An artist's rendering of the Sagebrush Sam display at the Kamloops Truck Chilling Park.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Urban Appeal Landscaping
August 20, 2022 - 1:29 PM
The machines that helped build Kamloops into the city it is today are going to be the main attractions of a new heritage-themed park.
The City sensed an appetite for the project earlier this year.
“We set up a static floral display in a retired one-ton GMC truck from the 1940s last year at this location and it was so popular with the public, we decided to add more pieces and formalize the space into an accessible park,” parks manager Jeff Putnam said in a press release.
The new Truck Chilling Park will feature a 1947 Chevrolet pickup truck, a 1949 Federal truck and a road grader the City bought in 1928.
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Later in the fall, an iconic symbol of Kamloops’ history will be installed in the back of the Federal – the original neon sign of Sagebrush Sam tipping his hat. It was part of the Sagebrush Motel on Columbia Street before it was demolished in 2008.
“Sagebrush Sam will be a familiar sight to many Kamloopsians,” museum supervisor Julia Cyr said in the release.
“We’re looking forward to having such a fun piece of Kamloops history preserved and on display in a beautiful setting for residents and visitors to enjoy."
Complimenting the vintage equipment will be new floral display for each season. The park will be accessible, there will be historical signage, and an area for picnics.
The park will cost $92,000 and the City hopes to open it in September. It will take over a green space near the civic operations yard at the corner of Bunker Road and McGill Road.
A crane was needed to transport this old grader to the new park.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/City of Kamloops
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