After a rigorous debate, Vancouver city council has voted to maintain a five-block stretch of Granville Street as a pedestrian only zone until the Labour Day weekend. Since June 11, the street has been a gathering place for soccer fans from around the globe to gather and celebrate their favourite teams. The street closure was only intended to last until the final FIFA match on July 19—and the extension comes at a considerable cost to taxpayers. The $4.75-million total budget for the extension includes $500,000 per week for safety and sanitation alone. The motion was co-sponsored by Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC colleague Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung. “I think just the enthusiasm, the excitement, the extended patios with the additional flexibility from the province has been incredibly helpful as well,” said Kirby-Yung about the success of the street closure so far. “We’ve had the opportunity to see what a pedestrianized Granville Street can really look like.” Green Party Coun. Pete Fry and Vote Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh, both mayoral candidates, voted against the motion which they say they were only notified of two days prior to the debate. Both cited the cost as major reasons they did not support the extension. “That’s $5 million of taxpayer funds, in the further context of the zero means zero budget that has decimated funding for organizations and initiatives across our city,” Fry said during the debate. Some of the money is earmarked for Downtown Van so the business association can create activations and programming to draw people to the area when the madness of FIFA is no longer the main attraction. “We don’t expect the crowds that we have seen during FIFA,” said Downtown Van president and CEO Jane Talbot. “But we know that when we give people reasons to come downtown to Granville Street, they do. And we will provide those reasons.”
