Natural forested areas for wildlife complements the cultivated landscape.

Educational value of hillside and river. Introduce children to First Nations culture through experiencing the natural environment.

Fabulous cycling access between older parts of Coquitlam (southwest) and Colony Farm and Port Coquitlam trail. Safe cycling and gentle slopes.

Ravines, streams with fish in them, trees for birds and animals, green corridor between Colony Farm and Port Moody. Valued for migrating birds and animals.

High quality land and soil should not be buried under houses. Green space larger than Central Park in NYC is treasured.

We must preserve the beauty of Riverview and our city. It adds beautiful green space and is a special place for everyone to enjoy and explore.

Riverview is a remarkable site that combines important natural areas with glorious groomed ones and the tree collection, this makes it unique and very special. Add in the views and the buildings – wow.

Riverview preserved for future generations just the way it is.

Riverview is an integral portion of a “green infrastructure,” a significant patchwork of green space that is vital to habitat and territorial range protection. Consider Mundy Park, Riverview Forest, Riverview, Colony Farm, Douglas Island. Essential habitat and “green links” support.

Connections to other green space, especially Colony Farm. Large open space is rare and valuable.

Greenery helps to clean our already polluted air.

The vegetated hillside and (mostly) lack of paving make these lands very valuable as a water supply for the Coquitlam River and its tributaries and wetland. No development on these lands.

The river and wetlands are an integral component for sustaining the area around the lower Coquitlam River.

Biodiversity.

Views, nature, refuge from city.

Excellent wildlife corridor.

Environmentally sensitive.

Clean groundwater is needed.

Collection of trees. Huge selection (1600 at least), part of the overall design with the architecture. Natural form of trees. First botanical garden, then moved by horse and wagon. Associated with nursery. Plants – many provincial institutions have Riverview specimens.

Green space in an urban setting. The trees were planted to complement the buildings.

Green open space with a notable collection of trees. Appreciation of nature / spirit.

Sum total of the place. Historical significance through association with Henry Esson Young. The quality of the landscape is superb and deliberate – nothing like it. The terrain is key.

Huge variety of planted trees – arboretum. Educational value for future serenity, tree identification and the unique characteristics of various trees.

Historically the arboretum story (created by John Davidson) is something of great value and should be celebrated and preserved along with the site. More public awareness of the history of the Lands it what Iʼd like to see.

Please leave the Riverview Lands just the way they are. They are a valuable green space in our ever-increasingly built up space, for people and wildlife.

I agree, the trees are for the generations to come and the only un-pruned (natural) ones of their kind. They offer enhanced healing for everyone in terms of therapeutic value as well.

Peaceful, therapeutic, historical value. A cultural gem and a refuge. Please listen.

Do not let real estate in or high rise buildings.

These amazing trees were a highlight of drives during my childhood.

This was always meant to be for the people in a form of health care whether mental or physical care for our soul. What right to sell without our consultation. This is ours.

This planted landscape – and the potential to return to the some of its historical attributes (re-establishing the botanical garden) offers a ʻuniquenessʼ which would have caused the site to be snapped up decades ago by a National Trust type society in Europe. It is one of the many qualities possessed by Riverview that gives the site such possibilities for becoming a community gem and thus could be the region on the map if proper foresight is shown.

Magnificent arboretum of trees to treasure. Wide open green spaces which are inviting for peaceful walks, nature viewing and contemplation. Spectacular vistas of surrounding areas.

Open space valuable in a dense urban environment. Important for current mental wellness.

We need green space. Progress is keeping a natural spacious haven. Stanly Park for Vancouver, Mundy Park and Riverview for Tri-Cities.

Any other country would have claimed these lands for the benefit of the whole community long ago eg. Giverny, Trianon, etc. Tree collection a rare and unique blessing.

Riverview Lands contain a garden of specimen trees – a destination for people travelling the globe. It is a treasure for Coquitlam and the Greater Vancouver region.

The mental health benefits of the planted landscape are the same benefits that need to continue into the future, regardless of the future status of the hospital. Amongst much soulless development, the Riverview Lands and the planted landscape are a critical component of our sense of place. It gives us value in our community and its loss would have significant negative consequences on of sense of community.

My husband and I love to walk and ride our bicycles through the Riverview Lands. We love the peacefulness and grandness.

Arboretum – rare / unique.

Riverview is a treasure and a part of our legacy to our children and grandchildren. We have a unique opportunity here and we would be remiss not to protect this green space for future generations. Preserve Riverview. Save the most incredible and beautiful open grown arboretum in Canada.

The green space and wide open areas provide an opportunity to relax away from the hectic pace found elsewhere throughout the city.

This is the site of Western Canadaʼs first botanical garden. One of the finest collection of trees in Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

Space and trees create a place of contemplation.

Restore botanical garden. Respect what early Kew gardeners formed.

Arboretum – get among trees, peacefulness.

Fog.

Views to Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges.

Enjoyed seeing the manicured holly trees because they were unusual at that time.

Rock walls and stairs at Finnieʼs Garden. They are physically impressive, associated with Finnie (nurse), and with the history of therapy which included patients building the wall.

Country estate is also a campus with sense of university eg. spaces for contemplation and inspiration. Landscaping is also a heritage treasure particularly so given it is “mature” having been worked for over 100 years.

Beautiful heritage buildings should be maintained and restored as necessary. They will outlast anything new that could be built today.

Can be used as a museum for all the wonderful pieces of history that are being lost and otherwise misplaced.

The marble and architectural features need to be maintained and shown to future generations how we have evolved.

Is Fraser Health looking at Valleyview Pavilion yet? Shame.

Technically advanced buildings. Sign of the architectural connection with Victoria cathedral competition assessor who was promoting reinforced concrete.

Brick, maybe made on site, represents self-sufficiency.

Central porticoes or front central façade. Increased decorative value and provided an agreeable scale.

The buildings can be repurposed.

Buildings are valuable because of their unique style, still useful with modifications, palatial and impressive, and historically interesting.

Campus form lends itself to be adapted to many different uses.

The size of the grounds is unique in the middle of urbanization.

Winding, slow, scenic roads.

The outer shells of the buildings should be retained as a reminder of the care we gave to the mentally ill. The insides should be repurposed for educational, civic and therapeutic use.

The buildings are beautiful. They symbolized that society really cared for the mentally ill.

Interesting trees, patterns and spaces.

The Riverview Lands and buildings are a heritage legacy which must never be lost to the people of British Columbia. The natural beauty contained within this 244 acres is an ecosystem unique in balance continually evolving and changing with the life it protects. It must be kept accessible to the public of our province. It must be always dedicated to the needs of the mentally ill and for the mental well-being of all British Columbians.

The Riverview Lands have provided a safe haven for those that sought help in healing. The beautiful grounds and “village” layout allowed patients to move about in a community where they could be themselves. Riverview can continue to serve as a place of respite.

Long views not actually part of the plan. The growing in of trees represented the long term view, long term planning and long term use.

Still needed for an ever-increasing density all around us. Please no market housing in such a precious and beautiful space.

We are quick to destroy, replace and modernize but we forget the history, what weʼve learned and how we can progress with reminders like Riverview. The landscape is irreplaceable, the heritage is necessary and the location is perfect to help future generations in many ways. Modernize, add, but do not destroy in the name of progress.

The heritage buildings are unique and add to the character of the site. They bring direct and indirect value by attracting the movie industry. Break that character and those benefits stop. The buildings are an essential element of the sense of place.

The heritage buildings and the grand (now deteriorating) walkway help us to remember how gardens and community centres have been a place of refuge over time. The Riverview site has a grand, palatial feel.

What about out returning veterans and those suffering from post traumatic stress disorder?

Grand design and comfortable living for those in need of healing. So forward and enlightened in their treatment of the mentally and emotionally ill.

Cottages are homey, older architecture, more intimate.

Nurseʼs Home 1. I trained there and lived there in the 1960s.

Valued for the setting and community. Peaceful, calming, safe haven. Friendship, acceptance, sense of worth, value, help near at hand. Social interaction.

Flora – therapeutic.

Sanctuary – safety for patients. Can step out away from bustle of urban world.

Parks, trees, green space have a calming effect on people.

Some mental health patients will always need the one on one institutional care that has been provided at Riverview. Calm, peaceful, healthy setting. Other uses could be geriatric care for our aging population or treatment centres (long-term) for addicts to the them away from the Downtown East Side. Downtown East Side community problem prove that downsizing was a disastrous failed experiment.

The peaceful settings created under an older model of health care provides a necessary respite from the low-end developments that surround the Riverview Lands.

It was good to see Riverview serving the needs of the mentally ill who suffer from addictions being looked after on the site – it should continue.

Collaborate with Metro Vancouver to restore the link between Riverview and Colony Farm. Then initiate further collaborations with the appropriate health authorities to custom-fit programs towards mental wellness, using for example the fields at Colony Farm for “pastoral therapy.”

Therapeutic art. Art for everybody. Painterʼs paradise.

Therapeutic gardening. Therapeutic farming.

Give those who need it a second chance to live and the care and therapy provided by the buildings and gardens.

Patients felt a great sense of dignity working with the animals and the garden. They had award-winning cattle and vegetables at the PNE and the feeling of pride and workmanship goes a long way in healing your spirit and mental health.

This could be a site for the mental health patients who still need it, assistance for those down and out on the streets, community wellness, healing for all and for teaching and educating everyone about the common misconceptions surrounding mental illness.

Therapeutic gardening here and at Colony Farm. Clients could live at Riverview or in the community and garden at Finnieʼs at Riverview or Colony Farm. Check out Providence Farm outside Duncan on Vancouver Island.

Use this site for what it was intended. Empty the psych wards in general hospitals, empty the prisoners that have special mental needs. Create new spaces for new innovative programs. It is a place of restoration to be kept. Empty Vancouverʼs east side where self-medication prevails.

Hear hear.

Open space is important for the mental wellness of all.

We need both community based services and a comprehensive facility that offers holistic treatment. Not just one without the other.

As a society we need to care fro all people. No one deserves to be abandoned to the streets due to mental health issues. Restore Riverview.

A valuable artifact that needs to remain so others can begin to imagine another awful time that we need to remember. A place that had different rues, different terrifying rules that we need to remember and never forget, never forget.

The demand for places of healing and therapy have not changed. What once was can be again with modern therapies.

I agree.

It is obvious to me as a PoCo resident that the present day model of mental health care (turning them out) is not working. It is not care, it is abandonment by the current provincial government.

The Riverview Hospital will still have medical relevance. We have more and more Alzheimers sufferers. The site is ideal for that use. Post traumatic stress disorder etc.

Finnieʼs garden still doing its job as a wonderful therapeutic escape.

Solace and care, sanctuary and respite. Sanctuary still available there.

It is imperative that this site, designed for the treatment and care of mentally ill patients be retained and developed further for this need in our society in BC. The setting is one of the finest and most beautiful in Canada and people with these difficulties deserve the best.

People with mental disabilities should never be left in prisons, within an environment of people who willfully commit crime, are kept. This is an atrocity that should never have been allowed to happen. People who have schizophrenia and people who have a will to commit crime should never be placed together in the same location. We do it all the time and effects on those with schizophrenia are radically damaged. A proper place for those with schizophrenia is urgently needed. To leave people to survive on the streets in Vancouverʼs downtown and east end is not the answer to these peoplesʼ needs. Why leave these people alone to self-medicate when we have a beautiful site that could be developed further for caring for these people? Group homes are also band-aid places for those with mental issues. They often run away and end up on skid row. The government cost of group homes is enormous. Why? When we already have facilities at Riverview to be developed! The psych wards of our general hospitals are always full. It is only a temporary measure, so why not consolidated our resources at Riverview and take advantage of the beauty of this place for those who can be treated toward wholeness.

Unique in being able to provide the setting for mental illness. To be a place of beauty for those with mental illnesses of many types to be restored if possible, or if long term ailments, kept in beautiful surroundings. It needs to be kept for its original purposes and developed further. Bring in the people off the streets and out of the prisons, to care for them properly at Riverview Lands.

Physical beauty important as a community resource and still as a superior place for treatment and therapy.

Important as having the capacity to meet different institutional needs.

The key role provincially is to return to the original plan for Riverview Lands as a haven and healing place for the mentally ill and incapacitated. To take the vision much farther ahead. Create out of these buildings several “hospitals” each for different special needs. Develop each, one at a time, step by step, and may it become a showcase of how we truly care for people with mental needs.

Airing courts. They were outside areas used for people who needed to be kept in a confined area. West Lawn and East Lawn each had one.

The old buildings are valued. Reinforced concrete has its challenges as well as opportunities for re-use, or at least portions of them.

The original purpose for which Riverview / Colony Farm was developed remains the best – meaningful care in a healthy sustainable setting for the mentally ill, close to nature with inspiring views and impressive buildings and grounds – a campus of care. We should not stray from this vision and purpose but only seek ways to bring tin the community an create a more holistic setting.

Riverview is an integral part of my community. Many happy memories, wandering through the trees and Finnieʼs garden. Where shall I start? Community garden, farmerʼs market, bike route, bed and breakfast, shops, garden (botanical), keep the trees, oasis, love this place!

I believe that it would be a great chance for communal growth through the use of communal gardens. A lot of young generations are growing up without the chance to explore nature in their own back yard, it provides the opportunity to teach the importance of community as well as the outdoors. Give children a place to nurture and call their own and the respect and pride in our city will increase dramatically.

Farm / city balance. A park within a city.

Change to remember past / future and create awareness

Social adaptability – at one time you couldnʼt be married and work in the nurse / training program. Was this discrimination? There was also the change to an eight hour work day from a 12 hour day.

Could become a place like Balboa Park in San Diego.

Multi-use place.

Positive health and wellness, and recreation.

Keep space for the radio club from past and present, to link to future activities.

Public spaces for public needs, like non-profits, etc.

It is possible to adapt while still keeping the spirit of historical uses on site.

Sustainability, often, is not about “re-invention.” Itʼs more often about borrowing from past practices, with essential tweaks along the way. “Adaptability” in this sense may simply be returning full circle.

Why is adaptability equated to more housing? Brandon Mental Health Hospital (Manitoba twin to this site) became a community college. So why not see adaptivity to some such as that? A community college or perhaps a high tech centre or innovation centre. Buildings can be renovated on inside to fit.

Didn’t like the white aprons.

The adaptability of these lands is unimportant. What is important is the retention of this as a park. We will have lots of development and redevelopment all around us. That is where adaptability can take place. We will always need a place where it is clean and green and a place where the song of birds can be heard.

Second paragraph of your synopsis should be highlighted. These activities and community sense canʼt possibly be achieved with a bed here and two beds there provided in hospitals across the province.

People emerged with transferable skills as opposed to not equipped to deal with the real world.

I donʼt think that self-sufficiency means development.

Return to this self-sufficiency. Re-establish the link with Colony Farm. Metro Vancouverʼs sustainability initiatives demand a need to collaborate, to liaise with other agencies and jurisdictions.

Organic quality of the place is valued.

Regular celebration by community of the trees (horticulture culture).

Could be our “Stanley Park.”

Walking on the grounds was medicinal.

Patients donʼt feel they are different from anyone else.

Riverview Lands can continue to serve the community by functioning as a place where arts and theatre, well-being programs could be offered. It could also be open for the public to walk about the grounds, picnic and enjoy family functions.

A culture within a culture. We danced with the patients, it was social and there was companionship. A safe, calm, organized place where everyone was accepted, encouraged and supported.

Protection within a society. Protected from the worst elements of society. Integration with society is possible within a protected site.

People developed self-worth, had responsibility, healthy pursuits, outdoor activities. Good diet, work accomplishment and satisfaction. Integration with the general public. Education regarding mental illness.

The Riverview Lands and buildings house and inspire many community groups. As people live more densely we need these groups to bring us together spiritually. The Lands are idea for building community. Idea – a First Nations learning environment and learning about nature for all ages.

I work in mental health. People used to tell me it helped them to know they could always return to Riverview if they needed a break. The felt welcome and safe, and then they could return to independence. It was not just a hospital and thatʼs what worked and what we no longer have to offer.

A place for hobbies.

Tri-Cities Arts Council – artists!

People learned life skills in the arts, agriculture, ecology and community living.

Protection! Protect the buildings, they are historical in their architecture, style, why the were built. Keep them to preserve the stories that are good and bad. Learn from the past and make the future of all safe, to get well and remain well.

A bus ride through the grounds to and from work, New Westminster to Pitt Meadows. Watched the various Riverview employees getting on and off in different places.

Sustainability, often, is not about “reinvention.”

There seems to be an assumption that no future medical therapy use of the site can be made. I donʼt agree with this perspective.

The Riverview Lands are a unique combination of majestic (and some not so majestic) buildings, as well as an amazing arboretum of trees not commonly found in the urban ladscape. These trees are in exceptionally good health, are “open grown” and serve as a source of beauty and escape from the urban rush. The trees should also be used as an educational resource. If we lose these trees we will never be able to replace them. Many of the buildings have historical significance. We should value our heritage and save Riverview.

Important features include open space, arboretum and historic buildings.

Make Riverview into a national park. B.C. and building a museum and hatchery etc.

Emphasize the historical aspects – tourism, heritage, horticultural.

For the birds, space and thinking.

Keep the Lands for public use. No market housing. Only wealthy people could afford to buy these properties and would build very large houses. This would take away from the views and open space we all enjoy now.

Library of historical knowledge of our local area to educate all in our area and outside to what exists in the gardens and in the buildings. If the local areas need a place, eg. PoCo, for some museum pieces, add to Riverview pieces.

Buildings and arboretum should be designated as a heritage / historic site.

Need the why. Because it is unique.

If we lose these lands now we will never get them back.

Connections to Colony Farm important for historical reasons and the future.

Walking.

Lets be guided on this by the Kwikwetlem First Nations community.

Something different. A change from the standard intersection and strip mall.

All the facilities shut down for the troubled ones in our society. This is the perfect opportunity to care for them again. A place of perfect beauty. No one can deny the psychological effects of nature, beautiful trees and quiet green spaces with heritage value.

Because it is a valuable resource for all.

Think Stanley Park. What a resource that is! No one would think of subdividing it. Preserve for future generations. Once green space is lost it is lost forever.

Because of 100+ years time to create what it is today.

We need the nature that has been greened. Why destroy when you cannot rebuild the gardens. Appreciate what has now matured.

Preserve open spaces. We need more green spaces for healthy living, especially mental health.

Access to natural spaces important for mental health of all. One way to carry on the legacy of history of mental health.

The Lands should primarily focus on the mental and spiritual wellness of the greater community, including, but not limited to, addiction treatment and recovery, short term care facilities for people in crisis, transitional housing, geriatric care, etc. The second focus should be educational.

I agree (4).

Mental health in our province continues to need a comprehensive world class hospital in addition to community based services. Letʼs not lose this opportunity and build on the original idea, not take it apart.

This parcel defines the westernmost parcel of the Coquitlam River watershed, an iconic river whose water supplies most of the drinking water of the lower mainland and is the spiritual homeland of the Kwikwetlem Nation.

The past care of patients is important to families who had family and friends “looked after” here. A sense of community, family, continuity of generations is created by this. The location, buildings, trees are the landmarks that carry that forward. Preserve the memories, do not destroy them. The past is a valuable teaching tool for / gifted to our children. It is a combination of memories, architecture, forest peace, education, wildlife, park land that makes this “saveable.”

Parks Canada must adopt this site.

A site that could put us on the map. What is the world got to know about this place?

Correct the errors for treating mental health in the past and make Riverview a sample of being better. The large area can support the treatment and integration back to people and nature.

Riverview – a gift from past generations to be preserved. Pass it on.

There are so few historical sites like Riverview with dramatic architecture on beautiful grounds to enjoy in BC. It is a treasure to everyone in BC.

The lands must remain in public trust for health care and associated and complementary uses. The tree collection must be managed with care and enhanced. The heritage buildings and campus feel must be retained.

It is “plain view” obvious that this site is a provincial icon and part of this communityʼs identify. Key features: Green, green, green; avian life; heritage buildings.

I have no confidence in the corrupt BC government and their lobbyist cronies. No decisions on this site should be made until we have an elected premier.

The Tri-Cities have a large immigrant / new Canadian population component. What attempt has been made to approach this community for their views on both mental health and the role of nature in sustaining mental health?

Synergy. Keep Riverview intact. It works because it is what it is.

The ecology of the site is the feature of this site and development will break that.

Asking me for a specific feature that is important is a very reductionists approach that fails to capture the true value of the whole of the site.

Letʼs add to, not take way, rebuild in an even better way.

Letʼs have a residential youth addictions treatment centre and a facility for residential school survivors – a healing program permanently funded and run by First Nations.

Think of transportation / transit access for target audiences in the overall plan.

Restoration of the entire site to its former glory.

Which is? Forest? 1930s? 1950s?

The influential role played by John Davidson starting the tree collection, creating an native plant collection at Essondale, work with patients along with his many other contributions to Metro Vancouver. It is a great shame his potting shed was demolished a few years ago. Finnieʼs would be even more fantastic if it was still there.

Habitat ʼ76 revisited.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts?

The Riverview Lands need to be utilized for cultural and recreational purposes. Could eventually be the crowning focal “ecological site” in the Lower Mainland.