This draft design will keep what’s working well within the park, while adding new features and pathways that will benefit the community. The proposed changes are all located on the east side of the park, leaving lots of space for spontaneous activity or scheduled events to happen on the west side, in the big open lawn area that people love to use for picnic and casual sports. The existing washroom and the community garden will not change.

The key improvements include:

The park was identified as a priority for improvements through several city-wide plans and strategies. The project will keep the existing washroom, community garden, and open space including the ball diamond for recreation, socializing, and community events.

To review a larger version, see the boards

Broadway Plan: The Broadway Plan is a comprehensive plan to guide growth in housing, jobs, shops, services and amenities in the areas around the Broadway Subway. Jonathan Rogers Park is within the Broadway Plan area, and the park improvements will help to support the anticipated growth in this neighbourhood over the next 30 years.

People, Parks and Dogs Strategy: The People, Parks and Dogs Strategy provides a framework to deliver well-planned and designed parks that accommodate park users, with and without dogs. Through mapping and analysis, the strategy identified areas of Vancouver that are deficient in off-leash area access as well as six neighbourhoods, including Mount Pleasant, to be prioritized for new and renewed off-leash spaces. Mount Pleasant has the highest density of dogs in relation to off-leash space in the city and with the projected growth that the Broadway Plan could bring, this neighbourhood could see its dog population increase by up to 82% over the next 30 years.

Sport Field Strategy: The Sport Field Strategy guides city-wide sport field development, management and maintenance decision-making in Vancouver and provides a basis for ongoing capital and operating plans and budgets. Through the strategy, the sport field and baseball diamond at Jonathan Rogers Park were reclassified to support neighbourhood spontaneous use and will no longer be formally permitted.