Open house today on Topaz redesign

A proposed new look for Topaz Park is being highlighted today, with possible added amenities including skateboard and bikeskills parks and a fenced, leashoptional dog area.

An open house is being held today from noon-4 p.m. near the park’s Glasgow Street parking lot. The event will include familyoriented games and snacks, along with details on possible changes to Victoria’s second largest park.

Victoria parks director Thomas Soulliere said the proposal has been put together with public consultation.

“It’s been just about a year of us being out in the community getting input,” he said. “This is the result of all of that input and the discussions we’ve been having.”

The proposal includes the removal of the soccer field at Blanshard Street and Topaz Avenue, with a second artificial surface added to the field complex off Finlayson Street.

Soulliere said changes would result in a better layout on fields where different sports, such as soccer and baseball, are played. The field would be replaced by a skate park and tennis and pickleball courts.

Pickleball is a sport where players use a paddle, smaller than a tennis racquet, to hit a ball over a net. “It’s really been growing in the last five years,” Soulliere said.

The new tennis courts would replace old one that were removed in 2016 due to extensive damage from tree roots. The plan is for the former site of the tennis courts to become a picnic area.

A specific area for dogs is proposed for a spot next to the park’s south entrance, an area that would see general improvements made.

“This would be increasing the quality of that space by regarding and dealing with some of the drainage challenges there, as well as adding fencing and some other amenities,” Soulliere said.

The bike-skills section would be adjacent to the dog area in a wooded space.

“We’re looking at an asphalttype surface that would wind its way around the trees and through the space there, and have some neat little challenging areas,” he said. “But also just a place for people to gain confidence riding their bike.”

No definite cost has been determined for the project, although the added turf field would be a few million dollars, he said. There is about a million dollars available in reserve funds for that effort.

There is still work to be done on the plan, Soulliere said.

“This is still conceptual in a lot of ways,” he said.

“The idea is to get it done as soon as possible within the city’s financial capacity. We want to get started on the first phase this year,” though it has not been decided what would happen first.