Storm-battered Jericho Pier should be demolished, Vancouver park board staff recommends
Staff with the Vancouver Park Board are recommending that the damaged Jericho Pier – which has been closed since 2021 – be demolished instead of repaired or rebuilt.
The risk of future damage from extreme weather is one of the reasons the 80-year-old pier is "at the end of its service life," according to a report outlining the recommendation, which is set to come before the board at its Sept. 11 meeting.
"Over the years, the pier has been repaired several times in response to storm damage. During recurring storm surge events, the pier deck has been fully inundated. Climate change is increasing the frequency of severe storm events, and sea level rise is expected to significantly impact this site," the report says.
Mike Cotter, general manager of the Jericho Sailing Centre Association, agrees with the staff’s recommendation to tear down the dock.
“I'm emotionally attached to the Jericho Pier as anyone,” he told CTV News. “But with sea level rise, it was beyond its service life. The deck floods regularly in the winter at its current level and to repair it, really, is throwing good money after bad.”
The sailing centre has used the dock for its rescue program and adaptive sailing program, but over the last two summers since the pier’s closure, the programs were able to make changes so they wouldn’t rely on the pier.
NEW PIER COULD COST $25 MILLION
A plan for renewal was approved by the board in 2017 but staff say the project would cost as much as $25 million and notes that fundraising efforts have been largely unsuccessful.
The cost of a "like-for-like" repair of the pier would amount to $350,000, but the board says the "vulnerability" of the structure to future damage means that annual maintenance costs could come in at anywhere from $100,000 to $2.35 million.
"This vulnerability is forecast to increase in light of climate change effects [sea level rise and an increase in frequency of king tide and storm surge events]. While this option would require significantly less capital funding, the expected ongoing costs of this approach is significant, and is likely to exceed the costs of the recommended option over time," the report says.
Park Board Commissioner Tom Digby said rebuilding the existing pier does not seem feasible.
“That’s an unlikely option given the massive cost to maintain a pier like that in the face of these rising sea levels,” he said.
Digby said many other waterfronts in Vancouver are dealing with the reality of climate change.
“For me it’s just another tragic cost of climate change,” he said. “[With] sea levels rising, it’s going to go up by a metre by the end of a century, and it’s causing tremendous damage to all the assets and beaches along the waterfront.”
Instead of replacing or repairing the pier, the plan being proposed is to "deconstruct" the pier and reinforce the breakwater, which will cost between $500,000 and $2.8 million.
"The decision will not preclude future opportunities to redevelop the pier site if or when sufficient funding becomes available and if future plans for the site call for its replacement," the report concludes.
The pier was initially closed in November of 2021 due to what the board describes as "moderate damage." Two months later, a storm surge and king tide flooded and battered the pier, causing far more significant damage.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.