Tourist centre opposition

Photo: Meiklejohn Architects

Opposition is mounting against a proposed tourist information centre at the foot of Queensway.

Most of those opposed believe Kelowna's downtown waterfront should be preserved for everyone, and not sold off to a private or public interest.

Castanet has received several emails opposed to the project. City councillors have received many more.

Figures released by the city Tuesday show 233 people have voiced their opinion by letter or email on the proposed $2.8-million information centre. Of those, 142 are in favour, 91 against.

Jim McMullan, who says he is against the project, says in an email to Castanet he was able to view some of those submissions.

He claims many of the support letters come from Tourism Kelowna staff, directors and others with a direct interest in the project.

"Clearly, this does not reflect broad public support for the project," he stated.

"The bottom line is that council does not have the claimed broad citizen support for the project."

Roberto Basso accused council of kowtowing to a private group that wants to establish an outdated tourist strategy on prime city land.

"The best place for any new tourism office should be in the Kelowna Museum. Or alternatively, I suggest the president of Tourism Kelowna put the new site on Leon and help with the revitalizing of the downtown instead of hanging off the coattails of what already is. Shame on them. Now can we please put a stop to this nonsense once and for all and move on to more important matters, say, reducing house taxes?"

Sharron Simpson, whose father sold the land next to the proposed information centre to the city, says tourists may use the facility a few months of the year, while residents, who won't ever use it, will have to put up with it year round.

"Why is it that the two organizations – Tourism Kelowna and city hall – who should be fiercely protecting everyone’s access to the lakeshore, are so eager to ‘sell’ it off? Surely, there are many, many more creative options to providing tourist information in this increasingly digital age, without despoiling this tiny remaining visually available portion of Kelowna’s waterfront," she said.

The tourist information centre would replace the current centre on Harvey Avenue.

City council, which gave the proposal initial support in December, will make a final decision Tuesday, Jan. 24, when the proposal is the subject of a public hearing.