Postponed Kids & families

Saahtlam Park playground

A $350,000 playground for Saahtlam waterfront park. It was planned for 2026. The Eaglecrest funding plan moved it to 2028, and the December 2025 budget kept it there.

Amount
$350,000
Got
$0
Where it stands
To 2028. Moved from 2026 to 2028 by the Eaglecrest funding plan; kept there in the Dec 2025 budget (4–1, Westbroek opposed).

What it is

Saahtlam Park is a Town waterfront park at Buller Road and Highway 19A, on the former St. Andrews Lodge property. The Town bought the land in 2018 and opened the park in 2021. Qualicum First Nation gifted the name in 2023.

The park plan lists a play area as a short-term priority (one to three years). It calls for play equipment for ages 2 to 5 and 5 to 12, a climbing feature, benches and shade trees. The plan says the design should be “inclusive for all ages and abilities.”

The budget line is called Saahtlam Park Playground & Amenities. It is $350,000.

What happened

  1. July 17, 2024Council endorsed the Saahtlam Park Detailed Plan, which lists the play area as a short-term priority.
  2. 2025The 2025–2029 Financial Plan shows $250,000 in 2025 and $350,000 in 2026 for the playground and other park amenities.
  3. July 23, 2025Council moved $2 million from the Community Growth Reserve Fund to the Eaglecrest purchase. That money had been set aside for four projects, including Saahtlam Park amenity improvements in 2026. Resolution 25-180 carried 4–1, Councillor Harrison opposed.
  4. October 22, 2025The Financial Plan amendment moved the $350,000 playground budget from 2026 to 2028.
  5. December 17, 2025Council kept the $350,000 in 2028 (Resolution 25-353). Carried 4–1: Councillors Harrison, Skipsey, Vander Valk and Young in favour, Mayor Westbroek opposed.
  6. April 1, 2026The adopted 2026–2030 Financial Plan shows the playground at $350,000 in 2028.
  7. 2026Two accessible washrooms at the park were finished between April and June 2026, using $88,000 carried over from 2025.

Why it matters

  • The $2 million came from a one-time provincial Growing Communities Fund grant of $3,346,000, received in 2023. The Town's 2025 financial statements show $2.1 million of it spent on the Eaglecrest purchase and $41,597 left at the end of 2025.
  • The same statements show $166,307 of the grant spent in 2025 on Saahtlam Park washrooms, a playground and food truck services, with no further breakdown.
  • Two other projects named in the same July 2025 decision were later restored. Pickleball courts got early approval for 2026 (unanimous), and the bus garage got $1 million in 2026 (3–2). The playground stayed in 2028.
  • The Town has two playgrounds now, at Community Park and Christleton Park. A Saahtlam play area would be the only one on the waterfront.
  • Residents sent in 286 feedback forms in the first round of park planning and 207 in the second.

Sources

Last checked September 19, 2026. Report a mistake.