Mill Lake Park could get new dog park and disc golf course

Nov 05, 2024

Tyler Olsen November 04, 2024

A new dog park and disc golf course highlight Abbotsford city staff’s suggested long-term plan for Mill Lake Park.

This story first appeared in the November 4, 2024, edition of the Fraser Valley Current newsletter. Subscribe for free to get Fraser Valley news in your email every weekday morning.

Abbotsford’s most beloved park could get an off-leash dog area, disc golf course, expanded spray park, and permanent stage. But its beloved boardwalk may eventually be replaced by a land-based trail segment and pier.

As part of long-term plans to improve the park, City of Abbotsford staff and consultants have created a concept plan that they will present to council on Tuesday. The plan is the latest phase of a process that began more than a year ago, when the city floated three different concepts for the future of the park.

Feedback to those concepts suggested respondents desperately wanted to keep the park’s boardwalk and swimming pool. There was also strong support for adding a dog park and disc golf course, and the reconstruction of the rail trestle that once dominated the west end of the park. The new plan hopes to satisfy some of that feedback. But the next era for the jewel of Abbotsford’s park system isn’t likely to satisfy everyone.

Planners’ preferred concept promises to keep the boardwalk—until another shoreline path can be created.

The looping trail around Mill Lake is the park’s most-used element and, along with its wooden boardwalk, was the subject of the most discussion from those responding to the city’s call for feedback.

In two of three preliminary concepts drafted last year, prior to the first public consultations, planners had suggested the boardwalk could be eliminated. The public was not happy. The boardwalk was the most frequently mentioned topic in written comments online and in-person, and when respondents were asked about their top concerns for one preliminary concept, more than 400 people listed the removal of the boardwalk—by far the largest complaint.

“Boardwalk is crucial,” one person wrote. “It’s the highlight of the walk where you watch the sunset, fish and turtles”

Staff’s new report explains that the suggestion to remove the boardwalk was the result of “some accessibility and connectivity considerations … that are somewhat difficult to overcome over the long-term.” They wrote that the public’s reaction may have been influenced by the belief that the removal of the boardwalk would eliminate the loop trail around the lake when the plan would instead be to replace it with a land-based path.

Click the image for an image that you can enlarge. 📷 City of Abbotsford

Despite the pleas to keep the boardwalk, the updated concept plan does not promise to permanently save the water path. Instead, the staff say the current plan is “to ensure a full pathway loop around the lake with the highest possible degree of accessibility, while providing an accessible viewing pier to support the public’s interest in that same engaging perspective that the boardwalk provides.”

In other words, the boardwalk will stay for now—but only until land can be obtained to complete the lake-wide loop trail on shore and a new pier can be constructed. Once that happens, the boardwalk could be removed.

“Upgrades to the park’s pedestrian and bike paths should include a fully accessible lake loop with elements that allow people to continue to walk out over the water, maintaining the special character of the boardwalk while promoting inclusivity for all,” the planners wrote. “Any changes to the boardwalk should be clearly communicated, and should secure the long-term function of the lake loop and its role in providing locals with access to nature and seamlessly circling the lake.”

Of course, the plan is just a plan. It doesn’t specifically endorse the demolition of the boardwalk—and even after an accessible terrestrial path is created nearby, future city staff, administrators, or council could see fit to keep the boardwalk for those who prefer to walk on water.

(The possibility of keeping the boardwalk while building a path for those with accessibility challenges was suggested by some respondents to the city’s survey, but not explored within staff’s report.)

The new concept also suggests Mill Lake keep its pool, despite the costs to maintain the facility.

The park’s Centennial Pool was regularly cited as a key piece of park infrastructure, with many respondents suggesting that it be covered or rebuilt as an indoor facility. Residents noted that the city needs more recreational facilities, and that access to swim lessons is already limited for children.

“The pool is a vital part of this community,” one person wrote. “There is vast heritage that should be kept intact.”

The pool was recently renovated, and some residents asked why officials may be considering replacing it. (The renovation was intended to extend the facility’s life for the short-term; significant additional renovations would be required to prolong the pool’s long-term future.) Others suggested expanding the facility to mimic Aldergrove’s popular water park.

The city’s new preferred concept has responded to the feedback by suggesting the pool be retained in its existing location, and that the nearby spray park and playground should be expanded.

The public also pleaded with the city to retain the park’s baseball and softball fields. Mill Lake Park has three diamonds—two on the west side of the park and one in the north. The preferred concept would keep the western diamonds, but eliminate the one north of the lake. It would be “relocated”—meaning the city would build a new diamond elsewhere.

In place of the northern diamond, the plan envisions the construction of a new playground and a covered stage that could be used for events. North of the stage, the city would add terraced seating.

The two largest additions to the new park under the plan would be a new off-leash dog area and a disc golf park.

Residents have been asking for new dog and disc facilities somewhere in the city for years.

Local disc golf players have been asking the city to create a course in the community for nearly a decade. While neighbouring cities all have courses, Abbotsford has no disc golf course, despite the relatively low cost to build such an amenity.

Staff’s new Mill Lake concept would create a nine-hole disc golf course in the southeastern corner of the park, although the precise layout is uncertain.

That southeastern corner of park—near the intersection of Bevan Avenue and Ware Street—will see some of the biggest changes. Over the last two decades, the city has been purchasing properties, with the goal of eventually expanding the Mill Lake Park. In addition to the disc golf course, the concept suggests the southeastern quadrant will be home to a relocated set of horseshoe pits and a potential cultural building. The lawn bowling facility, which was moved to the park from Jubilee Park just three years ago, would again be relocated offsite.

Meanwhile, in the little-used southwestern corner of the park south of the Centennial Pool, a fenced off-leash dog area would be created.

A dog park elicited both support, and concern, from the public (48% of respondents were in favour of the broad idea, 33% were opposed, and 19% were neutral). Some worried about the proximity to other amenities, while others suggested any pooch park needed more trees and features than other Abbotsford dog areas. The area designated for the park in the new concept is mostly forest, on a hill, and largely disconnected from other park elements.

A rail trestle once crossed the water body’s western edge connecting the lake’s eponymous lumber mill to other local rail lines. One of the most popular suggestions within the preliminary concepts floated to the public was the reconstruction of that trestle. Only the dog park, disc golf course, and the pool were more popular with survey respondents.

But having made the suggestion last year, staff have backed away from the idea in the concept going to council next week. A rebuilt trestle bridge has all but disappeared from the new plans. Staff instead suggest the addition of interpretive signage to explain the remnants of the old bridge, which can still be seen protruding from the water. The report omits any discussion about the potential for actually rebuilding the structure. Rebuilding a rail bridge may have been seen as either too costly, or in conflict with the broader desire to preserve and enhance the natural parts of the park.

The suggested concept proposes a range of other long-term plans for the area. Infrastructure for food service would be added near the Bevan Avenue entrance. The ping-pong, chess, and adult fitness amenities would be moved to the same area from the Ware Street area. And a new gathering shelter would be built near the spray park on the western end of the park

Most of the current parking would be retained, although the northern boat launch lot would be moved just to the east. Several washroom buildings would be relocated.

Finally, there will be efforts to improve the lake’s natural environment. A short stretch of Willband Creek that drains the lake at its eastern end would once again be exposed to the air after decades of being hidden underground. A small “water-cleansing” pond would be created near the Bevan Avenue area, and riparian areas near the trail would be improved.

The concept will go to council Tuesday for its input. Council will be asked to greenlight the drafting of a new master plan for the park that will include the concept.

You can see the full staff report, consultants’ summary of feedback, and all the preferred concept diagrams here.