By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle
The Desert Park Recreation Complex’s fate hangs in the balance just a little bit longer as Council considers options that could include a complete demolition of the rickety building or possibly even a return to its more venerable days as a horse racing venue.
The unanimous decision – to postpone a final decision by 30 days – comes after a structural assessment report was presented to a Town of Osoyoos Regular Council Meeting by Director of Community Services Gerald Davis on Tuesday afternoon.
The structural assessment, performed by RJC Engineers, detailed the poor condition that Desert Park is in, and just how many fixes the building would need. The staff recommendation to demolish the structure would cost at least $150,000, according to earlier estimates.
The RJC assessment showed a need for a “full renewal” of the facility, including total replacement of exterior walls, gutters and downspouts, and an extension of the building’s roof. The roof is necessary, Davis explained, “because of the amount of water infiltration on the walls” if the building is left completely exposed to the elements.
Davis stated that the staff recommendation would be to prepare for the closure and demolition of Desert Park, given all of the structural deficiencies.
The Desert Park Recreation Facility had a stucco panel partially stripped off the building from the strong wind gusts up to 90 km/h on Monday, July 14.
Don Urquhart photo
“This is my 50th report related to the building at Desert Park, and that’s only since 2008,” Davis said. “It’s not an easy decision… but the state of the facility, and the structure, without spending a good chunk of money is going to be difficult for (its) future.”
The cost to make all the repairs up-front, under the “near-term full renewal” option would be $1,792,000, while a cost for the “near-term repairs with deferred full renewal” option would be $2,097,200 over a three-year period, with $137,200 being required upfront.
The current report was also presented alongside two other previous assessments of Desert Park. The first of those assessments was performed by Bevan Pritchard Mann in 2009, while the second one was completed in 2015 by ICORA. The assessment focused on the main structure at Desert Park, which was built in 1983 through the work of volunteers.
The closure of the Desert Park building would impact several groups using the facility presently, including multiple pickleball groups, a combat academy, and an archery program offered by the Town of Osoyoos. The Desert Park Exhibition Society also occasionally uses the facility for extra storage and meeting space.
Councillor Jim King, however, pointed out that there may be a future for the site and facility as a horse racing venue, and that tearing down the facility now wouldn’t be right.
King was referring to a letter written to council by Rebekka Lim, President, Desert Park Exhibition Society.
The Society has been in negotiations with Harness Racing British Columbia (HRBC) over the past several months, around bringing harness racing back to the Osoyoos race track, according to Lim.
“Negotiations are going well, and we are starting to pull together a plan for having the horses arrive this summer, and tentatively be racing by September of this year.”
The plan is to have 15-20 events in year one and increase to over 30 events a year at the facility in the next five years, she said.
“As part of this agreement, HRBC is prepared to spend millions in prize money every year to attract horses and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional money to improve the facility to conduct the live racing meet.”
The races will also be broadcast throughout BC, Canada and the US so others can watch and wager on the events at Desert Park.
The grand stand at the Desert Park Recreation Complex is needed for the RCMP Musical Ride event which will be coming to Osoyoos this summer.
Don Urquhart photo
As such King said: “I’d like to see us move (a decision) down the road about 30 more days while we get more information from Desert Park.”
“It would be a little premature for us to make the decision at this time.”
Mayor Sue McKortoff asked Councillor King if a deal would involve possible funding to rehabilitate the Desert Park facility.
“I guess anything’s possible,” King said. “It’s through the negotiations with Desert Park, but my understanding is there could be funding available, possibly.”
King also stressed that he supports determining the complex’s fate, but that now simply isn’t good timing.
“We will make a decision, but it’s just, timing is an issue here.”
Councillor Johnny Cheong asked a follow-up question about the impacts of waiting for the proposed 30 days for more information.
“Do the near-term repairs need to be done within a certain time frame?” Cheong asked. “If we were to wait 30 days, or 60 days, would that cost escalate?”
Davis confirmed that to be the case, indicating that short-term patchwork doesn’t solve anything financially.
“That would be the expectation,” Davis said. “The facility right now is still wide-open. We did (already) spend money, which was identified in the structural report, and the money that we actually put into our insurance claim.
“Most quotes we get now are good for 30 days, but I assume that amount would creep up for sure.”
Both McKortoff, and Councillor Zach Poturica, voiced a sentiment that action should have been taken much sooner on the Desert Park facility, given the long-standing concerns.
“These reports, they sort of give us the death knell right from the very first one, that there’s severe enough problems that this facility is not going to last forever,” McKortoff said.
“We have had some concerns given to us by local people, who live up close to Desert Park, and they have seen what has gone on. And we have heard from some local builders as well, that are quite concerned about doing the repairs.”
“This is a facility that’s been around for five years beyond my life,” Poturica noted. “There wasn’t really a plan in place as to what happens next to these facilities. And as these facilities have begun deteriorating, especially Desert Park, it’s no surprise (given) when it was built. The condition of the building just hasn’t kept up with the environment that it’s in.”
Town staff are recommeding the demolition of the structure due to the high cost – as much as $2 million to properly repair the structure.
Don Urquhart photo
Despite those lamentations, King’s proposal found significant support from the other members of Council.
“We should give this 30 days, and in that time, the association and the people that want to bring in the race horses, they all see that they have 30 days,” Councillor Myers Bennett said. “If they can come up with a really good plan that can convince Council (not to close the facility), then that’s fine. But if they don’t, they’re aware of what’s happening.”
An official motion made by King, and seconded by Cheong, to return the issue to Council in March passed unanimously.
