The Kelowna Grand Prix has announced it will shut down permanently due to shifting demographics and upcoming widening of Highway 97.
(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
October 28, 2013 - 12:21 PM
KELOWNA - The Kelowna Grand Prix has announced it will be closing its doors permanently, but you still have time for one last lap at the iconic highway attraction.
“Because of the rain, the track will be open to the public for one last weekend this Saturday and Sunday if the weather’s good,” said Darren Prowse who opened the arcade and race track back in 1985.
A popular tourist attraction for almost thirty years, the Kelowna Grand Prix, formerly Malibu Grand Prix, will be accepting offers from the public on all their equipment, including arcade games, paintball and kitchen equipment and even the race cars.
Prowse says that the widening of the highway to six lanes, announced back in March, would force him to redesign the track if he wanted to stay in business. That, combined with impaired accessibility during construction, will affect the business to the point where it will no longer be profitable.
“There are a lot of other businesses that will be impacted,” he said. "Everybody around here is going to get hit in some way. We were given a say on what is happening but what we say and what they do are two different things.”
The news of the closure came as a surprise to many people, including father of two Tyson Harms who was one of around half a dozen people to come out Monday morning and look over the items up for sale.
“I heard they were selling everything,” said Tyson. “It’s really too bad. I keep looking at old maps and see things like Flintstones and the waterslides we had in town and a lot of other places for kids to play. There’s not much of that left.”
The Kelowna Grand Prix will be open throughout the week between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for those interested in purchasing any of the used equipment.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013