Thousands drive by it daily, a space that will likely remain a passive park for the foreseeable future.
Paterson Park, bounded by Ladner Trunk Road and Highway 17A, is the former harness racing track that has been vacant for decades, used only by people going out for some exercise and dog walkers.
The city has no plans, not even in the parks and recreation master plan, to develop the site.
The track was originally built in 1888 and saw its first harness race 10 years later. The sport flourished until the First World War and was revived in 1948 under Delta Raceways Ltd.
The track underwent major improvements in the mid-1960s after general manager Ted Towers hired a U.S. track expert to look at the site, and that ultimately led to better conditions and records broken.
However, by the end of the 1968 season, operator Bill Connelly of Edmonton, who leased the land from the Delta Agricultural Society, pulled out.
There was brief hope the track would survive later that year when Pacific Raceway Holdings of Vancouver announced it planned to buy the site for $1.5 million and construct a grandstand before 1974. The grandstand portion of the failed proposal would have been multi-purpose, used to also show films as well as hold bingos, dances and other recreational activities.
In 1969, the agricultural society and new operator Ernie Kehler undertook a joint investigation into the future of harness racing in Delta, but it was soon apparent there was no future, so racing ceased.
The western portion of the park, comprising just under five hectares (12 acres) is now owned by Delta.
The eastern section, still owned by Kwantlen Polytechnic University, is slightly smaller.
Kwantlen College purchased the eastern section from the Delta Agricultural Society for $3.5 million in 1993.
When the announcement was made that year, then mayor Beth Johnson described the deal as "one of the best things that's ever happened to Delta."
Agricultural society president Gordon Huff at the time said although there had been generous offers over the years for the land, Kwantlen's offer and intentions made the most sense for the community. The university purchased the site with the goal of building a campus, but nothing came of it.
Several years ago, the university confirmed it was going to put the land up for sale to divest itself of the property.
However, a big challenge finding a buyer is that the land is zoned for public use.
Also, the Delta Agricultural Society sold the land at a discount under the provision a post-secondary institute would be built there, which means any other plans would also require the society’s approval.
Former councillor Sylvia Bishop in 2012 brought forward a motion for the municipality to purchase Kwantlen's portion. Around the same time a group called Paterson Park for Deltans gathered over 1,000 names on a petition to secure full public ownership
At that time the university’s portion was assessed at just over $11 million.
Then mayor Lois Jackson at the time noted the zoning for the site restricts what can be done, and she didn't know where Delta would get the millions to make such purchase.
In 1999, the municipality, after lobbying by the group Friends of Paterson Park, purchased its portion of the park for $5.25 million.
A task force was then formed which heard a wide range of community submissions on what should be built there.
Some of the proposals included a Ladner Business Association idea for a multi-use outdoor recreation area.
Other proposals included a Delta Millennium Committee plan for a cultural centre, a new facility for the Delta Museum and Archives and a palliative care centre for the Delta Hospice Society.
Citing a lack of money and the fact the park ranked low on a municipal priority list, Delta ended up putting all development options on the shelf.
In 2013, the Delta Seniors Planning Team pitched a vision of an inclusive seniors’ community that includes many facets: a mix of owned and rental units, seniors housing, assisted living and full residential care, adult and child day care, as well as co-housing units and a designated residential dementia care centre.
Other ideas for the site in previous decades included a scheme to bring back racing and a 1973 proposal by Royal Oak Holdings of Vancouver to construct a $15-million regional shopping mall.
In 1980, the municipality's leisure services commission "strongly recommended" Delta council acquire the park to develop a multi-purpose recreation facility. That recommendation was supported by then administrator Mike Allen and planning director Tom Dennison, but it went nowhere.
In 2022, the City of Delta opened a new off-leash dog enclosure in a section of the park, a project that cost well over $200,000.
