Green party park board commissioner Stuart Mackinnon and NPA commissioner Ian Robertson are calling for the immediate demolition of the marginal wharf at Jericho Beach.

The commissioners say a new report from Fisheries and Oceans Canada shows fish habitat and other marine life around the wharf is being compromised due to toxic contaminants leeching into the water from old creosote pilings.

The discussion on the fate of the old wharf has been ongoing since 2008 and this entry marks the eighth time I've written about it either as a story or in Central Park since that time.

The wharf, built more than 60 years ago as part of the former Jericho Seaplane Base, has significant heritage value. Jericho Beach was home to the Pacific Coast Station of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1921 to 1945.

The wharf's perimeter was installed during the 1976 Habitat Forum using the original 1938 railings from the Lions Gate Bridge. Many residents and historians have argued to save the wharf, but parks staff counter it's simply too expensive to maintain. But now it looks like the wharf is finally going to go, but not due to the high cost of repairing and maintaining it.

Mackinnon and Robertson blame Vision Vancouver commissioners for dragging their feet on demolishing the wharf. The previous NPA-dominated board voted to remove the wharf and let the foreshore around it return to its natural state, but those commissioners never got around to it, leaving the decision squarely in the lap of the new board. Due to complaints from residents about the lack of consultation regarding the wharf's future, the now Vision-dominated board agreed to revisit the issue. Vision park board chair Aaron Jasper says at the time that decision made sense. He told me Monday that based on this new information the wharf will likely come down soon.

Jasper also told me he's the one who requested the environmental report from the DFO, which he passed along to his fellow commissioners, including Mackinnon and Robertson. He says a decision on the wharf's future should be finalized in October.

SOLD THE FARM

Wanted: a good home for several goats, llamas and potbellied pigs.

While I spoke with Jasper on the phone Monday regarding the wharf, I asked him about the fate of the Stanley Park Farmyard, which was pretty much decided last week at the park board's first planning and environment committee meeting of the fall.

Last November, the Vision Vancouver commissioners on the board voted to close the farmyard as a cost-cutting measure to make up a multimillion-dollar deficit to its 2010 operating budget. The farmyard costs the board $250,000 annually to operate. The board then put out a call for expressions of interest in hopes a private operator would take it over. Jasper said two groups had shown interest initially, but both had withdrawn their proposals before the Sept. 9 meeting.

Jasper says the park board has no choice but to close the popular attraction. He notes staff working at the farmyard will be employed in other positions, while parks staff will ensure the animals find good homes. He adds the board has heard from a Gulf Islands group interested in using the animals as part of a therapy program. "There's a lot of potential to find these animals good homes," he said.

sthomas@vancourier.com