Sections of two parks in Vancouver are going to be closed and turned into training fields for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, as the Vancouver Park Board approved the move on Monday.
Memorial South Park and Killarney Park in southeast Vancouver will undergo the renovations starting Jan. 2, 2025.
Fifteen residents spoke at Monday’s meeting, all almost universally opposed, however, Park Board Commissioners voted in favour of the motion.
“Sometimes the role of a commissioner is to be a troublemaker, and to be the obstruction, but it’s not this occasion. I feel that the obligations that we have in front of us are unfortunate. I feel like my hand is being forced,” Commissioner Brennan Bastyovanszky said.
Staff explained that contracts signed with FIFA last year mean that if the board had voted no, the soccer tournament could have put the training fields in place themselves, essentially meaning the vote was to approve the $25 million in spending and confirm which contractor would do the work.
It wasn’t the answer most of those who spoke were looking for.
“Basically, they told us that contracts were signed two years ago and they can’t get out of it … July 16 is when we learned about this, and they’re saying that this was decided two years ago,” said Cindy Heinrichs of the Friends of Memorial South Park group.
In response the board added two amendments to ease the blow — to delay tree cutting so long as it does not delay construction and consult with surrounding communities on what improvements they’d like to see after the tournament.
However, the Park Board says there is no money put aside for those.
“We’ve learned, quite recently, that the funding from the city and province doesn’t cover legacy assets, that it only covers the bare necessities to run the event and then there is nothing left for the community,” said Park Board Chari Laura Christensen.
Parts of the parks not under construction will be open until the tournament, but during the event, FIFA will have exclusive use of the parks for six weeks with no community use allowed at all.