Tents dismantled at Oppenheimer Park as city begins field maintenance

Dozens of people who have been camping on a section of Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park for months were told to leave the site on Wednesday, as city crews said the park needed to be cleared for maintenance work.

At least 50 people have been staying at the park, in the city's Downtown Eastside, consistently since the winter. The tent community was dismantled Wednesday afternoon, leaving only a dozen tents left standing on the outskirts of the grassy field.

A fence went up around the turfed area and city staff said the area will stay closed temporarily for fertilizing, seeding and irrigation, but that shelters elsewhere in the park will be left alone. A statement said the fence will come down in mid-June.

The Carnegie Community Action Project started tracking the number of people living in the park in January. The group said the number jumped from about 30 to 50 over a month.