Vernon’s Civic Memorial Park pays homage to old arena

“If you wander around, you’ll see the corners of the old arena, they’re in concrete right in the ground. And inside [the arena], it felt like a circle. It felt circular because of the arena face, and they put a circle [walking path] here, so there’s a way in which it kind of fits and works.”

Some of the old outside concrete walls of the arena were also left at the site, one of which is engraved with Civic Arena.

The park also features the playground, with a balloon feature to pay tribute to the Balloon Glow and the Vernon Winter Carnival as well as a spray feature; a hill for people to sit and have a picnic; an outbuilding that features an indoor space that can be rented out as well as public washroom; picnic tables; an information kiosk; shade trees; and games including a ping pong table, a foosball table, and several picnic tables with chess and checker boards.

A walkthrough of the Civic Memorial Park showcasing the features from the Civic Arena (video by Liam Verster / Vernon Matters)

People can access the games by contacting the city through a phone number posted on the games box, or bring their own equipment to use the tables.

The north side of the outbuilding, facing 39th Avenue, will be used by Vernon Fire Rescue to store equipment.

Cumming noted there has not been any concern with homeless people at the park.

“What we have is a bylaw and a system in the community which identifies where people are able to camp, and our Bylaw and RCMP understand that this is not one of them,” the mayor explained.

“So [the officers] speak to them, make them move on and let them know where they can [camp]. That’s how we’ve managed it and it’s been quite successful, a number of years of that type of success.”

The balloon feature was vandalized in the summer of 2022, and that has since been addressed.

“We’ve made the structure stronger. At the beginning it was a soft structure and unfortunately it got vandalized right away,” Cumming said.

“Really disappointing for us. It was a beautiful feature.”

Cumming said the feedback from park users, particularly from children using the playground and rolling down the hill, has been very positive so far.

The park was partly funded by the federal government thanks to a $639,000 contribution through Pacific Economic Development Canada. The rest of the funding for the park came through Vernon’s Infrastructure Levy ($792,100) and Casino Funding ($19100), a contribution from the Regional District of North Okanagan’s Parks Development Cost Charges ($1,999,100), a Fortis B.C. Legacy Reserve ($79,800) and other outside funding sources and donations ($4,900).

The B.C. government also provided two electric vehicle charging stations for the parking lot.

Cumming said the city’s contributions to the park has been on budget and well managed. The final phase of the work at the site is ongoing, and involves putting down a path from the walkway to the outbuilding.

Civic Memorial Park first opened to the public in August 2022.

by Liam Verster

Vernon’s Civic Memorial Park pays homage to old arena

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