The City of New Westminster has working on plans to help residents gather and cheer the Vancouver Canucks on to victory – starting today.
Starting tonight, the Canucks will be vying against the Edmonton Oilers in Round 2 of the National Hockey League playoffs. Game 1 begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8 at Rogers Arena.
While many pubs and restaurants in New West will be showing playoff games, the city will also be playing tonight’s game on lobby screens at Moody Park and Queen’s Park arenas, the youth centre (ages 11 to 18 only) and the Queensborough Community Centre.
For Game 2 on Friday night, the city will be having an indoor viewing of the game at Anvil Centre. Stay tuned for more details.
At its May 6 meeting, city council received an on-table report about community viewing opportunities for Vancouver Canucks playoff games. Council approved motions to:
- Direct staff to work in collaboration with business associations to develop and/or fund and/or amplify marketing that promotes their business members that are offering Vancouver Canucks playoff viewing.
- Direct staff to coordinate accessible no-purchase-required family-friendly viewing opportunities at civic facilities where scheduling and feasibility allow, such as the Queensborough Community Centre, the youth centre and Century House, and/or New Westminster City Hall.
- Direct staff to collaborate with the Downtown New Westminster BIA for a hybrid event model, with viewing in Anvil Centre and associated complementary activities in Hyack Square.
Coun. Ruby Campbell stressed the need to ensure that playoff viewing opportunities hosted by the city don’t negatively impact local businesses. She noted that Tourism Coquitlam has created a list of all of the liquor establishments and family-friendly businesses showing playoff games in Coquitlam.
“This is a great opportunity for our local restaurants,” she said, “so I'd hate for that to kind of take away from it.”
Coun. Daniel Fontaine said he's pleased staff have recommended family-oriented events where residents can cheer on the Canucks.He's particularly supportive of viewing opportunities in the downtown, saying the area has "had a tough go of it" in the last few years.
“This would be such a really nice positive thing to bring people into our downtown core and show them how beautiful it is and show them all the great restaurants and pubs and places that are down there,” he said.
Public safety paramount
In a report to council, city staff recommended a hybrid event for the downtown – featuring a viewing opportunity inside Anvil Centre and outdoor activities at Hyack Square.
“That could be things like temporary tattoos, that could be balloons, that could be something fun, and then have the viewing itself take place in Anvil Centre,” said Jen Arbo, the city’s lead economic development coordinator. “That gives us the opportunity for a little bit more control on the numbers and the capacity, the safety issue. … So the Hyack Square part is more the invitation to join us in Anvil Centre, as opposed to a street closure.”
According to the staff report, the New Westminster Police Department has voiced concern about a large-scale outdoor street festival or event, given that Vancouver isn’t organizing any events and New West’s proximity to the SkyTrain make the city highly accessible. The report noted that more work would need to be done by staff before police would approve such an event.
“Locally the NWPD has concerns about an outdoor viewing opportunity at Hyack Square in particular, related to pedestrian and attendee safety, however these could be mitigated by shutting down roadways,” said the report.
Before roads could be closed, the City of New Westminster would need to consult with TransLink. It would also need to ensure the New Westminster Police Department has adequate staffing and develops a safety plan to ensure public safety.
Coun. Tasha Henderson said public safety needs to be a priority for outdoor viewing opportunities.
“I think we just have to acknowledge that both of the times that Canucks were in the finals, there ended up being riots in the streets that were awful,” she said. “So, I’m not suggesting that that will happen, but I can see why the police department is really nervous. And there's a reason why they're not doing that in Vancouver.”
Fontaine said he’s interested in having an outdoor screening in Hyack Square, if only for one game, as it would showcase the downtown’s beauty.
“Just think of the Global TV cameras, the other media, everybody down there, filming that, recording that, people having fun in our beautiful downtown core. … It'll showcase and provide us with some great free publicity for a part of our community, the downtown, where the merchants have been hit really hard over the past couple of years,” he said.
Henderson said she’s open to staff coming back with a plan for an outdoor screening of games but stressed the need for support from the police department.
“As this report says: ‘NWPD has concerns about an outdoor viewing opportunity,’” she said.
Coun. Paul Minhas, who owns Begbie’s Tavern on Columbia Street, said the city needs to “jump on this” and provide an outdoor viewing of a Canucks playoff game. While he understands people’s reservations given what’s happened in Vancouver in the past, he thinks its time to move forward.
“I think we need to move forward past this fear,” he said. “It's the fear that's controlling us, all of us. But somewhere along the line, we have to move forward. … We have an opportunity right now.”
Outdoor viewing still being reviewed
Lisa Spitale, the city’s chief administrative officer, said staff are “working in a vacuum” as they don’t currently know what the police or fire departments have to say about an outdoor screening of a hockey game in Hyack Square. She asked that council give staff some latitude to see if there’ s a scenario that works and allows the city to hold an outdoor viewing of a Canucks game during Round 2 of the NHL playoffs.
“It's two weeks; we don't want to lose the opportunity but it's also just two weeks as well,” she told council Monday night. “I don't want to give the impression that we don't want to pursue it. But we also recognize two weeks is just two weeks.”
If an outdoor viewing doesn’t work for the 2024 playoffs, the mayor is confident there will be many opportunities in the years ahead.
“I just don't want to give anyone the impression this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “I think this Canucks team has legs. I think it's going to be in the playoffs for many years to come in the coming years.”
According to Arbo, the cost of renting a large screen is $9,500 for one night.
