Vancouver Park Board officials estimate damage from Thursday's unsanctioned marijuana protest could take several weeks and thousands of dollars to repair.
Acting park operations director Howard Normann says Sunset Field, behind Sunset Beach on English Bay, will have to be closed for three to four weeks.
He says the field is "trashed" and repairs could including aerating the soil and reseeding the area.
Thousands of people attended the annual 4-20 event on Sunset Beach and walked past dozens of vendors who had set up tents on the field, which had not yet dried out after days of rain.
The walkways quickly turned into muddy channels but Normann says the damage could have been prevented if organizers had laid plywood over the grass before setting up.
Park Board Commissioner Sarah Kirby-Yung has said the Park Board refused to issue a permit to organizers because the event is not the right fit for a residential area and violates regulations prohibiting smoking in city parks. (CKNW)
