Trees fall, playground to rise at the site of Victoria's former tent city - Action News
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British Columbia

Trees fall, playground to rise at the site of Victoria's former tent city

Trees and contaminated soil are being removed as the B.C. government transforms the courthouse site of Victoria's former homeless camp into a children's playground.

Shallow-rooted trees unlikely to survive contaminated soil removal on site

Nine trees were cut down Jan. 13 as part of the remediation of the former homeless camp site on the grounds of the Victoria court house. (Michael McArthur/CBC)

Work is underway to transform the site of Victoria's former homeless camp into a children's playground.

Anarborist'sinspection of the trees on the site found that nine had shallow roots and were unlikely to survive the planned soil removal.

Soil testing found residual contaminants, including lead, gasoline, diesel and trace amounts ofmethamphetamines.

Thatsoil is slated to be trucked from the grounds and crews removed nine of the site's 20 trees on Friday.

The hodgepodge of tents and tarps on the lawn outside the Victoria court house drew national attention to the number of people sleeping on the streets. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)

A neighbourhood consultation concluded that a playground was the most popular choice for redeveloping the site.

The area was home to about 100 homeless people who lived in tents and makeshift shelters for about 10 months.

The B.C. government received a court injunction to remove the campers in August 2016.

The courthouse site of the former homeless encampment will be turned into a children's playground after contaminated soil is removed. (Michael McArthur/CBC)

Remediation work is expected to be complete next month.The playground is expected to open in the spring.

With files from Megan Thomas