Peachland Pier Group is closing in on the halfway point of their fundraising effort.
Roughly $175,000 has been raised for the project, which has an estimated cost of $400,000. Once raised, construction is expected to begin in the fall of this year.
To get more people in the know about the project the Peachland Pier Group will be holding an informational open house in Kelowna April 5 concerning a landmark pier to be constructed in Peachland.
The open house will be held at the Kelowna Art Gallery from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and the public is invited.
Representatives will be on hand to provide information and images of the nearly 400-foot, wheelchair-accessible pier, which will serve as a heritage site for the region, with interpretive plaques telling some of the many stories relating to Okanagan Valley heritage.
The idea for the project — which has been collaborated on by the Peachland lions, Peachland Rotary and the Sportsman Club — came from the Fishing Forever program.
The Sportsman Association has been holding the annual event that allows people with disabilities from across the region the opportunity to fish since 1989, but it wasn’t without some challenges.
“They’re able to fish on this shore, but the trouble is there are rocks and overtime they put there lines in they got stuck,” said Eldon Kerbes, the president of the Peachland Pier Group, society.
The idea to move fishing access further out, off a pier came from that and the pier has nine fishing bays in its configuration. An added bonus is that more fish will be drawn to the shade of the pier.