Bannerman Park poised for $6M upgrade

St. John's city council is being asked to kick start a campaign to revive the oldest park in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Bannerman Park, which sits at the edge of downtown St. John's, still attracts thousands of users each year although its supporters want to restore the park and upgrade its facilities.

Council will be asked Monday evening to support a non-profit foundation that will raise money to overhaul the park.

Coun. Shannie Duff said she will ask council to support a campaign to "bring it back to the beautiful place that it was."

A new plan was developed seven years ago, but has been idle since. Duff said it would probably cost about $6 million to pay for refurbishments, including the swimming facilities, park amenities and — possibly controversially — replacing the bandstand, one of the oldest of its kind in the province.

Council is being asked to spend $15,000 to launch the Bannerman Park Foundation.

Duff said a new bandstand would be preferable because it would offer better acoustics for musical performances and a more suitable venue for different types of performances.

Duff said she would like to see a similar foundation launched in Victoria Park, off the west end of Water Street in downtown St. John's.