A Naramata community group has their sights set on purchasing some beach property from Naramata Centre.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Cittaslow Naramata
October 06, 2020 - 7:30 AM
A group of Naramata citizens are hoping to raise enough money to buy a piece of Naramata Centre beachfront.
Cittaslow Naramata, part of an international organization whose goal is to improve community life by slowing down its overall pace, has established a Wayblaze account to fundraise $850,000 to purchase a portion of Naramata Centre Society’s beach property.
The Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen would fund the balance of the property’s $1.7 million price tag, which includes .95 acres along with 320 feet of lakefront.
“For over 70 years, the Naramata Centre Beach has been the place to jump off the dock, play in the sand and rest in the shade under the beautiful trees. Friends and family have gathered around the fire pit or rested their backs against the giant trees,” Cittaslow Naramata says on their Wayblaze page.
Citaslow Naramata’s Miranda Halladay says the group has an Oct. 31 deadline to raise the $850,000 share.
She says Naramata Centre is not entertaining any other offers for the property until then, to give the community group an opportunity to raise the funds.
“We know the demands on waterfront property these days, so we know they won’t have any problem selling it. They’ve been extrordiinarily good community partners in this whole process,” she says.
Halladay says Citaslow has been in talking to Naramata Centre about the property for a year, but COVID-19 issues have slowed fundraising efforts.
“We lost some time there, so there is some urgency now, but the response has been really, really heartening,” she says.
Halladay says around $430,000 has been raised so far, a little more than halfway to their goal.
“We’re cautiously optimistic we can round out the balance in the next 26 days,” she says.
In a press release issued by Naramataslow on Oct. 3, Naramata Centre Board Chair Kathy Hamilton said, “Our extensive history of facilitating community, personal growth, and care aligns with the mission of our organization as well as that of Naramata slow. Partnering with the local community to preserve Centre Beach for generations to come is exactly what we hope to achieve."
Naramata Centre’s Centre Beach is comprised of three parts, a north and south parcel and a Ministry of Transportation right of way.
Should the Cittaslow Naramata group be successful in raising the funds, the Naramata Centre Society and the regional district have entered into a sales agreement that would allow for purchase of the .95 acre, northern portion of Centre Beach.
The regional district and Naramata Centre would also enter into a joint use agreement that would cover the rest of the park for public use.
If the required funds are raised by Oct. 31, the regional district will then access the balance through a municipal borrowing program.
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