Skateboard park throws a wrench into City Hall plans
The cost for West Kelowna’s new City Hall could jump by millions of dollars if the municipality isn’t able to shift a popular skatepark onto farmland, councillors heard Tuesday.
Current plans are to build the $18-million City Hall on public land northeast of the Johnson-Bentley swimming pool.
But that depends on the Agricultural Land Commission allowing the city to shift a skatepark built six years ago at a cost of nearly half-a-million dollars to farmland southeast of the pool.
Despite uncertainty over whether the ALC will grant the relocation, the city is moving ahead with the City Hall project, having already issued design and construction contracts worth about $2 million.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Coun. Doug Findlater asked what the city would do if the ALC denies permission for the skatepark to be moved onto farmland.
City manager Paul Gipps suggested the city would then have to buy land for the City Hall.
“Plan B would be coming back to council and talking to council about what land options we have readily available. And I’m not prepared to discuss that openly, quite honestly, because every time you do that things happen,” Gipps said.
“Our goal, and council’s desire the last time we talked, was there would be no interruption in service to the skateboard park as a result of construction of city hall,” Gipps said.
Mayor Gord Milsom said the city was committed to finding a new home for the skatepark, noting construction isn’t scheduled to begin for two years.
“There will be a cost to moving the skateboard park, but compared to the cost if we had to go out and buy land for the City Hall, it pales in comparison,” Milsom said.
“I would expect we’d have to spend $2 million to $3 million to buy land for the City Hall. But since we own that land we don’t have to have that expenditure. So we’re well ahead.”