Two buildings to go and then Central Green will be done

Visual echoes of a demolished school and one that still stands are to be found in the Central Green project, Kelowna city councillors heard Monday.

The brick-forward architecture of the housing development mirrors some features of the original Kelowna Secondary School, which once stood on the property, and Central School on the other side of Richter Street, city planners say.

“The use of brick is a key material tha’s been in play with all the buildings in a modern way at Central Green,” said planner Terry Barton.

Council approved the form and character permit for the last two Central Green buildings, sixstorey structures that will flank the site's northern edge along Highway 97.

When the final two buildings are completed, Central Green will have 748 homes compared to the 717 that were envisioned when plans for the site were drawn up more than 10 years ago.

After the original KSS, the Okanagan’s largest school, was knocked down to clear the site for development, the property sat vacant for many years before the city sold it to Stober Group in 2016 for $6 million.

“The big win here was to get people living in the downtown area,” Coun. Luke Stack said. “This fulfils the vision we had of downtown residential living.”

The city’s deal with Stober Group specified the number of units that were to be built and there were initial plans for buildings of up to 20 storeys. But the developer said towers were not practical, and the site is a collection of low- and medium-rise buildings.

Also, there is much less commercial and office space than was originally outlined.

City planners Terry Barton and Ryan Smith said the lack of office space was not much of a concern, since those types of premises could be built elsewhere.

More office and retail space at Central Green, they said, would have triggered the need for larger parking structures and brought more traffic to the neighbourhood.

“I don't think these things ever turn out exactly as we thought they would,” Smith said.

Some councillors lamented changes to Central Green’s original vision.

“It’s not nearly what I would have expected for this iconic corner,” said Coun. Charlie Hodge. “There's just not a ‘wow’ factor for me.”

But most councillors said the project had mainly fulfilled the city’s aims.

“At the end of the day, what we were looking for was residential density on this site,” Coun. Gail Given said.

The Landing Kitchen + Bar is rising from the ashes of the Bonfire Restaurant at the Cove Lakeside Resort in West Kelowna.

Trevor Jones, owner of Il Mercato Social Kitchen in West Kelowna, has made an agreement with the Cove to open a waterfront gastropub-style restaurant.

Jones plans to open the Landing April 1 for takeout only and then get feedback from customers to make sure everything’s perfect before opening the doors for dine-in on the May long weekend.

The projected opening is dependent on provincial health orders.

“We like to say globally inspired and locally sourced,” said Jones about the concept.

The gastropub will offer the everyday food that people love, made by cooks who also love food.

“There's no shortage of wonderful premium dining on the Westside,” said Jones, citing Old Vines at Quails’ Gate and the Terrace at Mission Hill Winery.

“Nobody eats scallops and pea puree three times a week,” he said. “It doesn't matter what your tax bracket is, nobody drinks $36 glasses of Shiraz every day. Nobody I know anyway.”

Some of the offerings on the Landing menu include three or four different kinds of burgers made with in-house ground chuck, house-made onion rings, lemon thyme roast chicken and a short rib sandwich that Jones called “epic.”

Jones will scale down the restaurant while offering a private dining component with a separate menu, including a lakefront private dining area that can comfortably seat up to 24 people.

There will also be a lounge that will focus on local craft beers and B.C. wines, particularly those from the Westside Wine Trail.

There will be on and off-site catering and meal kits for resort guests.

Jones always had plans for growth with a gastropub concept in mind, but had been waiting for the right site in West Kelowna.

“This one was a no-brainer,” said Jones. “The Cove is an absolute landmark in West Kelowna.

In 2019, the Cove had to assume operations after the lease operator shut the restaurant down.

Despite COVID-19 causing grief for some restaurants, Jones is excited to get the Landing going.

Il Mercato was only open for three months when COVID hit.

“Nobody ever says ‘I'm really glad I opened that restaurant right before COVID-19,” said Jones.

Although 2020 was not a banner year in terms of revenues, Jones said Il Mercato is quite comfortable thanks to the support of the community.

While Donald Trump is no longer the American president, he remains a powerful and malevolent force in the political scene south of the border.

This is most evident in the struggles going on within the Republican party. The Economist magazine characterizes the crisis in the GOP as a choice they must make between Donald Trump and reality.

To my mind, the difficulty inherent in this choice is best illustrated in how the Republicans in the House of Representatives treated Liz Cheney (a long-time leader in the House of Representatives) and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The latter is a newly-elected member from Georgia and an ardent supporter of Trump. She also claimed that the recent wildfires in California were started by powerful rays from alien space craft, that the mass slayings of children in Connecticut and Florida schools never happened, but were staged by Democrats.

Moreover, she advocated for the assassination of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Of course, she fully supported Trump’s lie that he won a second term and was denied it because of widespread voter fraud.

Cheney, the third-ranking member of the Republican House caucus, along with nine other Republican members, had the temerity to vote in favour of the impeachment of Trump for inciting insurrection following the attack on the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

More rabid House Republicans wanted to strip her of her position as chair of the Republican Conference Committee and one member from Florida travelled to Wyoming to start a movement to get her to resign her seat.

In the minds of his dedicated supporters, Trump was to be defended at all costs, even if it meant turning out one of the staunchest and brightest members of the party (they don’t have an over-supply).

Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader in the House demonstrated his inability to make tough decisions and to accept reality.

In a one-on-one meeting with Ms. Greene, he accepted her pledge to renounce her previous statements.

Subsequently she provided a half-hearted statement saying she regretted earlier statements but did not explicitly renounce her belief that Pelosi should be murdered.

The Republican caucus subsequently decided not to remove her from her Budget and Education and Labor committee assignments, which would have eliminated her ability to propose legislation.

The Democratic caucus then introduced a motion to do just that, eliciting protests from the Republicans the Democrats were denying free speech. That motion passed on Feb 4.

Cheney retained her position on a secret vote which she won by 70%, thereby demonstrating that a sizeable majority of Republican members still recognize reality and support her position. That alone says that there is perhaps some hope for the GOP’s future.

But at the same time, there is much to doubt about its long-term survival.

More than 60% of registered Republicans believe Trump’s allegation of widespread fraud and agree that the election was stolen from him. His more dedicated followers, including those who stormed the Capitol, are now clearly identified as terrorists supporting white supremacy, devoted anti-Semites, supporters of pro-gun laws and insurrectionists willing to seize power by force, if necessary.

Unless the GOP can rid itself of these extremists and clearly denounce the Big Lie that Trump still clings to, the party will continue to shrink as urban centres continue to grow and demand for unskilled workers continues to shrink. The GOP can’t fight demographic change forever with lies and red caps.

Trump may well escape conviction in his forthcoming trial, but he faces a myriad of legal challenges for fraud, tax evasion and other issues.

Large financial supporters of the party should cut their losses and demand an end to the Big Lie.

If they won’t, decent Republican politicians like Cheney and Mitt Romney will be voices crying out in the wilderness and rational policy debates in Congress will never take place again.