It will take a little creativity and a lot of man power to dismantle and remove a make-shift platform and two couches at Duprez Ravine.
According to White Rock’s manager of operations, crews will break down the couches and platform before removing them from the ecologically sensitive area.
“There was a lot there,” Paul Slack said last week. “I think it was a bunch of young people that built a great, big platform. It’s huge. We’re trying to dismantle it, but it’s a lot of work.”
The city discovered the platform about a month ago, Slack noted, and recently sent workers to take a look at how they could remove the items, located near Centennial Park, by 16 Avenue and High Street.
After the platform and couches are broken down, a small electric utility vehicle will be used to remove the pieces from the ravine.
“It’ll be a lot of man power,” Slack said. “They did a really amazing job with the platform in the trees so it’s a bit tricky for our guys.
“I’m going to say it’s going to take about three or four days, full man power – so about three guys – to dismantle it and get it all out of there.
“It’s not cheap.”
According to Slack, the platform is located on both city and private property and was built using good-quality lumber. More surprising than the skills used to create the platform was the lack of noise complaints from the residential area, he noted.
“You figure something as big as what they did, people would have heard them working because they must have got their lumber some place and it’s good lumber, so somebody is missing some lumber,” he said.
The problem of make-shift structures being built on public land is not a new problem on the Peninsula.
In 2007, a structure dubbed Ocean Park Terabithia – named after the Katherine Paterson novel Bridge to Terabithia – was built in the South Surrey neighbourhood, but was eventually removed after the city noted safety concerns and complaints from residents.