Demands for green space on Middleton Mountain could soon be addressed.
The North Okanagan Regional District is in negotiations with the Vernon School District to possibly lease about five acres of land near Mt. Thor Drive in Coldstream for park.
“The deal with the school district is not done but we’re working on it,” said Gary Corner, Coldstream mayor and chairman of NORD’s Greater Vernon Advisory Committee.
Corner isn’t sure when a final agreement may be reached but he is hoping it will occur fairly soon.
Numerous residents have complained about the lack of parks on Middleton Mountain, especially when residential construction is still taking place.
Corner admits there has been a deficiency in open space.
“When Middleton was first developed, parks weren’t set aside and this would be a way of adding a park there,” he said of the potential lease with the school district.
The school district-owned site is adjacent to a small park already developed by GVAC.
GVAC has $200,000 in its 2008 budget to go towards park development if the lease is secured, and more money would be needed if the project proceeds over a two-year period.
It’s not been decided what facilities would be available at the new park if it proceeds.
“We would have a neighbourhood meeting and ask residents what they want there,” said Al McNiven, parks and recreation administrator.
The school district acquired the site on Mt. Thor Drive as a potential home for a new school if Coldstream Elementary was closed.
But instead, officials decided to rebuild Coldstream Elementary on its current site on Kalamalka Road after a geotechnical study determined that building a school on the rocky site on Middleton would be a more costly option.
Corner says the discussions with the school district have only revolved around leasing the land and not purchasing it.
“That (selling) is a decision that would have to be left up to the school district,” he said.
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