6 — North Shore News — Wednesday, September 6, 2000

Celebrate sal

N your local catalogue of positive

community efforts it ranks near the

top. It’s the annual Coho Festival
and it’s set to run this Sunday.

The event is much more than a social
outing. It’s a local celebration of our
once-rich salmonid resource. It’s also
an opportunity to help rebuild what's
left of that resource, and that requires
your involvement.

This year’s festival will be the 21st
aniual. Last year’s event generated
approximately $10,000 for North
Shore fish enhancement projects.

Organizers are hoping for more this
‘year. Repairing the damage done to
wild salmon stocks is a long-term pro-
ject.

The Coho Festival was created in
1979 by a group of enlightened West
Vancouver Chamber of Commerce

businesses to get involved in kick-start-
ing the revival of North Shore salmon.

Over the past two decades, the suci-
ety has raised over $240,000 for North
Shore salmonid restoration.

Among its good decds over the past
two decades: the resurrection of West
Vancouver’s much-abused Brothers
Creek; support for volunteer-managed
hatcheries on Seymour River, Nelson
Creek and Morten Creck on Bowen
Island; and support for salmonid
enhancement projects in local schools.

The Coho Festival is scheduled to
kick off this Sunday at 7:45 a.m. with
the Coho Run. It continues all day
with such events as the Coho barbecue
at Ambleside park. Money generated at
festival events will go towards keeping
salmon an important part of North
Shore’s natural heritage. That’s a wor-

—VIEW POIN

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members. They saw the need for local

wai scx

Enough is enough
in Horseshoe Bay

“Dear Editor: ; .
Ie doesn’t seem to matter that BC Ferries is already mil-
lions of dollars in debt, or that they have not been able to
_” sell the disastrous fast ferries. No, they now feel they have to
. Aspend another estimated $35 million, which of course we all

know will turn our’ to be $300 million, to build a parking

lot.
Yes, that’s all we. will really get if BC Ferries is planning
to bomb shell, Horseshoe Bay by blasting away half the

mountainside to build 12 lines of traffic, 10 toll booths:

opposite Gleneagles school, a huge parking lot covering over
three blocks and destroying all the vegetation left inchiding
~ Ron’s walk — a local trail named after the iate Ron Bayes.
And what do they gain by such plans?:A few exzra park-
ing spots, no decrease in line-ups, no less time waiting, no
© extra sailings: To rake. matters worse, they say in 20 years
time, ‘after ‘they have totally destroyed Horseshoe Bay, they
are, going to leave and go elsewhere. Well, thank you very
much BC Ferries, It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure
Soue the most logical solution here is to have a reservation
system for everyone fike they have in: other parts of the

‘world. “They could avoid all the line ‘ups and prevent the

massive destruction to Horseshoe Bay, nor to mention save
our province some money.
. ome on, BC Ferries. What is it going to take to make
‘you wake up and smell the.coffee? Cancer in our children?
Ani avalanche in Horseshoe Bay? A $50 billion debt? When
“is enough?“
‘Susie’ Fought.
. West Vancouver

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thy cause by any measure.

SPORTS and municipal amalga-
mation fans unite: your multi-use
sportsplex awaits.

Of course at local tri-
municipal speed you
might be waiting a long
time.

And the development
of local athletes will can-
tinue to suffer.

But those of a less
sporting nature would
doubtless disagree.
Investing millions in a
nulti-field, multi-use
facility for jocks, their

- coaches and their teains might be far down

the list of community peontics. Might not

‘be cost effective; might rior be community

effective.

North Vancouver District Council
wants answers to those questions; Buz
those answers need to apply to more than
one North Shore municipality.

Sportspicxes are a major undertaking.
The whole kingdom needs to be playing
bail in this game. :

North Shore residents can't afford to

have three multi-million-dollar facilities
given over to sport, And a single North

hore municipality can’t afford to build
onc on its ewn.

But many already in the local sporting
game, which involves most parents and
families in carshot of this paper, will tell
you that the North Shore can no longer
afford to be without a proper multi-use . |

sports facility that can be used year-round

" - by North Shore athletes. -
. This community of excellence and rela- .
tive affluence, for example, can’t even host
“its own North Shore-wide elementary or
. high school track n meets.

ors «
retyaed fixe

] Dotty Foot
General Manager

dtoatzasnews com

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And the demand for field use continues
to grow. Last year the North Shore Youth
Soccer Association rang the alarm bell over
a major field shortage in
North Vancouver
District. Demand far out-
paced field supply.

The district also ran into
fiscal complications with
North Vancouver School
District 44, which was
having trouble coming
up with maintenance
money for its 54-fields.
The result being that
afready bad fields overe
getting Worse,

And as has been discussed in many
News stories, the use of district fields by
city teams is a continuing ‘source of friction
between the two municipalities.

Over in West Vancouver, meanwhile, a
lot of chat municipality’s residents, as illus-
trated by opposition earlier this year to
night iighting at elementary school fields,
don’t have much time for sport, especially ,
when it involves children, who tend to get ;
noisy when they're having 3 good time,

So North Vancouver District wants all
three North Shore municipalities to take
part in a sportsplex cost-benefit analysis.

But. thus far North Vancouver City and
West Vancouver District have shown litle .
interest. Municipal fiefdoms are tough to

ripping —

yarns

‘breach on any issue. Amalgamation fans

raise your hands here.

‘Fo help jump-start some interest from
those in charge of municipal tunnel vision,
here's a quick Ripping Yarns analysis using :
the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West as
an example. The $16 million facility, which.
opened at the end of October 1999,
includes three full-size fields and one

warmup area. All use the highly regarded *". :..

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include your -
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Submit via e-mail to: Tui: B85-7101 ee com

Terry Peters ©
Editorial Manager
“| 985-2131 (133) 56 Ha 985-2131 (160) -
ipetersgnsnews.com

Executive Editor
985-2131 (736)

enshawaasnews com’.

A Creative Services Direct
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AAECHRIANSHEWS.EOM

nr er TE RED

om? pap?

IM THINKING OF

DROPPING OUT OF
SCHOOL.

FieldTurf all-weather ; artificial turf product:
The facility accommodates soccer, football
field hockey and field lacrosse — sports
that are hardest on natural grass fields.

Burnaby City, which has a population’

just over 180, 000, financed the sportsp|
project on its own. The $16 millioa pric:
etag reflects a host of extras, such as‘a field
house, and the complexities of building th
fields on a bog site...

Burnaby’s Superintendent of Sport and
Ourdoor Recreation Gord Pederson esti
mates the cost of the fields themselves -

- would be more in the $4.5 million range:
“ That aside, however, he says communi
‘response to the sportsplex has been ov
whelmingly positive. Current per-field
fees for the facility are $16 per hour. fo
Burnaby residents and $32 per, hour.
nen-Burnaby residents.. But it’s already
fully booked for this fall and winter.

Here ure some other factors to, throw
into the sportsplex analysis hoppe

FieldTurf maintenance costs are abou
half those of natural’ grass; FieldTurf can
handfe approximately seven times'm

: games on its surface thin can a’ grass fiel

"=> so instead of six. games per-week you

over 40 — ‘and it can be used all year
round, not just from March to
The North Shore is not Burnaby:
But its sports community is just as Vi
just as competitive, and just as imp
the cormmunity’s overall well: “being.
North Vancouver City and West
Vancouver District should for onc

ae nine the cost benefit of building
- central multi-use, multi-field f
the entire North Shore. :

_ .. They owe at least that to th

and: the ic good healch, of their ‘coms

"1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, BC

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