The City of Delta is planning to make Ladner Village an even more lively place.
Staff are currently developing the 2024 Street FUN-iture Program which will again feature pop-up parks and outdoor library reading rooms across Delta.
In connection with the Ladner Village Revitalization Plan, staff are engaging with local Ladner businesses and residents adjacent to previous pop-up parks to receive feedback regarding hours of operation, security, games and activations and parking.
Staff will also engage with Ladner youth to gather general pop-up park games and activation ideas.
A report on the 2024 program with the results of the engagement is anticipated in late May, the planning department notes.
Meanwhile, staff have started to look for major activation opportunities to draw people to the Chisholm Street Wharf once improvements are complete.
A recent report to council notes proposed activations may include pop-up bars/wineries, temporary street closures for markets and special events, conversion of on-street parking spaces to other uses and amenities like public art, busking, landscaping and seating for sidewalks and public plazas.
“The goal of these activations is to build a sense of place along the Ladner Waterfront, foster civic pride, enable social connections, support local businesses and artists, attract families, visitors, and residents, encourage walking and cycling, and create a fun village vibe for people of all ages,” the report notes.
Those activations will be larger in nature than pop-up park programming and require additional budgetary considerations, however, given the success of the 2023 Barnside Harvest Festival, staff believe there is significant appetite in the community for major activations, and especially evening activations.
The city has $750,000 identified within the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department’s Ladner waterfront capital budget for the Chisholm Street Wharf surface treatments, railings and lighting.
The city manager has also established a staff task force “to take significant and immediate measures to activate and revitalize Ladner Village and advance initiatives to redevelop the Ladner Waterfront.”
The initiative includes an engagement and communications strategy with the community as well as obtaining the services of a branding and wayfinding consultant to help develop a Ladner Village brand and signage plan that is supported by the broader community.
The biggest move so far by the city was the acquisition of commercial properties at 4940 and 4946 Chisholm St. and 4926 Delta St.
The plan is to decommission the lands for future development. An economic feasibility study for all the Delta-owned properties bounded by Delta, Chisholm and Elliott streets is underway to determine the viability of a mixed-use hotel anchor tenant.
