An assessment of an undeveloped portion of Westminster Pier Park has paved the way for volleyball courts, a beach area and a street hockey court.
Earlier this year, the city hired Worley Parsons to conduct an assessment of the timber wharf and determine the weight load capacity of that portion of the park. When the city built Westminster Pier Park, it included new pilings under the redeveloped section of the park but not the Timber Wharf.
According to the city's request for proposals, about 60 per cent of the site has been developed into a new park. The undeveloped section of the park, an area known as the timber wharf, is about 7,000 square metres in total deck area.
Keith Whiteley, a project manager with the city, said the beach volleyball courts recently constructed on the site are "well within" the weight capacity recommended for the site by the consultant.
"We wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't safe," he said.
The city isn't releasing the WorleyParsons report until it's presented to city council in September.
"At that point we will be releasing the findings of the report and what's happening," Whiteley said. "The wharf is in sufficient shape to do what we are doing with it at this time."
The timber wharf is "in fairly good shape" at this time, Whiteley said, but some recommendations about action to be taken on the wharf will be presented to council in September.
"There will be some further action being done on the wharf," he added. "There will be a few repairs on the front of the wharf. We are putting fender logs in this fall. They keep the drift logs coming down (the river) from going underneath the dock. They are protecting the wharf, that's all."
The request for proposals issued earlier this year stated that the city doesn't intend to use the timber wharf for any type of future marine related services, such as the docking of vessels, but it may want to use it periodically for uses such as commercial carnival rides, large-scale outdoor concert staging, farmers' markets, and festivals and displays such as classic car shows.
"The report has given us back information in terms of what the recommended weight loading opportunity would be in various areas of it. Things like cars shows and carnival rides are probably not going to figure as prominently as we originally might have thought, just because of what the limitations of the deck going to be," said Dean Gibson, the city's director of parks, culture and recreation. "They are not completely off the table, but we certainly have learned much more about that deck than what we knew before. So we will be planning accordingly."
Construction of two beach volleyball courts is the first addition to the timber wharf, which is the area of the park that has been covered with black asphalt. Future plans include creating a beach area on the deck that has sand and logs, as well as an area where people can play street hockey.
In 2009, WorleyParsons completed a wharf inspection of the site for the DEAP Group, which had contemplated bringing vessels the city during the Olympics.
"It was not done for the city," Whitely said of the assessment. "It was never completed. It was only a draft. It was never finalized, the report."
WorleyParsons' 2009 draft report to the DEAP Group stated that the Timber Wharf facility was "nearing the end of its service life" and an extensive repair/replacement program would be required to maintain it in a serviceable condition.
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