Background

Maple Ridge Golf Course sits on land that was originally part of the McIver family farm, one of the earliest settler homesteads in Maple Ridge. The property was established by John McIver Sr., who arrived in British Columbia in the mid‑1800s and chose a bench of land above the Fraser River for his homestead. He named it “Maple Ridge” after the ridge of maple trees on the property.

After John Sr.’s death in 1913, the farm passed to his son John Alexander McIver, who served as Maple Ridge’s Reeve from 1921 to 1924.

In May 1925, local golf enthusiast Thomas Lawrie approached John A. McIver with a proposal to lease part of the farm to build the community’s first golf course. A committee was formed, and an agreement was reached to lease 32 acres, later expanded to 35 acres, of the McIver farm.

The course officially opened on Labour Day, 1925, becoming what is now recognized as British Columbia’s oldest existing nine‑hole golf course.

For more than five decades, the course operated on leased McIver land. Generations of local families played there, and early photos show the first clubhouse, golfers in the 1930s and 1940s, and McIver children playing on the grounds shortly after opening.

A major turning point came in 1978, when the City of Maple Ridge purchased the property from Georgena Gwendolyn McIver, the widow of John Alexander McIver. This ended the long lease arrangement and ensured the land remained a public recreational asset rather than being redeveloped.

The site also holds deep cultural significance for the Katzie First Nation, who lived, farmed, and buried ancestors on this ridge for thousands of years. The land’s history extends far beyond its settler and golf heritage.

Today, Maple Ridge Golf Course stands as a century‑old community landmark. It remains a city‑owned course, valued for its accessibility, natural setting, and historical importance. It is widely recognized as an affordable, welcoming place for golfers of all ages, and its 100‑year anniversary was celebrated in 2025.

The Issue

The current mayor and council are looking to repurpose the golf course as a multi-use park including 2 baseball diamonds. The baseball diamonds are not additional baseball diamonds, but rather replacement diamonds from the repurposing of Hammond Community Park into the home of a proposed Aquatics and Recreation Centre. Both these pieces, along with new ice rinks, will be on a referendum at the time of the election. Each of the recreation pieces will be their own question, which will be looking for a yes or no answer to whether the community is authorizing Maple Ridge to borrow the money for each project. Here is the breakdown:

Twin Rink Arena Expansion - 143 million (Class C estimate +/- 25%)

Aquatics and Recreation Centre - 227 million (Class C estimate +/- 20%)

Multi-Use Community Park - 23 million (Class C estimate +/- 20 to 30 %)

The total for this is 393,000,000 and could balloon to 473,900,000 if the Class C estimates max out. There are some people that are concerned that the numbers could go even higher when excavation starts.

My position

I am happy that the community will have their say for the recreation pieces that they want if they are ok with the cost. If the community approves these 3 pieces, I would honour that agreement. If any of the pieces get rejected, I would revisit the planning and location of these pieces. I am not against a new aquatic centre or new ice rinks, if that's what the community wants. What I would propose would be to either find a different place for the baseball diamonds (if the aquatic centre passes, and multi-use park fails), or if both the aquatic centre and the multi-use park fail, then to find a new home for the aquatic centre and leave baseball and golf alone.

This referendum seems to be pitting different groups against each other. Baseball against golf, recreation park users against golf, swimming against baseball and so forth. In speaking to community members, I think that generally people want a pool, so if we could relocate that, it would be way less contentious. The community might actually rally for it. Yes, we would need to find land, but we would save the 23,000,000+ on repurposing the golf course, and the cost of ripping out the baseball fields, seats, lights etc.

Do I feel it's a big financial ask of the citizens the way it is now? Yes, I do. The tax increase in today's economic environment is not one that everyone could handle. I have spoken to people and they are feeling like they wouldn't be able to live here if there was a tax increase as proposed. Should the referendum pieces fail, we could revisit the cost of the pool and ice rinks to see what would be the best option going forward, and be transparent with the community while we do that. If the pool needs to be reconfigured from the design that has been proposed to meet a budget that is manageable, then let's look at that. We will leave no stone unturned.

Maple Ridge Golf Course