Beaver Valley Recreation, Parks & Culture Master Plan

The Beaver Valley Regional Parks and Regional Trails Service is embarking on a Master Plan in recreation.

The purpose of this project is to develop a master plan that will provide guidance to the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary (RDKB), Village of Fruitvale and Village of Montrose in establishing priorities for recreation, parks, and culture services in the Beaver Valley.

The project will lead to the development of a well supported plan summarizing community needs for recreation, parks, and culture services in the Beaver Valley. The plan will establish community-based priorities for facilities and programming and provide direction for future recreation, parks, and culture services.

During 2023 - residents, businesses, and community groups in the Beaver Valley provided their input by completing surveys and attending workshops/roadshows.

The following draft of the plan is based on community input and detailed research and analysis. The plan has not yet been adopted as an official plan for the Beaver Valley Recreation Committee or RDKB. The adoption of the plan will be contingent upon strategic priorities and the financial capacity to carry out the plan.

Draft Beaver Valley Recreation, Parks, and Culture Master Plan (Nov. 30, 2023).pdf

For more information on any of the above, please contact Mark Daines, Manager of Facilities and Recreation for the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary at mdaines@rdkb.com or 250-368-1333.

BEAVER VALLEY RECREATION, PARKS AND CULTURE MASTER PLAN UPDATE (JANUARY 2025)

On November 12, 2024, the Beaver Valley Regional Parks and Regional Trails Committee (BV Recreation Committee) completed it’s 5 year service review which included a review of the Beaver Valley Recreation, Parks and Culture Master Plan that was contracted to Expedition Management Consultants in November 2023. The BV Recreation Committee reviewed the top 10 actions that were identified as the top priorities of the plan. The priority list and all components of the plan are for planning purposes only and subject to annual budget approvals and ongoing planning efforts from municipal partners. The municipal partners may add, remove or re-order activities based on the needs of the community at the time of implementation, and subject to ongoing maintenance and upkeep of existing programs and facilities.

Here are the top 10 actions and the comments and decisions that committee made for the time being….

1. Strike a Master Plan Implementation Committee.

• The BV Recreation Committee felt that by striking a Master Plan Implementation Committee is a concept that would likely become a duplication of services. The BV Recreation Committee already has strong ties with the community, regional and local governments, and always has an ear to the ground when it comes to issues and ideas surrounding recreation.

2. Complete condition assessments for indoor facilities/maintain existing indoor and outdoor facilities

• This action has been on going with the RDKB’s mandate to institute a Capital Asset Management Plan. In 2019 the RDKB undertook a condition assessment of all it’s facilities and developed short, mid and long-range goals to maintain facilities. Some of the areas where condition assessments have taken placed and improvements were made are Mazzochi Park: playground, pump park and irrigation system, Beaver Valley Family Park: disc golf course, playground and pickleball court, Beaver Valley Skate Park, Webster Road and Barklay Creek Trail and of course Beaver Valley Arena.

3. Implement a Volunteer Development Strategy

• In May of 2024 the RDKB and Beaver Valley Recreation department kicked off a volunteer recognition event with the 50th year anniversary of the Beaver Valley Arena. Local volunteers were recognized for their dedication and support to recreation in the Beaver Valley and were presented with a commemorative hockey jersey. This event was the beginning of a strategy to create interest in volunteering. The Beaver Valley Recreation department is currently working to develop a volunteer strategy to recruit and recognize volunteers.

4. Enhance marketing for recreation, parks, and culture offerings through a “one stop shop” approach.

• The BV Recreation Committee felt strongly that the Beaver Valley Newsletter was the best approach to continue to get the message out to local residents, but not the only approach. With BV Recreation’s face book page reaching 765 readers, the recreation department also felt that by setting up a BV Rec Instagram page that the recreation service would reach a younger audience. Beaver Valley Recreation also purchased a new electronic sign board that is located on the side of the Fruitvale Community Hall. The recreation department has reached out to all recreation services in the Beaver Valley to ask them to submit their programs to the BV Recreation Department and they will be posted on the BV Recreation Facebook and Instagram pages. Anyone looking to get the BV Recreation Newsletter electronically can send a request in to kwalker@rdkb.com

5. Expand programming for children and youth

• Although the report wasn’t specific about what type of youth programs were sought after, we do know that there is the Beaver Valley Youth Action Network that provides a lot of after school recreation programs for youth. What may be lacking is the marketing of their program to a broader population of youth spread across the Beaver Valley. The BV Recreation Committee is looking in to how the program is marketed and how to get the word out more frequently.

6. Develop off-leash dog parks

• After a lengthy discussion on this topic it was felt by the BV Recreation Committee that the Beaver Valley is surrounded by an abundance of beautiful mountains and areas with access to trails. There is no plan at this time to build or designate land for a dog park.

7. Upgrade the Beaver Valley Arena

• Part of the Capital Asset Management Plan that the RDKB has adopted includes making upgrades and improvements to the Beaver Valley Arena. Over the last 10 years the arena has upgraded it’s Zamboni twice, replaced most of the components in the refrigeration plant, renovated the Nitehawks dressing room and office, renovated the concession, new washrooms, new lighting, new furnaces, boilers and exterior paint. The RDKB will continue to make upgrades recognizing that the building and it’s components are getting older and require future capital improvements to the keep the arena operating.

8. Improve the accessibility of the Fitness Center.

• By the time this report was reviewed by the BV Recreation Committee the Village of Fruitvale had already improved access to the Fitness Centre. As this is a Village of Fruitvale asset the recommendation in this report was communicated to the Village of Fruitvale.

9. Develop a Trails Master Plan

• The Kootenay Columbia Trails Society is doing some preliminary work in identifying potential areas where new trails could be built in the Beaver Valley. However, the challenge that faces the RDKB is the amount of Crown land available to build trails. Most of the potential land for trails within the Beaver Valley is either on property owned privately, or there are pockets of Crown land that have no access without crossing private property. If landowners were interested in donating property to the RDKB for trail access this is something that the RDKB would be interested in.

10. Enhanced spray park facilities

• The Village of Montrose has a plan to expand the footprint of its spray park and the BV Recreation Committee supports the expansion of the park. The Beaver Valley Recreation Department currently utilizes this park for it’s summer parks program and it’s a huge hit with the kids. There are no plans to build another water park in the Beaver Valley as water restrictions come in to effect in the later summer.

Beaver Valley Recreation Committee meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at the RDKB Corporate office in Trail. We always welcome the publics attendance.