Brighouse Park: Documentation Does Not Lie
A half-million-dollar infield for 10 kids — while needles, waste, and harm reduction supplies surround the dugouts.
On September 9, 2025, I attended the Richmond Sports Council meeting at City Hall. What I witnessed was telling: instead of addressing the critical safety issues that continue to surround the half-million-dollar artificial turf infield at Brighouse Park, a Richmond Olympic Oval board member — who is also a representative of the Dugout Club — doubled down on his claim that he is only doing this “for the community and the kids of Richmond.”
That sounds noble, but it raises an important question: how many of the 10–15 participants in his programs are actually from Richmond? Parents have told me that many of the kids come from outside the city, including South Vancouver Little League and other associations not located in Richmond.
Even more absurd, there was discussion at the same meeting about installing a powered scoreboard at Brighouse Park. For what? No baseball association in Richmond even plays there. Just 10–15 kids. How does that possibly justify a half-million-dollar infield-only upgrade, followed by more costly additions?
And here’s what makes this even worse: this same board member also holds the trademark to the name “Richmond Baseball.” That’s the reason why the Richmond City Baseball Association (RCBA) had to rebrand their entire organization and spend their energy explaining to parents that “Richmond Baseball” and RCBA are two completely different associations. If it was really all about the kids, then why trademark the name and gatekeep it from the association that actually serves Richmond’s youth?
Shockingly, Baseball BC has chosen to support all of this. The provincial body for baseball in British Columbia is lending its backing to an organization that competes with — and actively hinders — the success of the very association that is doing the real work for Richmond families. That is not community building. That is politics.
At that same Sports Council meeting, Councillor Bill McNulty reminded everyone that signage in City parks requires approval by the City, and banners are to be taken down once a field booking is finished. Yet to date, the banners plastered around Brighouse remain up — and they advertise only the private companies tied to the Richmond Olympic Oval board member. This isn’t about kids. It’s about free billboards on public land.
This matters, because that same board member also suggested — without naming me directly — that my social media posts misrepresent the reality of Brighouse Park.
Let me be very clear: nothing I have shared is exaggerated or fabricated. What I’ve posted is based on first-hand documentation — the photos and videos I’ve taken on the ground.
Here is the reality:
Discarded needles and drug paraphernalia are scattered across the park and corners.
Harm reduction supplies litter the park, left behind where children and families walk.
A smashed or disabled security camera leaves blind spots for illegal activity (including attempts to wire shut pavilion doors).
Human waste and soiled items are found near the pavilion and along building edges.
A medical staple removal tool was discovered on a public bench just three feet away from the 3rd base line dugout — a direct hazard to players.
General garbage and hazardous debris are left to accumulate across the property.
Meanwhile, Richmond City Baseball Association (RCBA) parents have told me that for the 2025 baseball season, the association has refused to use Brighouse Park altogether because of these ongoing safety issues. Parents have even described doing “safety checks” of the washrooms before letting their kids enter. That’s how unsafe the environment has become.
These are not minor inconveniences. They are public health and safety hazards that the City of Richmond has neglected and allowed to persist — even after sinking $500,000 into an infield upgrade.
The Richmond Olympic Oval board member, Dugout Club representative, and trademark holder of “Richmond Baseball” may try to dismiss these concerns as “misrepresentation,” but the evidence speaks for itself. The documentation is there in plain sight, and it cannot be ignored.
The fact remains: half a million dollars of public money was spent on a turf infield while the rest of the park is plagued with crime, biohazards, and fire safety risks.
Richmond deserves better than this. Our community deserves transparency, accountability, and above all, safe spaces for kids to play.
What I have presented is not misrepresentation — it is documentation. And documentation does not lie.