Learn more today about pier project

A hoped-for pier in downtown Peachland wouldn’t just be an esthetic improvement to a rocky and unused stretch of Okanagan Lake, project supporters say.

The 130-metre-long pier would also improve the fishing opportunities for people inclined to cast a line into the lake.

“Just standing on the shore anywhere along the lake, you’re probably going to mostly catch suckers and carp,” Al Springer of the Peachland Sportsmen’s Association said Tuesday.

“But with the pier, you’d be farther out into deeper water, so you could catch trout, kokanee, whitefish and maybe even bass,” Springer said.

The group of avid anglers has partnered with the Lions Club and Rotary Club to try to raise the $400,000 an engineering consultant has said the pier would cost.

About $140,000 in cash and donated materials have been secured over the past two years, but supporters are now getting professional help to try to accelerate the campaign.

“We’re using a fundraiser to helps us get there, because it’s proving to be a little much for us on our own, and we do want to get going soon on this project,” Springer said.

The pier is proposed to extend out from the boulder-strewn shore at Heritage Park and run parallel to the park north to a day-use marina.

“The beach is way too rocky for anyone right now, so this would really improve how people can use the water,” Springer said.

The Ministry of Environment has already issued the necessary approvals for the pier, with the town of Peachland also lending its administrative support, so construction awaits only completion of the fundraising campaign.

An open house on the project will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. today at the Peachland Community Centre. For more information and to donate, see peachlandpier.com.