Hours for Greenaway Pool 2013

Greenaway Pool has had water in it since before the May long weekend. It's been looking nice and clean but nobody is swimming in it. I walked up there a few days ago to see if the hours are posted, but sticking with how they usually do it, no signage for operating hours. It's always hit and miss even with posted hours, most of the time Greenaway Pool doesn't stick with them. It might have to do with difficulty getting lifeguards out to tend to the pool.

According to the City of Surrey's website Greenaway Pool's hours are all over the place. In one section the city claims Greenaway Pool will be open from June 11 to September 3, 2013. I was there about one week ago and there was a wet towel sitting on the sidewalk next to the pool fence. I don't know if that means the pool was open or some kid climbed the fence and went for a swim.

The City of Surrey says the hours from June 10 (what happened to June 11?) to June 28, 2013 at Greenaway Pool will be:

Monday to Friday: 3pm to 4pm and 6pm to 7:30pm
Saturdays: 1:30pm to 3pm, 3:30pm to 5pm, and 5:30 to 7pm
Sundays: 1:30pm to 3pm and 3:30pm to 5pm

I don't know why the City of Surrey doesn't show the hours for July and August but I can't imagine they'll be much different. During the mornings there will likely be swimming lessons, schedule unknown, and they'll carry on with the public swim times late afternoon and early evening.

Swimming at the pool is free. If the pool hits maximum capacity the lifeguards limit swims to 30 minutes. They clear the pool after 30 minutes and the people in the line up get in for the next half hour swim.

Parking around Cloverdale for Parade and Rodeo

Here's the scoop on parking around Cloverdale during the rodeo weekend May 17 - 20, 2013.

The big news is the huge parking lot at the former Cloverdale Mall is no more. The area has been fenced in for construction. There are about 100 parking spots in the area surrounding the Cloverdale Legion, the last of the old Cloverdale Mall parking lot. However the Legion is holding pancake breakfasts and barbecues all weekend and won't be too impressed if people park there and aren't coming inside to eat.

The first suggestion is to pay $10 and park at the Cloverdale fairgrounds. That gives you a close walk to the fair and the rodeo.

Also try Greenaway Park next to the fairgrounds on 60th Avenue and park there for free. The gates are locked at dusk so get back to your car by then or look for another way home.

Another is to park on residential streets around Cloverdale. That'll be a longer walk but parking is free. Keep an eye on the parking signs. Downtown Cloverdale is a maximum of 2 hours and there are a few no parking areas around town. The parking bylaw officers are in full force in Cloverdale this weekend. Huge payday for them because people park where they shouldn't be. The most popular parking spots are everything in-between 176A Street and 180th Street and 56A Avenue to 59th Avenue.

Cloverdale has a few free public parking lots. One is located on 56A Avenue just west of 176th Street, in the alley behind the firehall. There's about 60 parking spots here. On 176A Street just north of 57th Avenue, behind the Clova and next to the Bank of Montreal is a large parking lot. A couple hundred spots available here. A little further down 176A Street on the corner of 58A Avenue is another parking lot with about 100 or so parking spots.

There are a few spots available in the old Cloverdale Mall parking lot just off 58th Avenue, closer to the Cloverdale Bypass. Enter off 58th and there are about 15 parking spots here. A little further up, enter from the alley behind the Cloverdale Supermarket is about 30 more parking spots. Get here by 8am on Saturday May 18th if you're planning to watch the parade. Unless its raining, all the parking spots close to 176th Street go early.

On Saturday morning the streets between 176A Street and 177B Street 56A Avenue to 58A Avenue  are temporarily closed from 6am to noon for the parade participants to set up. After noon they are up for grabs the rest of the weekend. 176th Street is closed during these times because of the parade route. Tow trucks are standing near by and I always see a couple of cars being towed off this street. Not a good idea to park here the rest of the weekend anyway because its 2 hour parking.

There is a lot of street parking in residential areas west of 176th Street between 60th and 64th Avenues. The problem with this subdivision is if you're not familiar with it, it twists and turns and cul-de-sac's all over the place.

Some residents offer parking in their driveways and front lawns for a few bucks and some of the local churches also sell parking spots.

I checked with the rodeo's general manager to see if the motorbikes are getting free parking this year and the answer is no.

Don't even think about parking in the Clover Crossing Mall on 64th Avenue and 176th Street. They have security guards watching all weekend. If you park and walk off the premises they'll call a tow truck. They watch real closely to make sure everyone who parks a car goes into one of the businesses there.

Greenaway Pool 2012

I drove past Greenaway Park tonight (June 13 2012) just after 7pm and saw people in the pool.

Brrr! Must be cold in there! Raining today and just didn't warm up!

I still remember taking swimming lessons in there when I was a kid. Brrrr!!!!

I checked the City of Surrey's website to see what the hours are at Greenaway Pool but nothing is posted other than to say the pool is open on June 11 which I think I figured out all by myself when I saw the swimmers in there! It will be closed on September 3 2012 which is Labour Day this year.

The hours Greenaway Pool is open for swimmers is unknown but its always been pretty much hit or miss in the past. They seem to open and close without rhyme or reason, just whenever they can find a lifeguard or two to staff it.

Greenaway Pool full of Swimmers Today

I drove past Greenaway Park around 2:00 today. The first thing I noticed was a huge lineup of people along the fence of the pool. There were a lot of people inside Greenaway Pool. So this tells me the pool was actually open for once during its posted opening hours of 1pm to 3pm. I guess they were about to switch for the next half hour shift. I'm not sure what the head count is but once its reached the lifeguards don't let anyone else in the pool and then they do half hour shifts for swimmers. At the half hour mark everyone has to get out and the people lining up are allowed in. Seeing as how the temperature was 26C when I drove past I can see why people were wanting to swim today no matter how cold that pool is!

Swimmers in Greenaway Pool! Sunday July 3 2011

Yes we finally saw swimmers in Greenaway Pool today!

It was around 1:30pm Sunday so if they were actually going by their posted hours this was a scheduled time for Greenaway to be open. There were 3 people.

Well it is a little cold today. The sun keeps darting in and out of the clouds and its windy.

Amazing I had my first sighting of someone in Greenaway Pool on a coolish day.

Is Anyone Using Greenaway Pool?

I still haven't seen any swimmers in Greenaway Pool when I'm driving past Greenaway Park. Granted the weather has been a little cool but there have been sunny days, even yesterday was muggy though not hot and sunny, still would have been a good day to cool off in a pool.

And I did. I went to YMCA's pool!

According to the City of Surrey's website here are the hours that Greenaway Pool should be open:

Monday to Friday: 1pm to 3pm and then again from 6pm to 7:30pm
Saturday, Sunday: 1:30pm to 3:00pm, and then 3:30pm to 5pm, and then 5:30pm to 7pm

It also claims on Monday and Wednesday night from 7pm to 8pm its adult swim only.

I still say its hit and miss. There have been many times I've driven by the pool in summers past when it was supposed to be open but was empty. There are also times it was not supposed to be open and I saw swimmers in the pool. And not swimming lessons. Lots of people moving around and doing stuff not consistent with lessons.

So use those hours from the City of Surrey as a guideline but don't be surprised if you show up at Greenaway Pool and see the gates locked.

Its free to swim here so one might say you get what you pay for!

What's happening in Cloverdale September 2010

In a nutshell, not too much is going on around Cloverdale in September.

September 11, Saturday - pancake breakfast at the Cloverdale Legion. $4.50 gets you pancakes, eggs, sausage, coffee, tea, and orange juice. The Legion is located on 57th Avenue between 176th Street and the Cloverdale Bypass, across from the firehall. 8am to 11:30am.

September 18, Saturday - Soap Box Derby. 8:30am to 2:30pm. This is held on 60th Avenue, on the hill above Greenaway Park. It used to start around 181A Street, come down 60th, through the flat section around 180th Street, then down the hill by Greenaway Park, ending before 177B Street. So expect traffic to be detoured away from 60th for a few hours. Check their website for more information. I didn't see the route on there.

September 18, Saturday - Like birds? Surrey Parks is hosting a free bird watching walk and talk at Hi Knoll Park, a little southeast of Cloverdale, between 9am and 11am. Meet at the parking lot on the north side of Colebrook Road. For those of you haven't walked around Hi Knoll Park there are several entrances. To get to this one drive east out of Cloverdale down Highway 10 and turn right (south) on 192 Street. Drive a couple of kilometres (you will drive over the train tracks and past the flats) to Colebrook Road and turn left. You'll see the parking lot about 3 blocks down the road.

September 19, Sunday - Terry Fox Run. Various locations around BC but in Cloverdale, the Legion is sponsoring it. 17567 - 57th Avenue. Registration begins at 9am. Donations gratefully accepted. For more infomation see the Terry Fox website.

September 24, Friday - Are you a country music fan? Come out to Fraser Downs and hear Travis Tritt. Concert to be held on the racetrack's infield, so hope for good weather. The concert starts at 6pm but there are several opening acts so it will likely be well into the evening before Travis comes onstage. Tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster for $77.50.

Tennis courts open at Greenaway Park

I forgot to mention that I was driving past Greenaway Park a few days ago and noticed the tennis courts are completed, nets up, and people are playing tennis on the two courts.

I often wondered if newcomers to Cloverdale knew about the old tennis courts that were on the hill midway between the pool and Lord Tweedsmuir. Certainly those of us who were living in Cloverdale in 1969 knew they were built because it was big news and they used to have tennis lessons there.

The newly built ones are much easier to spot - just a few feet away from the parking lot.

Different hours at Greenaway Pool

A couple of days ago we were driving past Greenaway Park around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. We noticed a lot of people in the swimming pool and a bunch of people lined up around the fence. We kind of wondered what was going on because it didn't look like anything structured like swimming lessons were going on. We wondered if the pool was at capacity and the people lining up had to wait until some swimmers left. Also the pool was open earlier than I noted in a blog last month. I double checked the City of Surrey's website, link is on that other blog, and indeed the hours have changed so they are open early afternoon.

This morning I was talking to my neighbor who sometimes brings his daughters to swim there and I told him the hours seem to be hit and miss and he agreed that is true. Whether its because someone hasn't shown up for work to open the pool or during hotter weather they open it if there's available staff he wasn't sure. But he knew about the line up. You get half an hour to swim and then you go outside and line up to come back into the pool if you still want to go swimming. He doesn't like going there because Greenaway Pool is so cold and doesn't like having the half hour line ups to swim.

I told him that pool was ice cold when I was a kid and we didn't line up for it back then. Quite the opposite. I begged my mother not to let me swim in that pool because I swore a dump truck had just poured in a load of ice cubes.

Due to the tennis court construction at Greenaway Park, pool patrons are being told to park in the east end of the Fraser Downs parking lot.

Greenaway Park update

I walked the dogs over to Greenaway Park this morning but none of the signs around the area said what's going on. However I managed to speak with one of the workers. They're putting in a tennis court.

But aren't there a couple of tennis courts up on the hill between the park and Lord Tweedsmuir?

The man says they're gone now. I still remember them being built around 1970, Cloverdale's first tennis courts. The second ones were built at the back of Cloverdale Junior High in the mid-70's. Both supposed to be public courts but often the school teachers took their gym classes down to play tennis, often ending in heated arguments with Cloverdale residents who were already using the courts.

Foundation stones in Greenaway Park?

Earlier this evening I drove past Greenaway Park. The first thing I noticed is no one is in the pool, no big surprise there. But in that pit being dug up with the heavy machinery is what looks like a ledge of allen block or concrete forms. Driving down 60th I was a little too far to tell which it was but it definitely looks like a foundation of some sort is being put down in the area closest to the fairgrounds parking lot. Where there's a foundation, there's bound to be be a building. I wonder what they're putting in.

Stay tuned.

Swimmers in Greenaway Pool!

Yes, its finally happened. I saw people swimming in Greenaway Pool. I drove by Greenaway Park twice this afternoon at 3:30 and 5:10 and people in the pool.

I checked the City of Surrey's web page for outdoor pool times and I have found a link http://www.surrey.ca/Living+in+Surrey/Parks+and+Recreation/Recreation+Services+and+Places/Pools/Outdoor/default.htm

The only thing that is odd is that Monday to Friday Greenaway Pool's hours are 3 to 4pm and 6 to 7:30pm so that doesn't really explain why I saw several people in the pool after 5pm today. But that's the link that shows the hours for all outdoor pools in Surrey. How accurate it is, who knows.

Greenaway Park Renovations

A couple of things I've noticed in the past month while driving past Greenaway Park:

1. The swimming pool has had water in it since the beginning of June but so far the pool has either not opened or no one is ever swimming it in when one would think peak times would be (evenings and weekends).

2. There is major excavating going on in the playground area without any signage what's going on. Temporary fencing is up around this area.

I can see replacing playground equipment for safety reasons when it gets outdated but that doesn't require putting a fence up around the playground, just replacing swings and slides as needed over the years. What's happening in Greenaway Park is a pit and heavy equipment digging it. The only playground equipment I see is the monkey bars.

I can't find anything on the City of Surrey's web page which explains the renovations. That playground has served its purpose well since the 1960's and probably earlier. Its been well looked after and has had swings, teeter totters, slide, monkey bars, merry go round, and sand box. What else do you really need in a park this size? And closing the playground when it gets its highest use of the year during the summer?

I'm not sure what the city is doing.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Playing on the Streets

When I was growing up in Cloverdale kids played on the streets. We lived on 182 Street which was relatively quiet. There was a house across the street owned by the Scott's was on 10 acres. Next to that was all bushland right up to 58th Avenue. On my side of the street the first 4 houses, ours being the 4th, were on regular sized lots. The house next to us belonging to the Mattick's was on a bit of acreage, mostly woods, for about a block to the next house on acreage, owned by Mr. Shears. He was a nice old man who drove an old black truck. Every time he drove past us kids we'd wave at him and he'd wave back. He sold about 10 acres of his property in 1967/68 and the Nesselbeck's built a house and moved in with a family of 4 kids.

We rode our bikes to each other's houses, used chalk to make hopscotch squares, played marbles, played hide and seek, and explored the woods and fields. We also thought nothing of riding our bikes or walking up to a mile to visit friends unescorted by adults. We also walked down to Greenaway Park and the fairgrounds without adult escorts.

The woods and fields all became new houses by the late 70's, early 80's. There are no neat places left to explore. Many streets around Cloverdale have a fair amount of traffic, many who don't observe the 50 km speed limit. I still see some kids attempting to play street hockey, skateboard, or play basketball. In most cases its not safe for them to do so and many of these kids seem totally oblivious or maybe just disrespectful to traffic whizzing past them.

The 2 big stories when I was a kid were 2 kids who did get hit by cars. The first was when I was 5 or 6 and a neighbor's car back over a boy in the driveway. Sadly he died from the injuries. The second was girl a couple of years later struck by a car crossing 60th Avenue to Greenaway Park. More than likely the driver was not observing the playground speed limit. Probably the little girl ran out without looking for cars. Fortunately she survived with a broken leg.

We still have Greenaway Park and with the new subdivisions there are now several other parks around Cloverdale. There's a skateboard bowl on 64th Avenue just east of 176th Street beyond the Millenium Park. Even though kids no longer play in the street and there aren't any more woods and trails to explore, there are lots of parks to play in safely.

Organized playtime at Greenaway Park

When I was a kid my mother used to send me down to Greenaway Park everyday during the summer. Located on 60th Avenue and 179th Street, this was a half mile walk down to the park and a half mile walk back up a good sized hill for a youngster. My parents never drove me anywhere in Cloverdale. I walked to my friend’s houses, to the park, to the store, and to school.

Greenaway Park hosted a free summer program during the summer months for kids, aged about five to ten years. There was a play leader or two, usually high school students hired by the City of Surrey who organized games and activities for the kids. Games were as simple as playing hide and seek or statues and occasionally a more challenging scavenger hunt which meant we had to leave the park to find all the items on our list.

I remember one time there was a watermelon hunt in the bushy area of the park. Three watermelons were hidden amongst the trees and then the kids were sent in to find them. Finders keepers. Unfortunately I never found a watermelon, but hefting a good sized watermelon half a mile uphill was not something a young girl would be good at.

Sometimes we had to pay money for organized events that involved a bus ride and admission somewhere, maybe a quarter or fifty cents. Before Greenaway Pool was built I remember being bussed to an indoor pool when I was about eight years old. I don’t remember where the pool was, but I think it may have been the Canada Games Pool in New Westminster. I was one of these kids who started swimming as a baby so by the time I was eight I’d had lots of swimming lessons and was a pretty decent swimmer. I was also small for my age. I was swimming in the deep end of the pool and a lifeguard spotted me and asked me to swim the width of the pool and back to prove that I was a good enough swimmer to be in the deep end. So no problem. Away I went. I hadn’t been back to the side of the pool I’d started from than a different lifeguard also asked me to swim the width of the pool and back to make sure I could swim. So I did it again. I got back and was starting to get tired by now. And then a third lifeguard asked me to swim the width and back. I swam the width yet again but now I’d had enough and went back to the shallow end of the pool to relax.

By the time kids get to the end of elementary school this type of summer activity is no longer cool. The pool was now open at Greenaway Park and that was more the recreation of choice for older kids. I still remember this type of activity going on in Greenaway Park until the late 70’s but seems to be a thing of the past. Greenaway Park is pretty much deserted except for a few local families bringing their kids over to use the playground. No organized activities for kids. No organized swim times in the pool either. No organized tennis matches. Greenaway Park’s prime time has passed.