Park Features
The park’s core area would include a nature preserve, environmental restoration areas, and key park facilities such as the interpretive centre. The river branches would be primarily dedicated to recreational trails and river access connecting existing or future neighbourhood parks, community centres, and recreational facilities into an integrated network. These river branches would terminate at park gateways, where secondary park facilities would be provided. We also recommend the implementation of ceremonial and gathering places throughout the full extent of the park.
Park Core Area
We recommend Point Douglas Park, by the Louise Bridge, as the preferred location for the national park’s operational and interpretive facilities. This location already offers a mix of landscape conditions and is near large vacant industrial sites, which would facilitate restoration management, research, and interpretive programming. An existing boat launch, a legacy of the Buchanan Marina previously operating on the site, offers one of the most convenient river access in the city and would be expanded with a small marina catering to self-propelled watercrafts, motor crafts for river interpretation programming, and possibly the water taxi.