Westminster Pier Park wins Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver Commercial Building Award 2012

New Westminster, BC – Westminster Pier Park has won the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver’s Commercial Building Excellence Award 2012 in Community Parks. That brings to five the number of awards the New Westminster waterfront park has won over the past year.

“We’re proud of all the recognition that Westminster Pier Park has been getting and deservedly so,” said Acting Mayor Jonathan Cote. “Since its opening this past June, residents and visitors alike have enthusiastically embraced our new park and it’s proven to be a tremendous addition to our city.”

Funded in partnership by the City of New Westminster and the federal and provincial governments through a Building Canada Fund infrastructure grant, the park project involved the reclaiming of 3.8 hectares of former industrial brownfield along the Fraser River in the downtown.

“This award signifies the REBGV’s appreciation of the role a project like this can play in economic development and revitalization activities currently underway in our city,” said Lisa Spitale, Director of Development Services. “In terms of satisfying urban planning goals, it provides a wonderful public amenity for our growing community while making New Westminster’s downtown attractive for investment.”

In addition to the REBGV 2012 Commercial Building Excellence Award, Westminster Pier Park has been recognized with a Brownie Award in Sustainable Remediation and Technological Innovation from the Canadian Urban Institute, a Sustainable Communities Award from the Canadian Federation of Municipalities, an Environmental Award from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators, and an Environmental Award from the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. Last month, Westminster Pier Park just missed making the shortlist of the top six completed urban regeneration projects in the World Architecture News Awards where judges commended the park saying, “in terms of sustainability it is excellent, extremely commendable.”

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Contacts:            
Blair Fryer, Communications Manager
City of New Westminster
or 604-527-4688