Pigeon Park, pictured in 2012, is a small, triangular plot located on the northwest corner of East Hastings and Carrall streets.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
A small park popular among East Vancouver's low-income residents could soon get a makeover.
Pioneer Place, commonly known as Pigeon Park, is a small, triangular plot located on the northwest corner of East Hastings and Carrall streets, in front of what used to be a pawn shop.
Locals frequent the park around the clock, socializing and street-vending. It's a living room, of sorts, for some low-income people who sleep in shelters and cramped SROs.
Vancouver Park Board commissioner Michael Wiebe said he recently received complaints from community members saying that the park had fallen into a state of disrepair, prompting him to draft a motion directing city staff to work with the local community to bring the park to the standard of other Vancouver neighbourhood parks.
"Park benches aren't getting fixed when they're broken and the water fountain took a while to get fixed," he said. "There's no needle box, no real plan with the garbage. The greenery around the trees is all dead; it's just brown dirt.
"It's not a lot; they just want a couple quick fixes to show that there's a little more love put into the park."
Mr. Wiebe said possible fixes include new plants, "creative" needle-disposal boxes – there are some that look like flowers, he said – and a three-tier fountain that includes a water-filling station and a low tap for dog bowls. The amount of concrete on the plot is also ideal for public art, he said.
He was expected to table the motion at a park board meeting on Monday night, with the goal of getting it sent to committee for community consultation.
The unassuming park has a storied history in the Downtown Eastside. In 2003, months before the opening of Insite, North America's only public supervised-injection site, community activists ran a covert injection site out of a storefront next to the park.
In 2010, low-income street vendors who felt they were being unfairly targeted for bylaw infractions launched the Downtown Eastside Street Market, a peaceful protest at the park every Sunday that occasionally spilled on to Carrall Street and continues to this day.
Mr. Wiebe said the improvements would be executed with the area population in mind and that they would in no way constitute a gentrification of the space.
About 25 people lingered in the park on Monday afternoon. Five of the park's nine wooden benches were broken and litter was strewn around.
Asked for suggestions on how best to revitalize the space, several long-time visitors spoke of a desire for more plants and greenery.
"I would like to see some flowers here, because flowers would make people respect this space more," said Hazel Moon, who has frequented the park for about a dozen years. "I think there would be less violence."
Joanie Gibson, who first started spending time in the park more than 50 years ago, said flowers would "brighten people up, because they bring out the best in people."
Hendrik Beune suggested a water basin for the park's pigeons.
Mr. Wiebe's proposal comes amid a steady wave of change to the neighbourhood. Last fall, the City of Vancouver cracked down on everyday street-vending on the north sidewalk of the unit-block of East Hastings Street, sanctioning one site at 62 East Hastings St.
for a weekday market and one at 501 Powell St. for a Saturday market.
That stretch of Hastings – now partially obstructed by scaffolding during construction of a 14-storey mixed-use building – remained clear of vendors for several months, though some have now set up shop along the south sidewalk. The long-standing Sunday market on Carrall Street remains.
In 2014, the United We Can recycling depot relocated to city-owned property on Industrial Avenue from the unit-block of Hastings Street.
This was expected to reduce congestion on Hastings, but building owners and non-profit groups reported an increase in street-vending activity.