VANCOUVER - The Vancouver Park Board says repairing massive damage in Vancouver's prized Stanley Park will cost $9 million.

The board released a draft plan on restoring the park Tuesday and will vote on it next Monday, chairman Ian Robertson said.

A series of fierce windstorms last December levelled 45 hectares of forest, downed more than 10,000 trees in the 391-hectare park and triggered landslides that damaged the popular seawall around the park.

The devastation stunned Vancouverites, who regard the 119-year-old waterfront park as the city's crown jewel.

Stanley Park -- created in 1888 just two years after the city itself was founded -- draws about eight million visitors a year.

The 53-page restoration plan sets three principal goals:

  • Improve the forest's resilience to future storms by planting a diversity of native trees and other species, working in ways that protect the environment, visitors and those who work in the park;
  • Repair the park's infrastructure so activities can resume as quickly as possible;
  • Work in a way that supports Stanley Park's forest in the long term.

Among the proposed activities are removing most of the fallen trees in the 15 blowdown areas, though some will be left to encourage the recovery of destroyed animal habitats.

The restoration work could bring Stanley Park closer to its original state, Robertson said in an interview.

"We have an opportunity to return the park to the species of trees that were in the park 150 years ago, before it was logged on two separate occasions,'' Robertson said.

"We want to take this opportunity to begin that process.''

Returning the park to something like the historic mix of coastal rainforest species could help protect it from future storms, he said.

"We know that a significant majority of the trees that came down are hemlock and they are not resilient to significant wind,'' Robertson said.

The slide-damaged seawall along the shore -- a mecca for joggers, strollers and cyclists -- will be restored as quickly as possible, with work starting as soon as the plan is approved, Robertson said.

The money to fund the year-long restoration is already in the bank or pledged by government, he said.

The federal government has promised $2 million, matching municipal and provincial offers. Provincial Liberal MLA Lorne Mayencourt, whose riding includes Stanley Park, plans a funding announcement in the park Wednesday.

"My understanding of the announcement tomorrow is to confirm the province's commitment and approval of our request for $2 million,'' said Robertson.

Another $3.1 million has also been collected in a public fundraising drive that followed the storms.   

Visitors to the park this year may face some disruptions, depending on where they go, and parts of the sprawling greenspace will look different after the work is finished.

Perhaps the biggest change will be at Prospect Point, the famous viewpoint overlooking Lions Gate bridge and the First Narrows of Burrard Inlet.

The plan calls for rerouting Park Drive and relocating the adjacent parking area away from Prospect Point through one of the blowdown areas to make more room for people to congregate at the lookout and nearby cafe.

Robertson said a lack of proper drainage from the site may have contributed to nearby landslides.

"What that means is returning it to more of a natural floor, maybe through crushed granite or some type of soil or a combination of that,'' said Robertson.

The park board will also be given priority in deciding if and how it would like to use lumber from the fallen trees.

The plan suggests timber could also be given to local artists and to institutions planning or building significant public venues, like those for the 2010 Olympics.

Local residents will get a chance to discuss the restoration plan at a meeting Thursday evening at the Roundhouse Community Centre.