After months of discussion and a couple of false starts, the Village of Pemberton (VOP) has settled on a location for its new outdoor basketball court.
On Wednesday, July 6, village planners started work to find the best possible layout for the court on the grounds of Signal Hill Elementary School.
The court has been in the VOP’s plans for years now, but issues with previously proposed locations kept standing in the way of making meaningful progress on the project.
Initially, the court was slated to be built at a location behind Signal Hill, but the preferred location for the court had already been designated for a school community garden.
At a June 10, 2021 Pemberton Valley Utilities and Services Committee (PVUS) meeting, two alternate locations were presented and plans moved forward for the court to be built downtown near the Community Barn. But once again, issues arose and a new location needed to be found.
“When we started down this road, the two sites we looked at were right next to the community centre and the elementary school. The idea was and continues to be to try to create a sort of recreation hub there,” said Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman. “We've got the BMX track, the skateboard park, the community centre and the youth centre, so ideally when we first looked at it we wanted it nearby so it fit in with that whole scheme as well as it being easy to manage with our recreation staff.”
The location next to the community centre fell through as the project would “eat up” a lot of the town’s great lawn, according to Richman. Following that, noise concerns from nearby neighbours ultimately led the village to scrap the proposed downtown location.
But finally, at Pemberton's May 17 council meeting, a new location was finalized back on school grounds next to the parking lot, adjacent to Portage Road.
“We circled back with the school district to see if we could renew conversations about location and they were happy to have it on the school site because then they could use it during school hours so it benefits everybody,” said Richman. “Like I said, we want to have that recreation hub there where, not just kids, but everybody can go from one activity to another. It's centralized, it’s accessible, so that was the idea from the very beginning—we just struggled in terms of getting that location and now that we are back working with the school district I think it’s the best case scenario.”
Richman said recreation has always been important to him both in his personal and political life, and that council has made it a priority over the years to increase recreation opportunities in the community. This has led to projects like the town’s two new soccer fields as well as the bike skills park which is set to open this weekend.
But for Richman, who has played basketball for most of his life and has coached it for more than 15 years, making progress on bringing the new basketball court to be used by the town’s kids and residents is a little more special than the rest.
“In my mind, basketball has always held an important spot here in Pemberton. At our high school, we've punched above our weight class for many years, so I just think it's awesome to be able to provide this outdoor court,” he said. “I'd like to talk to recreation staff and see if we can organize some sort of opening tournament, a three-on-three tournament. Who knows? Maybe we can send out some challenges to the [Resort Municipality of Whistler], District of Squamish, [Squamish-Lilloot Regional District], and Lil’wat and have ourselves some fun.”
If all goes according to plan, the court should be open for public use coinciding with the return to school in September.
