Okanagan Lake aqua park will be future item on council agenda.
(SHANNON QUESNEL / iNFOnews.ca)
March 19, 2014 - 8:59 AM
PENTICTON -- Family friendly water activities are coming back to Penticton this summer so long as all goes according to plan for Penticton Water Sports.
Chuck Loewen, the City’s general manager of facilities, museum and recreation services, presented a plan for a new aqua park on Okanagan Lake to council during today’s committee of the whole meeting. Randy Gallagher, from Penticton Water Sports and the man in charge of the operation, submitted the plan to the city to ensure all regulations were met and licences were assigned.
“I’ve been waiting for this for years and years and years,” said Councillor Katie Robinson, who hopes to take her grandkids to the park in the summer, so long as all the paperwork is completed in time.
Councillor John Vassilaki was equally excited about the project, saying “this is something that’s been lacking for a very long time.”
Gallagher plans to run the park from mid June to sometime after Labour Day, then the equipment will be taken down and stored during the winter.
This aqua park is unique to the Okanagan, with the nearest open-water park being in Montreal. It will be a new tourist attraction, from which the city will receive financial benefits.
The commercial park will cost visitors around $20 for a day pass, but Gallagher has yet to work out all the details.
It is certain, however, that there will be lifeguards and security present. Student lifeguards with basic first aid training will be hired, creating 12 student summer job opportunities. An adult supervisor/manager will be present at all times, said Gallagher, who also operates a boat rental service down the beach.
To contact the reporter for this story, e-mail Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca, or call 250-488-3065.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014