A redeveloped Jubilee Park will once again be the heart of Abbotsford’s rapidly evolving historic downtown, Gerry Palmer said Friday at a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the beginning of construction at the site.
Named nearly a century ago, in 1927, Jubilee Park has fallen down the list of preferred parks for the city’s residents, said Palmer, the president of the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association. But he said that new improvements to add sidewalks, improve connectivity and improve the park’s ability to host events will help bring more people downtown and provide a gathering place for the increasing number of people who will call the area home in the years to come as residential development in the historic downtown increases.
“Parks wane and prosper in time with their relevance to the community,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of people living in this area and this is the green space for those people.”
The project has a $2.7 million budget. The city will pay a little more than half of that, with another $800,000 coming from the province and $400,000 coming from private donations, including funding from the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association.
The project will see the Jubilee Park Lawn Bowling Club relocated to Mill Lake Park over the next winter.
