reading.”
Council approved a motion to have the parks, culture and recreation department explore options to develop “free to play” areas in parks currently serviced by concessions.
