A massive announcement for the future of Okanagan College (OC) in Kelowna highlighted ‘Game Day’ on campus.
On Thursday, Oct. 26, students and faculty were invited to wear sports jerseys around campus as the college announced its ‘Thrive Here’ campaign, which includes plans for a new $14 million recreation and wellness centre.
“There’s a strong connection between physical activity, good mental health, learning, and academic performance,” said OC president Neil Fassina at Thursday’s press conference. “To support physical, emotional, and psychological well-being, we need a space for student recreation, intramural sports, health and wellness. A place for students to gather and connect with each other and have a sense of belonging outside of the classroom, that is able to remove barriers, lower anxiety, and stress we all experience.”
On top of providing opportunities for students to remain healthy and giving a new space for student-athletes, the facility “is going to be so much more than a gym,” Fassina continued.
“It’s going to be a space for intramural sports for students to stay fit and healthy, a training facility for our Okanagan College Coyotes teams, a competition-sized gym, [reactable] sitting for over 800 people, a running track, a fitness suite, flexible programming space for meditation and yoga, and it’s going to host student and community events like our orientation and our business fairs, cultural celebrations like our annual youth powwow and finally, our convocation is not going to be dependent on rain.”
To date, the Okanagan College Foundation has raised $9 million to go towards the centre. Included in that is the largest donation the college has ever received, and one of the largest single donations to any college in B.C. - $5 million from Don and Karen Folk. Don was a philanthropist and owned Don Folk Chevrolet until 2015.
Also included in the money raised so far is $500,000 from Big White Ski Resort co-founder Cliff Serwa and his wife Lois. They have also been named honourary campaign chairs to the campaign.
More than 100 people attended the announcement, including many of the college’s athletes.
As $9 million has been raised so far, the Okanagan College Foundation is asking for the community’s help to raise the last $5 million to get this project to the finish line.
It is anticipated that construction on the project will begin in Spring 2024 and will open in 2026.
READ MORE: Central Okanagan schools ahead of Indigenous education learning curve
READ MORE: Reflecting on global conflict during Kelowna’s first poppy