For the uninitiated, BOB is the
Big Orange Bridge across the West Arm of Kootenay Lake.
Today 114 years young, Lakeside Park is
the park in Nelson. Being on the waterfront it's where the beach is, and given its size, it's the park in which they've been able to cram the most stuff.
Let's see, what all does this park have to offer?
I've already mentioned the beach and there's a boat launch at the north end of it. By the north entrance to the park is a concession where one can fill up on burgers and dogs or cool off with cokes or ice cream. Adjacent is a large children's playground and adjacent to that is a permanent labyrinth. Further south there's a totem pole modeled after a larger one on Vancouver Island. Nearby one will see a large covered picnic pavilion, complete with barbecues. Still further south are tennis courts and three bocci pits. Continuing south we encounter the home of the Nelson Rowing Club, then the streetcar shed which houses Trolley #23, a historic trolley, originally of the Nelson Transit System, which now runs up and down the waterfront and through the park. The conductors/operators are able to keep up a running chatter as the trolley progresses, with interesting tidbits on each of the sights passing by.
As one continues south from the trolley shed the park becomes more open, with room for two baseball diamonds and two soccer fields. Centralized among the sports fields is an arboretum, divided into nine sections. Each section displays trees and other flora which would be found in particular climactic zones in forests of the Kootenays, from desert-like to inland rainforest. Just west of the arboretum is a fitness area with many pieces of apparatus one can employ to both test and improve one's physical fitness. This area is set along the Waterfront Walkway, a project created to observe Nelson's Centennial in 2007. The walkway extends both north and south past the park.
Scattered throughout the park are dozens of benches and picnic tables and dozens of trees planted in memory of those who have passed on. There is artwork to be found from one end of the park to the other, with more being added every year. The north end of the park, especially, has stands of mature trees, both coniferous and deciduous to provide welcome shade in the summer. Throughout the park can be found informational plaques highlighting various individuals, groups and associations historically important to the community. Washrooms and drinking fountains are to be had at the ends and the centre of the park.
If this isn't quite enough to satisfy, the park is also home to the
Rose Garden Café, touted as one of the best, if not
the best café in town.
Lakeside Rotary Park
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Lakeside Park is important for its aesthetic, cultural and social values, particularly through its provision of open space for the city.
HERITAGE VALUE
Created in 1906, Lakeside Park is valued for its history of meeting the recreational and social needs of the city through the provision of park amenities. Expanded in 1912 when the city acquired a former smelter site and added it to the park land, Lakeside Park was for a time known as Connaught Park, named for the Duke of Connaught’s 1912 visit. The park has been maintained by the city and local community groups since Fairview joined the city in 1921. Its construction on fill taken from various sources is a reminder of the ongoing reclamation of land at the lake edge during the city’s development and expansion.
Developed early in Nelson’s history, the site is valued for the vision which created it, both as an amenity for the local citizens and giving Nelson a summer resort for visitors. The park is important as the site of many diverse uses over the course of its history: civic functions, including inspection of Nelson’s local militia, recreational uses, as an important swimming venue and life saving training facility, and social uses through its ornamental gardens and picnic grounds which were important to both the citizenry and out of town Sunday visitors who arrived by train. Lakeside Park continues to function as the centre for the city’s parks and horticultural facilities through the location of greenhouses and nurseries.
Lakeside Park’s beaches were used, as were other creek mouths, by First Nations peoples prior to the settlement period. Many Neolithic tools and other signs of former use were discovered in the park at the start of the settlement period.
The park is valued for its evolution over time in response to physical conditions and the recreational needs of the community. This is seen in the inclusion of structures such as the concrete lakefront wall and promenade, and decorative stairways down to the beach both of which were constructed as a Relief Project during the Depression years. Aesthetic values are found in the layout of the park, the ornamental stone entry posts and gateway, and its collection of mature trees, as well as cultural elements including a band shell, artworks and an artisan-crafted totem pole.
From the City of Nelson Heritage Register, Page 69
