To the Editor,
Re: Hilton seeks park lease for waterfront project, Aug. 14.
I am horrified about the plans to change the waterfront walkway and Maffeo Sutton Park.
It seems that Mayor John Ruttan doesn’t care about parkland and preservation whatsoever. It seems that as long as there is development and money on the table, the rest is all peanuts.
Georgia Park is one of the most-used public spaces in Nanaimo, according to the patron counter. So why would we destroy something popular and loved by the public, to be replaced by something that can only be used by hotel guests?
I agree that the old buildings adjacent to the park property are a little unsightly, but are we that desperate to get business that we’ll give any corporation a part of our parkland just for starting up here?
Nanaimo is so much more than ‘Hub City’ and shopping malls; our parkland and urban spaces are what make our city so great. We don’t want to follow in Vancouver’s footsteps with forever ruining our skyline with high-rises and major developments.
D.L. Kirshvia e-mail
To the Editor,
Re: Hilton seeks park lease for waterfront project, Aug. 14.
For many years I lived in Burnaby and New Westminster, and what a difference in the way of caring for parkland.
While living in New West, a small nearby park was twice decreased in the 1980s to enable road widening and I noticed some time ago that another small park was being attacked by alternative approval, a process which seems to be designed to raise the least interest possible amongst the citizens.
So why are we letting the Hilton Hotel take control of a part of Georgia Park? Let them do a softer design for less money while the city keeps ownership of the park.
Pat PortsmouthNanaimo
To the Editor,
Re: Keep parkland public property, Editorial, Aug. 14.
The hotel itself would be very welcome, most agree. But as the editorial says, the developer should “keep its hotel on hotel property.”
That the City of Nanaimo has neglected this area of our magnificent waterfront park is not reason to turn it over to a commercial operation. Keep parkland public property – that’s the most important issue here.
The area has long needed redesign and upgrading. Let’s do that ourselves for the greater good of the community.
Parks are left to us by previous generations as legacies and in trust. In a way, they’re not ours to give away.
Frank MurphyNanaimo