Visitor centre go-ahead looms

City council expected to OK development permit on June 13

Final city approval for a controversial new visitor information centre on the downtown Kelowna waterfront is expected June 13.

City planners will recommend at that meeting that council issue the development permit for the $2.8-million Tourism Kelowna building at the base of Queensway.

The design of the new information centre has been refined from earlier drawings with a view to “breaking up the scale and mass of the building,” according to a report going to council.

“Expansive ‘curtain wall’ glass panels connect the building’s interior to the surrounding park,” urban planner Adam Cseke writes.

“This maintains transparency through the building, which minimizes lake view obstructions,” Cseke writes.

Other features of the 3,000-square-foot building include a sweeping metal roof, wood details and design cues that reflect nearby buildings such as the yacht club and marina kiosks.

For a project of this size and duration, normal practice would be for the provision of eight parking stalls. However, the city proposes to accept a cash-in-lieu payment of $180,000 instead, with the money going toward a parking reserve fund.

“Tourism Kelowna anticipates the Visitor Information Centre will be catered towards walk-by pedestrian traffic, reducing the reliance on vehicular trips,” Cseke writes in his report.

Council approved the necessary rezoning for the project by a 7-1 vote in late January, despite some community opposition.

Just over 200 people wrote letters against the project, and 91 people wrote letters in support. At the public hearing on the rezoning, half the 50 speakers were opposed and half were in favour.

Critics say the tourism centre is a poor use of scarce public land and doubt the relevance of such a facility in an increasingly digital age. But supporters say tourist centres in other cities are commonly located in areas of high pedestrian traffic rather than highway approaches.

The city-owned land will be provided to Tourism Kelowna, which gets most of its operating revenue from a hotel room tax, through a 29-year-lease.