It is all about respect for Squamish seniors, they say.
The unkempt lawn bowling green behind the Eaglewind housing development in downtown Squamish is a symbol of the district’s lack of respect for seniors, according to a group of lawn bowling enthusiasts.
Bill Berg is one such former lawn bowler who wrote letters to The Squamish Chief and council criticizing the district for not keeping up the green, which was an amenity contribution from Solterra, the company that built the Eaglewind development. The District of Squamish was supposed to take over and keep the green maintained, Berg said, but that hasn’t happened.
The green was once a great place to play, Berg said. There was even a competitive lawn bowling tournament on the green in September of 2011, according to a Squamish Chief article from the time.
Last summer, the green was in bad shape, but playable. This year it is so lumpy and full of weeds that the about 20 seniors who wanted to play gave up, according to Berg and five seniors who showed The Squamish Chief around the green on Friday.
Maintenance of the green was left off the 2015 district budget.
“It has steadily gone downhill,” Berg said while standing on the green near a patch of dandelions.
The automatic watering system was turned off prior to this season, Berg said, leaving the green dry and cracked.
“You can play but you don’t know where the ball is going to go. The person behind you has to watch out because it might go the other way,” said Berg.
The area needs to be leveled and weeded, according to the seniors.
But the green is the tip of the iceberg, according to Lynnda Kirkwood.
“They are ignoring all the seniors activities is what they are doing. We have the same problem with all kinds of things. It is a major fight for everything,” said Kirkwood.
Berg said the consensus of the seniors he talks to at the Seniors Centre is that the district is writing off seniors with the support of council.
“And then the seniors centre is free for all the other activities like entertaining children and all this kind of stuff. We had to complain because we were being moved from our traditional areas [in the centre] because they wanted to have children’s [activities].”
The centre’s activities were supposed to be for seniors exclusively from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m., the seniors said, but that isn’t happening.
“The programs they come up with aren’t being discussed by the seniors and aren’t being supported by the seniors,” said Berg.
The issue of the condition of the bowling green was raised at council July 21 and it was suggested by Councillor Ted Prior that the seniors could take over maintenance.
Berg balked at that suggestion because it would be union-busting, he said.
“This town… was just about all union. Everybody was union,” he said, adding many seniors in Squamish today are former union members. “Now we as seniors should break the little bit of a union that is left? Give me a break.”
Mayor Patricia Heintzman told council that it cost about $15,000 per year to maintain the green, which was out of whack compared to other facilities the district maintains.
“You are subsidizing 20 people to the tune of $800 or 900 per user and it was just exponential compared to hockey or anything else,” she said.
“If we find a solution where they take ‘ownership’ of this… then that is good for everybody.”
Heintzman said she, the council and the district do value Squamish’s seniors.
“Seniors are a repository of wisdom and experience that is really important in a community,” she said, adding more can always be done, but there isn’t enough money to do everything people may wish for.
The seniors said if the district can’t maintain the green then the district should hand over the cash and the seniors will pay someone to do it themselves.
Municipal representatives continue to be in talks with the seniors, according to district staff.
