Theme park plans upgrades

Photo: Locolanding Facebook

Penticton city council has directed staff to start negotiations to renew a 20-year lease with the Locolanding theme park.

The move came after a presentation from owners Diana and Dustin Stirling Tuesday, who promised a $2M investment into the business over the next 12 years.

The current lease runs through to 2028, and the Stirlings requested an extension to 2038.

Diana Stirling said they have already started a full renovation of its mini golf course in the theme of an underwater gold mine. She also teased a larger “canopy style” attraction that would be the first of its kind in Canada and a “tourist attraction in itself.”

“In order to make this investment we need longer term lease certainty,” she told council.

Backed by a gallery full of supporters, Diana touted the charity fundraisers and partnerships Locolanding has created since it was founded by her parents back in 2001.

“We only hire youth, and we are innovative flexible employers,” she said, explaining they employ about 80 high school students a season. “We are the first job for over 90 per cent of our employees and that’s a role we take very seriously,”

Diana said without the lease extension they would be forced to abandon the park upgrades or sell the business.

"Dustin and I believe in Penticton and want to continue investing here, and not somewhere else."

To applause from supporters in the gallery, council unanimously voted to direct staff to work with Locolanding to extend the lease.