City of Kelowna prepares to re-open civic facilities

After being closed for roughly two months, some civic facilities will re-open as early as this Friday.

“The health crisis is reaching a point where we can consider opening facilities and other services to small groups practicing safe physical distancing,” said Kelowna mayor Colin Basran.

Basran held a virtual news conference on Wednesday morning to announce the city’s phased re-opening plan, noting it is consistent with the recommendations of provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

“We need to take this slowly and cautiously so that we don’t lose the ground that we have gained so far in this fight,” said Basran.

The city plans to open the following facilities on May 15:

· Tennis courts
· Pickleball courts
· BMX track
· Skate parks
· Disc golf

The re-opened facilities will have signs encouraging people to follow directions for safety and compliance with provincial health orders,

What remains closed for now includes:

· Playgrounds
· Indoor recreation facilities
· Aquatics facilities
· Arenas
· Theatres

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At Sarsons Beach Park in the city’s Lower Mission area, some parents expressed disappointment that playgrounds are not re-opening yet.

“If we can open pickleball courts and tennis courts, I don’t see why we can’t open playgrounds. I think the kids are actually doing really well with keeping distance and kind of knowing what’s going on,” said Sam Emmett, a mother of three.

“I’m comfortable with it, I’d love to see it happen.”

Basran said more civic facilities — such as playgrounds, waterparks, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and ball diamonds — will open in the near future, but he did not elaborate on a more specific timeline.

Limited use of of indoor recreation facilties in large spaces may also be part of the next re-opening phase, according to the city.

The city also plans to offer summer programs and kids camps, with modifications to ensure safe physical distancing is possible and proper hygiene protocols are in place in alignment with Work Safe BC guidelines.

During Wednesday’s news conference, Basran also spoke about how the city has fielded a lot of complaint calls in the past month from concerned residents about physical distancing protocols being ignored.

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He said that between April 3 and May 11, city staff responded to 368 calls from residents.

The majority of those calls, he said, pertained to people not practicing social distancing.

Four of those calls were referred to the Interior Health Authority for further investigation.

Basran added that since then, average daily calls have decreased to six from 15.