Published: April 11, 2009 12:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
Efforts to build a gymnastics facility are tumbling ahead. The Greater Vernon Advisory Committee has agreed to provide publicly owned land so the North Valley Gymnastics Society can apply to the federal and provincial governments for infrastructure funding. “There are lots of possible (funding) opportunities and we need to take advantage of them,” said Doug Dirk, a GVAC director. The proposed location is a site right next to the North Okanagan Regional District office on Aberdeen Road in Coldstream. According to GVAC staff, the advantages to the site for a 12,000 to 13,000-square-foot building is its road access and proximity to water and sewer services. The disadvantages are mixed soil conditions, high ground water and it would take away some of the land intended for a park.
If the project were to proceed, a meeting would be held with the adjacent neighbourhood so input could be gathered. Under a proposed agreement, NORD would own the facility and it would be operated by the society. In terms of construction costs, the society’s goal is to receive $1 million from the federal government and $650,000 from the provincial government. “There is no indication from the province that they have $650,000,” said Al McNiven, Greater Vernon’s parks and recreation administrator. But gymnastics is one of the events during the BC Winter Games and Greater Vernon is the host community in 2012. So McNiven suggests that could lead to some funding. “Use whatever influence you can to get the province to come to the table,” he told directors. The society itself has $165,000 in cash and would be willing to finance $560,000 towards construction.
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