(Joanne Silberner)Ĭanada closed its land borders a year ago to all but some select groups, and its side of the park has stayed shut since late June. Tents abound on the eastern side of Peace Arch Park, even though park rules clearly state that no tents are allowed. Though dozens of surveillance cameras on tall poles kept watch throughout the parking lot, no police were in sight. And all was quiet on the eastern edge of the park, where visitors had pitched dozens of tents, rumored to facilitate conjugal visits.Īn American park ranger periodically made rounds and asked groups to stay physically distant from one another. Sounds of laughter came from kids on the large playground.
Some kept their distance of several feet, others huddled closely. On a recent sunny weekend, couples and groups of up to 15 people spaced themselves across a large central lawn and filled a dozen or so picnic tables. Should people from Canada, which has a lower incidence of COVID-19, risk mingling with people from the U.S.? Should families who’ve masked and distanced be able to reunite for a day without quarantining? Who decides?
PEACE ARCH PARK RULES PATCH
But the pandemic has transformed this patch of historically neutral ground into a playing field for some fundamental public health questions. It’s an often muddy, sometimes idyllic place. What is known as Peace Arch Park has lush green lawns, gardens and a 67-foot-tall white concrete arch erected in 1921 that spans the border.
In the shadows of COVID-19 travel restrictions, a 42-acre park on the far western edge of the U.S.-Canada dividing line has become a popular opening in an otherwise closed border, a place where Americans and Canadians can gather without needing permission to go through an official border crossing. The Canadians couldn't cross into the park because they hadn't brought proper documentation for reentry into Canada. The American and Canadian sides of the Zuidmeer family visit with one another in Peace Arch Park on the border of Washington state and British Columbia.
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