Kiyo Park

Kiyo Park is located in southeast Whalley near King Creek, which runs through the middle of the park. A pathway extends from the end of 90A Avenue, across King Creek, to 140 Street. The bridge provides an excellent fish and bird viewing point. Keep an eye out for spawning salmon in the fall. 

The western portion of the park offers wide open green spaces with plenty of shade trees, perfect for an afternoon picnic or a game of pick-up soccer or frisbee.

Kiyo Park is part of a larger linear park system that protects the King Creek watershed and provides an important habitat connection between Bear Creek Park and Green Timbers Urban Forest.

History

Kiyo Park is situated on a portion of what was once 20 acres of farmland shared by two Japanese Canadian families, Norman and Irene Tsuyuki, and James and Lilly Yoshizawa and their children.

From 1951 to 2001, the two industrious families operated independent commercial greenhouses and later nursery businesses. Kiyo Park commemorates the farms where families and friends worked and gathered, sharing many of life’s precious moments. A portion of the park was eco-gifted to the City to protect the important stream and fish habitat as parkland.

The name Kiyo means “pure” in Japanese and was chosen by the families as a combination of their surnames.

Throughout the 50 years, the farms provided an oasis of calm and serenity. A legacy of fish conservation is visible with the preservation of King Creek, a salmon spawning tributary in the park, while planting along the pathway represents the families love for horticulture. It is the hope of the families that others may find in Kiyo Park a place to reflect, to remember, and to wonder.