PENTICTON –There are some major upgrades planned for Penticton’s Okanagan Lake waterfront surrounding the S.S. Sicamous, but when the project will happen is unclear.
Last week, Penticton council approved a $4.2 million downtown revitalization project, despite grant requests falling through. The city will have to use surplus funds and some gas tax income to pay for the development.
READ MORE: Penticton downtown revitalization project gets green light, despite $2.5 million funding shortfall
City staff indicated it may be more difficult to undertake other projects, including the S.S. Sicamous Master Plan.
Matt Verkoebet, a member of the S.S. Sicamous Society board of directors, is taking the news in stride.
“I knew something had to give and this was one of them,” says Verkoebet. “We’ll just go with the flow. You can’t pull money out of the air, so it has to be done.”
Penticton’s mayor says the city remains committed to the waterfront upgrades. Andrew Jakubeit says the plan’s design is still underway and the city won’t know if the project will get delayed until 2017 budget talks.
“In 2017, we will have to look at funding sources. It may be impacted but it is too early to comment if that will change,” says Jakubeit.
In the meantime, the Society is working on its own renovations. It has just added a brand new elevator to increase accessibility.
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