‘Love lock’ sculpture to be installed
in Queen Elizabeth Park

» Vancouver Parks Board officially designates a spot for the romantic tourist trap

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

Follows extensive public
surveys over the course

of the late summer and early
fall months, the Vancouver
Parks Board has officially
settled on a location in Queen
Elizabeth Park to erect its
own love locks sculpture.

Love locks, an idea that
originated in Paris and became
extremely popular in Europe, are
simple padlocks that are bought
by romantic partners that are
then adorned with the initials
of each half of the relationship,
locked to a public fixture—
such as a gate or bridge—and
then left there. The key is then
disposed of, which symbolizes
the commitment of love that
the couple has for one another.

In 2013, Vancouverites took
it upon themselves to fashion
their own version of the famed
romantic concept, attaching
initialled locks to the fenced
barrier of the Burrard Bridge
before throwing away the key
into the river below. Due to fears
of structural damage following

: an incident in Paris, in which

: a chunk of the fencing on the

: Pont des Arts Bridge collapsed
: under the weight of dozensof —_:
: love locks, the City of Vancouver :
: removed all the locks off the

: Burrard Bridge. Locks that were
: attached to the seawall of False

: Creek were also removed.

The Vancouver Parks

: Board concluded that the most
: environmentally sound way to

: allow the locks to exist in the city :
: would be to hire a local artist to!
: create a piece of art to which all
: the locks can be safely attached:
: and viewed. They completed over :
: 2,000 surveys over the course

: of the August 19 to September

: 16 consultation period, asking

: the public to decide between 13
: different locations. According

: the polls, 57 per cent of people
: surveyed would like to see

: the sculpture happen.

The three locations that

: were most voted for by residents
: was English Bay Beach Park with :
: 33 per cent. Queen Elizabeth
: Park with 24 per cent, as well
: as Kitsilano Beach Park, with
: 23 per cent. However, due

; to environmental concerns

and the fact that two of the

: three most desired locations
: were First Nations land, the
: board’s recommendation

: stated that Queen Elizabeth
: Park would be the only
suitable choice on the list.

John Coupar, commissioner

: of the Vancouver Parks Board,

: has confirmed that the sculpture
: is slated to be completed in

: g-12 months, just in time

: for the summer of 2016. The

: board is looking for structure

: proposals for the project, and

: is aiming to have chosen a

—

  

Image via Disdero on Wikimedia

: design by the end of the year.

: “We'll put out the proposal to

: the arts community—hopefully
: we will get a Vancouver

: artist. We'd like to support

: the local arts community,”

: Coupar told the Province.

 

United Way investing in Coquitlam and Surrey families

» Organization pledges $1.2 million towards vulnerable children

Mercedes Deutscher
News Editor
& news@theotherpress.ca

oncerned residents in
Coquitlam and Surrey have
developed a social services plan
that can benefit families and
children in need, and United
Way is aiding the cause with
a $1.2-million investment.
Forty-three per cent of
children under the age of five
who live in the Guildford West
neighbourhood of Surrey and
the Coquitlam River region
are considered vulnerable,
that is, at risk of struggling
in school due to having
difficulties in reading, writing,
counting, or concentration.
Without extra help, these
children may have increased
difficulty with future studies.
“The question was, ‘What
can we collectively do to
change that projector for kids
in that neighbourhood?” said
United Way employee Jeff
Calbick to the Surrey Now.
Families in these
neighbourhoods tend to have
lower incomes. While families
in BC bring home a median

: annual income of $75,797, the

: income for a Guildford family

: household has a median of

: $56,484, placing one-third

: of children in these families

: below the poverty line, all

: according to the 2011 Statistics
: Canada Household Survey. :
: The United Way investment :
: will spend $400,000 annually —:
: in the neighbourhoods of

: Guildford West and Coquitlam
: River. This investment will

: mainly be utilized by three

: local social service centres:

: DIVERSEcity and Options in

: Surrey, and Westcoast Family

: Centre in Port Coquitlam.

The plans developed

for helping these vulnerable
: children vary according
: to neighbourhood.

In Surrey, the plan is

: expected to start later this fall.
: Children under the age of two
: will be screened to see if they

: are meeting developmental

: milestones normal for their

: age. From there, volunteers will
: help with teaching families

: of vulnerable children about

: healthy lifestyles and the

: development of literacy, and

: provide assistance to families

: affected by mental health issues. !
: : The Human Early Learning
: involves furthering development :
: of existing services in the area,
: as well as helping cultivate

: the neighbourhood to be

: more child-friendly by and

: increasing the number of

: accessible childcare spaces.

The plan in Coquitlam

Besides United Way,

: several other organizations

have pledged to help the plan.

Partnership, the Social Planning

: and Research Council of BC,

: and the Children’s partnership
: of Surrey-White Rock have

: all committed to aid in the :
: success of this initiative through :
volunteer and community work. :

If the plan proves to show a

: change in child development, it

  

Image via comcast.com

: may be implemented in
: more areas in the future,

according to Calbick.
“We thought we could try

: to figure out what key solutions
: and interventions could improve
: that level of vulnerability for

children, and then we could

: extend this to other areas
: in Surrey and the region.”