Does it really take yet another public outcry for the District of Squamish council to realize people want a pavilion in Pavilion Park?
To recap: two years ago, the former administration - who happened to be plagued with the blight of homeless people camping out in the old wooden structure at the now wittily named (un)Pavilion Park - decided it was time the dangerously unsound gazebo be finally torn down.
The district submitted a grant to rebuild the structure, so the province handed them $375,000 in a splashy ceremony, and the district thanked them by putting up their sign exclaiming Pavilion Park as the site for the new O'Siem Pavilion.
During that splashy ceremony, the province and District of Squamish even released a statement to that end:
"The District of Squamish was successful in its application for a 'Towns for Tomorrow' grant which will provide $375,000 for the O'Siem Community Pavilion, intended to be a replacement pavilion for the downtown core. The O'Siem Community Pavilion project will address the need for an accessible community-oriented gathering space and will assist greatly in the revitalization and reanimation of downtown Squamish."
The release is still on the district website. Now simply because the SODC wants it, that's all up in the air? Why?
Some will argue that the Oceanfront "gift" has been squandered enough already - now the SODC wants to dip its beak into another substantial provincial handover, taking away a potential downtown amenity in so doing?
And if the pavilion does go to the Oceanfront, who among us would be surprised to see the thing built only when today's toddlers are loitering in it as teenagers?
The Business Improvement Association president is saying he disapproves because the structure had attracted people to the downtown as the site of many community celebrations, fundraiser, performances and myriad other gatherings.
The mayor has said the argument for building the pavilion on the Oceanfront is that "the sooner we could move forward with a vibrant Oceanfront development, the more benefits that would have to the downtown core."
The question becomes, why would the Oceanfront development not move forward without a pavilion? We're talking about a massive project costing millions upon millions of dollars, and one measly pavilion can delay plans?
Perhaps the most surprising part about this issue is that the SODC and council are willing to wade into this quagmire. One would think they'd be all too happy to let sleeping dogs lie given the fact that ever since the project first began in the fall of 1985, conflict and controversy plagued the pavilion. It seems history is about to repeat itself.
