To the editor:
What we find most upsetting is that we, the citizens of Kelowna, should have to keep fighting to preserve our lakefront and vistas. What we find most disturbing is that it appears that the Mayor and councillors don’t seem to have that same vision.
As many others have suggested, an office/tourist centre on Bernard near the Sails, in a store front, would work just fine, as it has done for many other cities. Perhaps, also a small temporary kiosk in the park staffed with a knowledgeable person.
Please consider the visionaries of Peachland. They have kept their shoreline free of obstructing structures, glass buildings or otherwise. The foot of Queensway location is not “the perfect place” (as one councillor called it) for a 5,000 square-foot office building to be built on land that is part of the Simpson Covenant—a 5,000 square-foot, two-storey obstruction that would only be utilized by tourists for perhaps three months of the year.
This is our one chance to make the waterfront an open space; to make a complete linear park with unobstructed views of our lake and hills. Please don’t let business dictate the future ambience of Kelowna.
Please city council: Honour the Simpson Covenant which states that the land is “for the use and enjoyment of all the citizens of Kelowna.” We know you directed Tourism Kelowna to come up with a design suitable for ‘that space’ but our hope is that you recognize that you have made a mistake giving that directive and stop this from going forward.
We would encourage people who have written letters to the editors in regards to preserving our lakefront, to also forward their missives, if they have not already done so, to the Mayor and councilors at: mayorandcouncil@kelowna.ca
Linda Knowles, Kelowna