Duncan approves 150K to upgrade Rotary Park

The city of Duncan plans to spend just over $150,000 to upgrade an aging park.

Council agreed this week to put the money toward the Rotary Playing Field next to the McAdam Park.

The city's director of Finance, Peter de Verteuil, said the facility needs the improvements.

“Rotary park’s a little over 30 years old now, so it’s just in need of refreshing. There’s some issues we have with weeds getting into the playing surface, so this will help get rid of some of that without using pesticides.”

De Verteuil said the city also needs to replace or upgrade the lighting because it's not energy efficient.

Several sporting groups use the field, including the Cowichan Valley Football Association. Coach Jeff McDonald said they would welcome any improvements to the park.

It's not clear when work will start at the Rotary Park: The city's estimated $153,000 contribution is just half of what the upgrades will cost and they are waiting to hear whether the federal government will contribute in the form of a grant under the Community Infrastructure Improvement Program.

The city just applied for that grant this week.