The City of Kelowna is prioritizing parks and public spaces in the citysa国际传媒檚 2019 budget and for one group in Kelowna, this could be especially good news.
The city will allocate around $8 million to acquire, expand and develop new parks, while another $1.4 million will be spent on improvements to existing parks.
PLANKelowna, a small group of residents pushing for more parks and access to the shoreline, said more parks are better for the city.
sa国际传媒淚 would like to see an increase in the amount of parks in general,sa国际传媒� said one of the groupsa国际传媒檚 organizers, Al Janusas.
sa国际传媒淓specially on the lakeshore because that would be really good for residents and tourism, and depending on who you talk to, (tourism) is one of our top industries here.sa国际传媒�
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City of Kelownasa国际传媒檚 senior project manager Andrew Gibbs said some projects targeted in the budget include the installation of the turf field at Glenmore Recreation Park, restoring a section of the Paulsa国际传媒檚 Tomb Trail and replacing the 50-year-old playground equipment at Bankhead Park.
sa国际传媒淓very year we work on a variety of projects to both improve existing parks and develop new ones,sa国际传媒� he said.
The city will also work with the Kelowna Minor Fastball Society to replace fencing and bleachers and improve the dugouts at High Noon Park. Both parties are providing $50,000 for the improvements.
sa国际传媒淚nvestments in projects such as thesesa国际传媒攑articularly when they involve collaborating with a local organization or sports groupssa国际传媒攕upport our effort to create an active, inclusive and vibrant city,sa国际传媒� Gibbs said.
Kelowna boasts more than 200 parks that serve a number of purposes and activities, including cricket, bocce, BMX, basketball and outdoor table tennis.
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Janusas said although the development of new buildings and infrastructure has been prominent in this city councilsa国际传媒檚 agenda, the group was pleased to see a sign installed at an sa国际传媒渁lmost parksa国际传媒� near Knox Mountain last week.
sa国际传媒淭ake a drive out and have a look and yousa国际传媒檒l see what I mean,sa国际传媒� he said about the sa国际传媒渁lmost parksa国际传媒� at Poplar Point Drive. sa国际传媒淭hey cleaned up the site a little bit and added signage.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭he sa国际传媒榓lmost parksa国际传媒� and the path down to the lake is completely surrounded by hillside houses and local residents who donsa国际传媒檛 have waterfront access have been using that as a personal path to the lake for many years,sa国际传媒� he explained. sa国际传媒淚t was, and remains, a rugged path.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e all in favour of that,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淎nd, wesa国际传媒檙e in favour of building really basic parks and improving them as the budget allows.sa国际传媒�
Caitlin.clow@kelownacapnews.com
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