Granville Island has implemented new physical distancing circles to help its visitors enjoy the area’s outdoor space safely this summer.
Ron Basford Park, located on the southeastern corner of Granville Island between Performance Works and the Granville Island Hotel, is now peppered with a series of circles painted on the grass. The painted circles are intended to serve as guidelines to help families and groups of friends maintain an appropriate distance from those outside their “social bubbles” amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Each circle is eight feet across, and spaced10 feet apart.
The idea follows in the footsteps of metropolises like San Francisco and New York City, which have both painted circles in parks and grassy areas in an effort to encourage physical distancing in recent months.
An aerial view of social distancing circles in San Francisco's Dolores Park on Thursday, May 21. (Noah Berger/Associated Press)The Granville Island park is frequently bathed in sun and features many shady trees perfect for lounging underneath, making the waterfront green space a popular spot to visit on sunny days. With a string of sunny weekends in the forecast, coupled with the upcoming Canada Day statutory holiday, Granville Island planners opted to apply the distancing circles using a sustainable sports field product, a spokesperson explained to V.I.A. in an email, to help ensure its visitors “stay a safe distance from their fellow Canadians.”
While there won’t be any official Canada Day events on Granville Island this year - for the first time in over two decades - the Public Market and Net Loft will be open on the holiday, alongside the vast majority of other businesses and out-buildings across the Island.
Parking at Granville Island is temporarily free, as it has been since early March. While Granville Island’s Public Market has remained open as an essential service throughout the duration of the pandemic, staff are still asking those heading to the market for groceries to shop alone, in order to avoid creating lineups.
For more information about Granville Island’s safety protocols and to find out which businesses are currently open, head over to its website.
Physical distancing circles were recently painted on this Granville Island park's grass. Photo submitted
