An artist drawing of the proposed new West Kelowna municipal hall.
Image Credit: City of West Kelowna
February 10, 2016 - 1:01 PM
WEST KELOWNA - If voters and the province approve, the City of West Kelowna can begin construction on a new city hall on Elliott Road.
Council gave staff permission to finalize the construction contract with Strategic B.C. Investments Inc. for the 32,215-square-foot hall, office spaces, two residential buildings and a public plaza. The projected cost for the project is just under $32 million, with up to $10.5 million coming from taxpayers, upon their approval.
“From the beginning, council has wanted to invest in much more than just a City Hall. We wanted to put our money where our mouths are and kick start revitalization with our investment and we believe we will do exactly that with the West Kelowna Civic Centre project,” West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater says.
The land at 3641 Elliott Rd. is privately owned, however once construction agreements have been finalized, ownership will be transferred to the city.
Once a borrowing bylaw has been adopted by council it will need to be approved by the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, after which timelines can be released to the public.
Council announced in December 2015 one of the commercial tenants would be Interior Health, something Findlater says will greatly benefit the community.
“The vision council had is within our reach and we are particularly excited about the prospect that we will not only have more people living and working in West Kelowna’s downtown, but there will be centralized health services with room to grow, meeting another of our community’s long-time wishes,” he says. “We have also been able to secure within our current financial plan the repayment of the City Hall debt, meaning this investment will not result in any additional property tax increases over what we have been estimating for years, another key element to council’s plan.”
To contact a reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infonews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2016