City of Kelowna commits to keeping beach-front activity centre open

Fears that a long-standing beach-front activity centre in Kelowna, B.C., may be demolished are being put to rest now that the city has committed to operating the facility.

The Okanagan Mission Activity Centre in Sarsons Beach Park was purchased by the city in 1973 and has been home to the Senior Centre Society ever since, but concerns about the future of the building escalated back in 2019, after some seniors were told it would be demolished.

“In 2019, we were told it was going to go,” said Grace Egeland, president of the Okanagan Mission Senior Centre Society.

“Since then, we’ve been having meetings and various things to try and make sure that people were aware and the people who live in this city were aware that this threat was real.”

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Those concerns were amplified further when the city announced it was going to construct a new multi-purpose facility next to H2O Centre.

However, a staff report prepared for next Monday’s council meeting states that despite the building needing over $900,000 in upgrades over the next decade, it intends to keep the building in operation for the “foreseeable future.”

“It’s just an unbelievable delight,” Egeland said.

“Everybody I’ve talked to — I got a phone call this morning saying, ‘Yay, we don’t have to lay in front of the bulldozers.’”

City staff say $180,000 has been identified for some of the buildings more immediate repairs, including $50,000 for the proposed roof replacement in 2024.

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The report also states that the facility serves many in the community on a yearly basis, and by retaining the Okanagan Mission Activity Centre, it can complement the new Mission Activity Centre and boast a wider range of programs and user groups served.

Lastly, staff are suggesting that the building get a name change.

“Staff propose the current name of Okanagan Mission Activity Centre be renamed as Sarsons Activity Centre, matching the name of the park, to better meet existing naming policy and good wayfinding principles,” the city’s report states.

“This correlates with the names of other existing activity centres at Parkinson and Rutland and avoids any confusion with the working title for the proposed Mission Activity Centre.”