Both facilities, connected by a pedestrian bridge over a laneway, occupy under half of the footprint of the top level of the parkade’s north and south wings.
They feature a combined total floor area of about 10,000 sq ft of indoor space and 11,000 sq ft of outdoor space, with panoramic views of the harbour and mountains.
The total capacity of both the north and south facilities is 74 young children, with each wing holding 37.
The completed Portside and Waterview childcare facilities at the Gastown parkade. (City of Vancouver)
The completed Portside and Waterview childcare facilities at the Gastown parkade. (City of Vancouver)
“We are grateful for the province’s support for our vision. We believe in making the world a better place for everyone. This grant will help us to redevelop the centre to provide more services for the families in our community and beyond,” said Alvin Wasserman, the president of the JCC.
The new 200,000-sq-ft community centre on the eastern parcel of the site will include an expanded childhood education centre (400 childcare spaces, twice the number of spaces in the existing building), youth and teen centre, adult day centre, seniors centre, 450-seat theatre, cultural and arts spaces, and a new Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, as well as recreational facilities such as a new aquatic centre, fitness gym, and gymnasiums.
“Preliminary research supports that the site has good potential to achieve community benefit while generating needed capital revenue to address Board commitments,” reads a recent VSB staff report.
In September 2020, a new $19.6-million seismic replacement school building opened at the north end of the school block at East 47th Avenue, allowing the 1912-built school structure to be demolished to make way for new gravel play field and a surface parking lot.
It is suggested that turning the southernmost parcel into a subdivision could generate mixed-use commercial and residential development on the site, similar to the newer low-rise, mixed-use forms at the southwest and southeast corners of the prominent intersection.