Sports group organizes park petition

By Vernon Daily Courier staff Friday, August 24, 2007 http://vernon.ok.bc.ca/stories.php?id=60986

Another petition is making the rounds in the North Okanagan, but this time it is in support of a massive project. Last week a counter petition successfully collected enough names to force the City of Vernon to abandon plans to borrow $20 million for a library/civic complex. This petition is urging people to support a multi-million dollar sports complex that proponents want built in Coldstream near Aberdeen Road. Bill Tarr with the Outdoor Sport User's Group, said the 106 acres is the perfect site for a complex that will house just about every major outdoor sport there is. Tarr said of the 106 acres, 60 will be for the sports complex and "the rest will be for parkland and trails." Facilities for track and field, soccer, baseball, football, rugby and even a dog agility area are in the plans. Tarr admits the dog agility is a fairly narrow focus for a sports group, but local dog agility enthusiasts have no place to set up and a permanent location would benefit the group greatly. "They don't take a lot of room. This is a place for them to call home," he said. Tarr said there are more than 3,000 soccer players in the North Okanagan, 45 per cent of whom are from Coldstream. Some player wannabes have to be turned away because there is simply not enough fields for all the teams. Tarr, who also heads up the Vernon Minor Football Association, said there is also no regulation size football field in Vernon and no facilities that could adequately host out-of-town teams.

The proposed land in the agricultural land reserve and Tarr said it is hoped it can be reclassified for non-farm use. The petition is designed to show public support for the project. The petition and information on the facility can be found at www.greatervernonsports.com. The petition is also available at various retailers. Tarr said the petition will also let Coldstream council and Greater Vernon Services know there is a desire for such a facility in the region. "It's an unbelievable site for this purpose," said Tarr, adding there will also be 4.3 kilometres of the Grey Canal Trail included in the plans. An information meeting is planned for Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. in Coldstream elementary on Kal Lake Road. GVS chair Gary Corner said the meeting will be pivotal in the future of the project. "The reason we're having the meeting is to gather public information," said Corner, adding it will be decided at that time what the next step will be. Corner would not say what the price tag of the mega-complex would be, but money for the land would come from the borrowing referendum that was already held which approved a loan of more than $7 million for such a facility.