Bard on the Beach Marina Storage Lease
Motion 9 · Board Committee Meeting – March 30, 2026, March 30, 2026
Summary
- Approved a 10-year lease of approximately 20,000 square feet of upland land storage area at Burrard Civic Marina to Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival for use as a temporary storage facility, including installation of a Quonset tent structure.
- Bard facing significant post-pandemic cost pressures (sector-wide increases of 35-45%); current off-site warehouse lease expires December 2026 and market replacement rates are unviable
- Storage location is immediately adjacent to the Vanier Park festival site, reducing truck movements by over 40 semi-trailer trips and associated vehicle traffic through the neighbourhood
- All establishment and operating costs borne by Bard; Park Board revenues from the lease fully maintained and indexed to inflation annually; described by staff as an enabler of cost savings to Bard, not a subsidy
- Marina patrons (represented by the Burrard Civic Marina Community Association) raised concerns about: only one week's notice via newsletter; potential loss of parking for 432 berths and 162 stored boats; and a longstanding pattern of marina revenues being redirected to other Park Board priorities rather than marina infrastructure reinvestment
- Staff stated the upland lot would be reconfigured so boats move along fence lines currently unused, and parking would be redesigned for greater efficiency; net parking and boat storage expected to be neutral or slightly positive
- Staff acknowledged notice was short due to grant funding timelines and internal document release requirements; committed to ongoing communication with marina patrons
- Commissioners noted the 10-year term and Vanier Park master planning process (being developed with three host nations) are expected to align; the marina storage is described as a medium-term, not permanent, solution
- Two letters of opposition received
Vote
Public comments
Read all 5 statements
Transcript
9 segments
Sorry. Would somebody like to move the recommendation? I see Commissioner Digby. Oh, my gosh, too many hands. And a seconder, Commissioner Bastiowanski. We'll now discuss the recommendation. Before we do discuss the recommendation, actually, we will need a motion to extend the meeting to the end of the committee meeting. I see Commissioner Jensen. Can I get a seconder to extend the meeting? That's Commissioner Digby. We'll call a vote on extending the meeting to the end of the committee meeting. All in favor? I see Commissioner Bastiwanski, Commissioner Christensen, Commissioner Digby, Commissioner Jensen, Commissioner Hare. All opposed?
Abstentions? Commissioner Howard. So that's carried. So we will continue this meeting past 10 p.m. to finish the committee meeting. We will reconvene tomorrow for the board meeting, just for commissioners to be aware, at 6.30. So be prepared to come back for the board meeting at 6.30. Okay, sorry, we're talking about the staff recommendation. We are on comments now. Do any commissioners want to make comments on the recommendation before we call a vote? Commissioner Bostevansky.
I'm in support of this. I think the arts and culture in Vancouver are under a lot of pressure. I think Bard has brought so much to Vancouver and so much joy and so much laughter. And so it has a special place in my own time in Vancouver. It's just been a wonderful thing, and I want to show appreciation to the people at Bard for doing this. And I know how hard it is, and I appreciate that this is one of the ways that we can give you that legacy that you were looking for with Vancouver. And so I'll be supporting this. Thank you.
Commissioner Herr.
Bart on the Beach has a really special place in my heart as well. My children have been going there forever before I was ever elected. And I think it's a part of Vancouver culture. And I will be supporting this. My only concern is we have neighbors and we have community members. and it's important communication is key so it seems like there's some people that are upset and they haven't been reached out to and it's just a sometimes it's just a gesture a glass of wine or coffee taking people out and just letting them know what's going to be going on moving forward and and just being good neighbor here Vancouver I say is a village so um you know I will be supporting this but please do reach out to the members of the marina thank you yeah
Commissioner Jensen.
Thank you. I too am excited to continue our support for arts and culture in Vancouver. We are seeing a number of festivals and events being cancelled or cut back due to budgetary concerns and so you know, in this role to be able to step up and provide some stability for a very trusted and treasured organization like Barred on the Beach. It's really important for me to be able to support that. I will say to those of the Burrard Marina, speaking with you in our budgets a number of years ago, you know, your concerns about your fees going up. and not seeing value. I want you to understand that I highlighted when I read this, this idea that we need to invest. We need to look at this and continue to have a strong partnership. We can't value one partnership greater over another. And just like Bart on the beach, you're... expressing to us how challenging it is for yourselves. And so looking at this, my promise to you is that we will hold the board accountable to this promise that I believe is a promise and that as we look at getting funds that we can allocate those to the much needed improvements that need to happen at the Burrard Marina. And again, I appreciate you coming here and speaking tonight and I appreciate you coming and speaking at our budget meetings in the past. Thank you so much. I will support this, though. Thank you.
I do just want to, we could talk about how great BART is, but I do want to focus on the marina and, again, the similar discussions we had about the budget and the concerns, and I think we worked through those in terms of what the amenity improvement fee looked like and how that would benefit the marina. I think this is similar where I think we're making the decision maybe before the communications have been entirely clear. And I think it sort of is explained that was difficult for staff to sort of release that information before it came to the board. So it's hard to sort of give information to the Marina before the board votes on it. So it's a little bit. chicken before the egg kind of issue but I do think sort of what staff have talked about that it's not just that we're taking away a bunch of space there is going to be sort of an improvement to that area in terms of redesigning the whole layout of the parking and making sure that it's used in a better way so although the square footage is smaller hopefully it's a net benefit or at least a sort of neutral wash uh to the marina on this and hopefully some of that revenue will make its way back into the marina so hopefully now that the board has discussed this and it's come to the board now staff can really work with the marina to figure out what that's actually going to look like and how it's going to impact you and hopefully you'll find benefit in this sort of parking improvement we'll call it so i'll be supporting this and i hope that staff will work with you closely on this item Commissioner Howard, online comments?
Thank you. Yes, along the same line, I will be supporting this proposal, but I'm quite concerned that... the marina is not getting quite the attention that it deserves. And I would really want staff to make sure that this storage situation is not going to impact in any way the way they have been operating. But I do understand that, you know, we have to make the best use of the space. And this looks like a logical move.
Okay, thank you.
Seeing no further comments, I'll call the vote by a show of hands. All in favor? That is carried unanimously. Thank you, Commissioners.
Thank you, everybody. So we've come to the end of that item, and we'll be moving on to our next one. I'll just give folks a second to shuffle staff out. Maybe we'll just take a two-minute recess. Please, thanks.
Statement Watch
My name is Sean Smith. Okay, can you hear me now? My name is Sean Smith. I'm representing the Broward Civic Marina Community Association. My position is currently undecided, as I have some questions which can hopefully get answered tonight. A couple of minor things might be mountains out of molehills, but I know that there seems to be a little bit of confusion between temporary and 10 years. Those two don't seem to jive to me. And I noted that the report was issued March 18th, but Marina's patrons weren't notified until March 23rd. So not very much notice from Marina patrons to absorb this. The proposal, well, first of all, I've got nothing against Sprite on the beach. I think... I love Bard and the Beach, and they're great neighbours. The proposal itself represents another step in the steady erosion of amenities and services over the years. Every year we pay more and receive a bit less, and nibble by nibble, bite by bite, will there be anything left of this revenue-generating facility, which to date has had a three-to-one profit ratio. For every dollar in operating costs, the marina generates $3 in revenues to general park board funds. But until very recently, little to none is actually retained to the marina. That said, I'm happy to see potential of revenues to the marina. As a bit of a reminder, the majority of the marina was built from timber piles dating from 1963 and concrete and styrofoam floats from 1982. The average lifespan of marine infrastructure is 20 to 30 years. So, repair and renewal is long overdue, and yet, you know, I've been in the marina for 25 years, pushing for capital plan investments, and it has never happened. So, I've been waiting 25 years for this. So if this goes into, you know, infrastructure renewal in the marina, I'd be very happy to see that. So my main question is, how much revenue will the lease create for the marina, and will all revenues stay with the marina? I'd like to have that answer on record. And also, how can we be assured that this money is going into the marina? You know, finances of the marina are subject to FOI requests, which we have made in the past, but seem to get more and more difficult from year to year. So, the transparency would go a long ways towards bettering relations and the customer experience. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much. Do commissioners have questions? Commissioner Jensen.
Statement Watch
Thank you, commissioners, for having us here tonight, and thank you for your support of Barn on the Beach for over 37 years. I'm really thrilled to have heard the opening statements because I think partnership is the word that we are so grateful for. There has been immense pressures on so many organizations, especially arts and culture, since the pandemic and BARD is no different and we are fighting to have our audiences return. We are dealing with extreme cost increases amongst many other things and partnerships like ours between BARD and the Parks Board ensure that we are able to survive. We are grateful to have been working with the team. Octavio did a wonderful job of explaining so much of what has been happening since 2024's pilot project that we are so happy for it to have been so successful. and to have the ongoing discussion about how else we can come up with creative solutions to be able to do our business better. While the storage solutions might not be the most visible or celebrated of all the park amenities, this kind of infrastructure is essential to the functioning of our festival. Again, Octavia did a wonderful job of explaining it all. It will allow us to maintain our operations, continue to hire the almost 300 people that we hire annually. It's strengthening our local economy, especially the arts and culture sector. It allows Barr to reduce our storage costs, as talked about, provide logistical efficiencies and reduce environmental and neighbourhood impacts. And it will, as discussed, also help secure the park board revenue streams. This is very important to us as we try to keep coming up with creative solutions in these very, very difficult times for all of our sectors. Thank you for your support up until now for decades. We are grateful for that partnership, and we hope it will continue, and thank you for your consideration of our proposal this evening. Thank you so much.
Commissioners, any questions? Thank you so much. Our next speaker is Christopher Gaze. I begin to state your name, who are presenting your position on the matter. For the record.
Statement Watch
My name, Christopher Gaze. I'm the Artistic Director of Bar on the Beach. Claire said it, but thanks so much for... All the great work your staff at the Parks Board has been doing quite intensely over the last few years and in great cooperation with us to try to push us on and allow us to do what we do. Bard has become this sort of iconic figure theatre company, amenity of the city, and so, so important as we see other things that you are incredibly or deeply aware of that have collapsed or disappeared. But Bard has gone on. Claire just said, the numbers of people we employ, the hundreds of thousands, almost two and a half million people over the 37 years, or we're coming into our 37th season, have come to Bar in the Reach. That's a massive number. And it's a beautiful... Slightly unusual in that it's Shakespeare in this iconic place in this magnificent park with a view of the sea and the mountains and the sun going down. It offers not only great drama and wonderful theatre. but it offers an exquisite experience. It's mostly, I'd like to, I think many people think, well, Bard, I mean, you're successful because of tourism, aren't you? And I don't, I say I don't think, it isn't, I'm telling you, it is not the case. Bard is, our audience essentially comes from right here. Yes, you have friends and you buy them tickets. They come from Toronto or... London or wherever they live in the world. And you bring them as your guests. And that's how Bard goes. But mainly, this is owned and operated by our city. And it's a great success story in the arts. But by God, we need help. And we're a big budget. It's almost $10 million. And since the pandemic... Like every other organization, it's been a struggle, but you have helped a great deal, and we're deeply grateful for that. So I won't take up any more of your time except to say I've been coming here for 37 years, and I feel part of this building. And so thank you all very much.
Thank you. Thank you so much. Clarification questions? Thank you so much for coming out tonight. Oh, sorry, I did not see you flashing. Commissioner Bastivansky.
Statement Watch
Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Nick Tochev, and I'm here to oppose the new proposal. I feel outnumbered here. seven days of notice. I don't think anybody of our members have noticed it, or at least including what's the impact for the next 10 years. But I felt obliged to come and speak because I think this is going to directly affect us. By the way, I gave maps with specific... Can we pause my time so I can distribute those?
We'll pass them around as you speak.
Well, okay. So there's the parking lot, bird's eye view of the parking lot and the proposed storage that's going to be leased to Bird on the Beach. We do have most of our parking there. So I figure by just looking at the boxes, even losing some of the short-term storage for the boats, we are going to lose half of our parking. And there was a commissioner's question that I really didn't hear the answer on parking. Brevard Civic Marina is one of the biggest, is the biggest on Falls Creek. We have 432 berths and 162 boats stored in the storage lot. These are close to 585 berths. users, regular users, paying full-time membership. It's a pristine marina. There's no wait list. There's no way to get on this marina. So it's desirable space. I live in Port Coquitlam. I love the water. I love sailing. This is the most sustainable way of traveling the waters. It's millennia old. And I believe... I cannot pack my boat and transfer it to suburbia. I need access to this space. And what I hear for BART is trying to relocate it where it's most convenient. And I get it. It's really operationally feasible. However, I can't do this on a scale... park my boat and drive it here and park it. Anyways, let me focus on the biggest concern that I see. The biggest concern is the lack of space. If we are to have, by my estimate here, we're going to have about 80-something spots available for the 585 marina slips. If there's a single boat, assuming single vehicle per boat, we are going to have 15% of our members be able to pay. And that is, we pay for, I am partner with Peter, we own a boat, 50-50. We have usually two vehicles. One is equipment, the other one is launching.
I'm sorry to cut you off. I gave you a little bit of extra time there because I know you had to pass the papers around. But I think Commissioner Digby has a question for you.
Okay. Yeah, so I did ask staff this question. And there are a number of boat slots, storage slots, that they will find other space for it inside the compound. And that's what we've been told by staff. And I have confidence in their answer because I can see how they would do it. So the question is, would that be okay for you? I mean, if you can be, if staff can show you where these boats are going to be relocated to inside the compound, would that answer your major concerns?
I don't see the space, and forgive me, but there's a construction of the three tower buildings. There's a construction access, and I've highlighted it. It's the southernmost section of the storage lot. We don't know what's the future use, but I think it's used by the construction for access utility, who knows what. Currently, it's been gated for the last season, so parking is not available there. THE PROPOSED BUILDING OF THE BEACH IS THE BUILDING OR STORAGE AREA IS GOING TO TAKE AWAY HALF OF OUR SPOTS. I'D LIKE TO CORRECT THE PARKING THAT'S TO THE WEST OF NEAR THE BEACH.
it's not borat marina parking yeah yeah parking yeah i understood i understood but okay so i'll just say so if staff can explain this to you though how they intend to do it
I FEEL THAT THE MEMBERS HAVEN'T BEEN HEARD IN THIS PROCESS. THANK YOU. AND FOR A SHORT DURATION, YOU SEE HOW MANY PEOPLE, AND BELIEVE ME, I VALUE THE PARTNERSHIP OF ART AND OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY. THE SUNSET AND THE SETUP IS GREAT. I ENDORSE THAT.
COMMISSIONER HAIR HAS A QUESTION FOR YOU. I'M JUST GOING TO LET HER ASK A QUESTION HERE. Thank you for coming today. Do you feel like the members were not consulted? Were you guys consulted at all about this?
Statement Watch
Hello, Commissioners. My name is Jason Almeida, and I am a member of the Broad Civic Marina Community Association, and we are an association of boat owners within the marina. A lot of the things I was going to talk about have been talked about by other speakers so far, so I'll skip through some of them. But just to touch on a few things. Things of concern are the temporary proposal and the 10-year length of it, which just seems a little contrary. So a few people have talked about that. So that is one of the concerns. Another major concern is revenue that is generated from this proposal. IN THE FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS, IT SAYS REVENUES DRAINED BY THIS INITIATIVE WILL CONTINUE TO FLOW TO MARINA OPERATIONS AND BE USED TO SUPPORT MARINA ACTIVITIES AS WELL AS PARK BOARD BUDGET PRIORITIES. UNFORTUNATELY, THE PARK BOARD BUDGET PRIORITIES HAS BEEN A LONGSTANDING PROBLEM WITH THE MARINA IN THAT THE PRIORITIES TAKE THE REVENUE AWAY FROM THE MARINA. SO THE MARINA is often a state of needing repair and maintenance and upgrading because the monies go to other departments. And that has been a long-standing practice. I've been with the marina for 27 years and have seen this happen regularly. In regards to what the previous gentleman said, It said here, event proposal, non-renewal of some transitory short-term boat storage requests may also be required. I think that's implying that some boats will not be renewed. So they will be losing the spaces where they're going to be keeping their boats. Also, I have been with the Marin for a long time. And I live downtown West End. I live in an apartment, no balcony, no backyard. And the marina to myself and to many of the people down there, it's more than just where we keep our boats. It's also where we meet our friends and we make a lot of friends there as well too. It's where we go to get away from the city, even though it's in the middle of the city. It's a beautiful place. It's relaxing. It's like a really good cure for mental health. It's a great place to be. And so for many of us, This is where we go to find peace and tranquility and friendship. And because of that, one of my concerns for the longest time has been the welfare of the marina. Bard speaks about having a healthy relationship, and I think that's an excellent idea, because if we can have a healthy relationship with Bard and have their revenue come in to actually help maintain the health and quality of the marina, I think it's a very positive thing. But if the money gets drained away to other Parks Board facilities and projects that don't help the marina, I have a hard time buying that.
I'm sorry to cut you off. That's quite all the time. I'm done.
I'm sorry. Any commissioners have clarification questions? Seeing none, thank you so much, JC, for coming in to chat tonight. Thank you. So that brings us to the end of the speakers.