Farewell to the Norquay Field House

Dec 12, 2024

For at least the last eight years, Fresh Roots has called the Norquay Field House home. Fittingly at this time of year when we’re reflecting on our past and looking forward to the new year to come, we’re saying farewell to Norquay and embarking on a new office journey.

The Norqauy fieldhouse door in March 2020.

The first time I entered the Norquay Field House was in February 2017, when I interviewed to become the first Experiential Learning Manager. I was still living in the US at the time, and had come up for a few days to visit my spouse who was at UBC at the time, collect my brand new work permit, and interview for this job. It was one of those February days where there’d been wet snow the day before, and the sidewalks were covered in a layer of slush.

By contrast, the Fresh Roots office was warm and inviting, with its orange walls, photos of programs, cozy kitchen table, and even stuffed veggies smiling at me. I’m sure I’m not the only one who felt that sense of warmth and welcome when they walked through that teal door.

Since then, I, and many others on our team and in our community, have spent countless hours in that caretaker’s-home-turned-office. All-team meetings, SOYL celebrations, camp recipe trials, First Aid courses, and even a 2020 classic, the Virtual Fundraiser have been hosted in the office, often spilling out into the park on tables and blankets.

The Fresh Roots team plants the Norquay Sharing Garden in spring 2022

As part of our agreement with MetroParks, we built a Sharing Garden, often partnering with other neighbourhood organizations like Together We Can to grow a variety of fruits, veggies, and herbs for park visitors to harvest and take home. (We’re pleased to note our successor is excited to carry on this project and we’re hoping to support them in continuing this work!)

Molly makes Nature Playdough using natural food colors during Art in the Park in summer 2021.

We also hosted learning events, such as our Art in the Park series, which gave student educators from UBC and other schools the chance to practice their program design and facilitation skills, while providing educational activities for park-goers of all ages.

Solenn and David put together a cabinet while Nicole works in the background in our new Commercial Drive office.

Our new office space on Commercial at 13th is coming along. Kindly, the previous tenants also love bright colors, so the green walls came with the space! Hopefully, we’ll be able to invite some of our supporters to visit in the new year – once we finish unpacking.

I’m sad to be losing our kitchen space, but there is a bakery across the street and lots of great restaurants nearby. And we’re just down the block from some of my favourite Commercial Drive businesses (shout out to Cross and Crows Books and Games on the Drive!) And I must say, our sunset views are quite lovely.

The 2021 Fresh Roots summer team celebrates at Norquay

We have been truly fortunate to call Norquay home for as long as we did (our original grant was only supposed to be for three years!) and we look forward to checking in and seeing how “our” park is doing.

We wish the next grantees the best of luck and many happy days ahead!