Lord Strathcona turns grass field into gravel

By Mark Hasiuk-Staff writer

A controversial decision to turn a Downtown Eastside green space into a gravel field has local residents crying foul.

Last month, workers began tearing up the grass field at Lord Strathcona elementary at East Pender and Princess Avenue, much to the chagrin of Claudine Michaud, a Strathcona resident since 1993, who lives across the street from the school.

"There is already a shortage of green space in the Downtown Eastside," said Michaud. "We don't want to be tearing it out."

Although Michaud has no children, she said she talked with several local parents upset with the school's decision. She added that the school's location-in the drug-infested Downtown Eastside-means pleasant amenities, like grass fields, are vital to the community. "The kids at Strathcona, and in this area, already have enough problems," she said. "The quality of their lives is affected by these kind of changes."

Michaud claims that school officials failed to consult local residents about the grass to gravel conversion. She recently contacted Strathcona principal James Ion, but said he refused to explain the school's decision.

Ion declined to comment on this story, but sent the Courier an email defending the school's decision. "The drainage is very poor and it was very mucky with unstable footing for a large part of the year," his email read. "Many people sleep, use drugs, and engage in questionable acts on the grass because it is very soft and comfortable."

Kieren Beattie, a member of the Strathcona Residents' Association, acknowledged the field's drainage problems but said the neighbourhood was not given an opportunity to raise money for improvements. Beattie echoed Michaud's complaints about a lack of community consultation and suggested that the school is more interested in catering to film crews in the downtown core.

"In this neighbourhood there is so much filming going on that there's always a problem with parking the film trucks," he said, noting that the school rents out its parking lot to film crews. "And one can envision them wanting to rent out even more-and you can't do that with a grass field."

NPA school board trustee Clarence Hansen, the liaison trustee for Lord Strathcona, supports the school's decision and said the drainage problem required a quick fix within the constraints of the school district budget.

"There's been problems with the drainage and it's always muddy out there," he said. "This isn't just for weekend soccer games, this is from September to June, through all types of weather, where kids need this facility to run around and enjoy themselves."

The new gravel field should be completed sometime this month. Hansen said the field may be converted back to grass in the future, if funding becomes available.

published on 07/06/2007