By Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star - July 04, 2008
A Greater Vernon park could be sold to the highest bidder. N’Kwala Park on MacDonald Road is one of three properties declared surplus by its owner — the Vernon School District — meaning it will be put up for sale. The implications are significant for the community. “That site is used a fair bit by soccer. It’s an important site for us,” said Al McNiven, parks and recreation administrator for the Greater Vernon Services Committee. GVSC leases the 7.46-acre site from the school district for park use, and it was developed as a park in 1986/87. Besides soccer fields, there is also a playground there. “It’s a piece of land we should certainly keep as park,” said Cliff Kanester, director for BX-Swan Lake, which includes the MacDonald Road neighbourhood. But there is no guarantee that public access to the property will continue.
On Thursday, the school board gave two readings to a bylaw to dispose of N’Kwala Park. The bylaw won’t be adopted until September, and prior to that, there will be discussions with GVSC to determine if the agency is interested in acquiring the property. If GVSC is not interested or negotiations aren’t successful, the site will be put on the open market for sale. “It will depend on them (GVSC),” said Randy Hoffman, school district secretary-treasurer, of the process. The Vernon Soccer Association is watching the situation closely. “Losing fields is always a concern. We always seem to be short of grass,” said president Jim Wilson. An appraisal has been done on N’Kwala Park, but the school district would not get into specifics. And price could be a stumbling block because provincial legislation mandates the school district pursue fair market value. “Money is always a big issue,” said McNiven, adding that GVSC is funded by local taxpayers. Besides N’Kwala Park, the other properties deemed surplus by the school district are 5.29 acres on Heritage Drive and 6.78 acres on Lakeridge Drive, both in the Bella Vista area. The Lakeridge property is vacant, but GVSC leases the Heritage Drive site for a dog park. As a result, it will also become part of negotiations this summer. “The (GVSC) committee would discuss possibly acquiring it but it’s not as high a priority as MacDonald Road,” said McNiven. The City of Vernon will also be asked if it is interested in the properties on Heritage and Lakeridge drives. All three properties were originally purchased by the school district as potential school sites (N’Kwala in 1977, Heritage in 1977 and Lakeridge in 1995). However, it has been determined that because of enrolment and other factors, they are not required for schools. Revenue from the sale of the three sites will go towards funding the reconstruction of Vernon Secondary School.
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