Mission Creek Regional Park has another bridge in its future.

(JULIE WHITTET / iNFOnews.ca)

A new crossing of Mission Creek, upgrades to the fish and turtle ponds and many other changes are in the works for Mission Creek Regional Park in Kelowna.

This is one of, if not the, most popular regional parks in the Central Okanagan.

A 20-year plan for future development of the park is going to the board of the Central Okanagan Regional District tomorrow, July 8. It recommends dozens of changes but one of the most dramatic is a new foot bridge over the Mission Creek at Gerstmar Road.

Right now, the trail on the north side of Mission Creek has to divert onto Creekside Road for about a block.

The new bridge will allow people to cross the creek and recross on the Cottonwoods Bridge near Graham Road.

If the board approves the park development and spending plan, the bridge will be built in 2025 as part of $400,000 project that will include things like improving some trails and decommissioning others to protect environmentally sensitive areas.

Work is already being done on the playground area near Leckie Road with improvements to the playground, trails and bridges in the east end of the park.

That area of the park, between Leckie and Graham roads is considered to be underused.

An Accessibility Resource Centre is proposed for that area. If built, it will include a “bookable public outdoor event space “ with covered seating, a plaza, picnic shelter and large lawn, all of which will be accessible.

The regional district has been working with the Community Recreational Initiatives Society for years, trying to develop such a facility and the society is repeatedly applying for grants to do the work.

“Our hope is, miraculously, we’re going to land on that $1 million, $2 million grant to help us all out to build that kind of feature there,” Murray Kopp, director of park services for the regional district, said.

Anther improvement calls for upgrades in the area of the Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan (EECO) centre near the Durnin Road entrance.

That includes a “cultural node” with First Nations programming, a covered outdoor gathering area and redevelopment of the area on the south side of the building.

There are also changes to the upper, or Sutherland Hills, area planned. That includes a new 27-stall parking lot off Hall Road that will provide washrooms.

Changes are also in the works for trails and ponds in that area.

“Turtle Pond is one of the most popular destinations in Sutherland Hills,” the report states. “Evelyn Island is denuded of much of its pondside vegetation due to the unrestricted movement of visitors.”

The plan is to restore the vegetation on the island and build a viewing platform and boardwalk to protect the area from foot traffic.

The existing bridge is to be replaced and a teaching shelter added.

Two accessible platforms are planned to make it easier for children to access the fishing pond off Hall Road which is now used is used to teach children to fish.

In all, the plan calls for spending about $3 million to improve and manage the park, which doesn’t include outside funding that may come for the accessible resource centre.

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