Madeline Baker, Times-Chronicle
After over 20 years of offering tourists and locals alike a unique view of the South Okanagan’s desert landscapes, the Osoyoos Desert Centre’s 1.5 km boardwalk has received a major upgrade.
An entirely new boardwalk made of sturdier composite material has been in the works throughout the winter thanks to a Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program grant from the provincial government, which allowed the Osoyoos Desert Society (ODS) to hire local contractors C3 Industries for the ambitious project.
Receiving the grant was a “momentous occasion for the organization,” according to managing director Jayme Friedt, who spoke about the boardwalk project’s struggles and successes at the Committee of the Whole council meeting on March 8.
Friedt and the entire ODS were thrilled at the opportunity to “infuse economic benefit into the community” as the grant stipulates while also improving the Desert Centre’s popular attraction.
One unique challenge faced by the ODS when they began the project was how to dispose of the lumber that made up the old boardwalk, with early fee estimates topping out at $250,000.
As all of the lumber was weather treated and much of it still seemed solid enough to be reused, the ODS put out calls on their social media platforms inviting the public to take away whatever lumber they felt they could use.
Photo by Osoyoos Desert Centre.
Five months after their first announcement, Friedt says that people are still “coming in droves, with flat-bed trailers, excited to recycle the wood.” Along with many local farmers and ranchers, members of the Nature Trust of BC and Sagebrush Nurseries have also found new uses for what was once ODS’s burden.
Friedt now says with confidence that all but a few small, unusable portions of the old boardwalk should be gone by the new one’s projected spring opening, at no cost to the ODS.
Public spirit has played a massive role in every part of the boardwalk project, as its project manager and many of the people who have worked behind the scenes are volunteers.
Larry Stone, who previously oversaw the renovation of the new Osoyoos Museum facility in 2020, brought his 40 years of construction experience to act as project manager for the boardwalk project.
Friedt calls Stone and the members of the boardwalk building committee, all of whom are volunteers, “the heart and soul” of the project.
Now that the worst of winter has passed and the ground they’re working on has finally thawed, Friedt says that construction has kicked into a new gear and the ODS have set April 23 as the day they hope to open their new boardwalk to the public.
For anyone who would like a sneak peek, the Osoyoos Desert Centre’s YouTube channel (/www.youtube.com/channel/UC-jwzi9uk_Mt9CMvXeKfjCA) has drone footage taken by videographer Ethan McMullen throughout the entire construction process.
