Anyone who is disgusted by the Vancouver park board's decision to  close the Bloedel  Conservatory might want make their way to Queen Elizabeth Park  at noon on Sunday (December 6).  

Friends of the Save the Bloedel Conservatory Society will hold a 40th birthday celebration for the Class A heritage building, its tropical  plants, and more than a hundred birds inside. Members of the society will also be collecting names on petitions.

"For the first time in two decades the Conservatory will not be free on its anniversary as civic powers, in an ironic mean spiritedness not associated with the holiday season, anticipate its closure due to budget cuts," the society stated in a news release issued today.

The facility was donated to the park board by Prentice Bloedel in 1969.

On November 25, four Vision Vancouver park commissioners voted to close the conservatory and the children's petting zoo at Stanley Park.

The decision  was taken  to address a $2.8-million shortfall, which had been allocated to the park board by the city. The annual subsidy for the conservatory and petting zoo is $410,000.

COPE commissioner Loretta Woodcock told the Straight earlier this week that council must reexamine its plans to shift property taxes from businesses to homeowners.

"Businesses are getting absolutely no increases," Woodcock said, referring to the proposed 2010 budget.  "The service cuts are the unforeseen casualty or the collateral damage that’s coming out of this."