South Interior Recreational Equestrian Centre director Elaine Edwards cleans one of the barns at Desert Park. Photo by Paul Everest
OSOYOOS TIMES-June 24, 2009
By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times
Only a few weeks ago, the stables at the Desert Park Equestrian Centre were a scene of shuttered stalls, cobwebs and pigeon droppings.
Now, on a warm June afternoon, one can see horses peeking out of stalls in two of the stable buildings.
The scent of hay and new wood is detectable in the air and there is a feeling that this long-derelict place is on the verge of becoming vibrant once again.
Since March, members of the South Interior Recreational Equestrian Centre (SIREC) organization have been working to clean up the park and make it a home for horses again.
Director Eike Scheffler said two of the park’s five stable buildings are now operational and house 10 horses, including nine belonging to fellow SIREC director Elaine Edwards.
The next step for the pair of barns is a paint job to replace their fading blue coats that are peeling in the sun.
As for the fate of the other three barns, SIREC’s board will have to determine if they can be salvaged and if there is a demand for the stalls within, Scheffler said.
Other renovations at the park include repairs to a cluster of hexagon-shaped outdoor horse pens between the barns and the racetrack.
Volunteers been busy weeding and planting flowers and they have scooped up much of the manure left throughout the park and properly disposed of it in a receptacle behind the barns.
Nails and debris on the ground that could injure a horse have been removed, the racetrack has been graded and Edwards said she has pressure-washed a great deal of pigeon droppings out of the horse stalls.
Scheffler said, however, that what’s been done in the past three months is only scratching the surface in terms of what’s needed to make the park fully operational again.
There are still water leaks, security and insurance issues involving ATV riders using the park to access nearby trails and only five of the 50 RV park spaces SIREC was hoping to have available at Desert Park are open at the moment.
As well, an engineering study about the structural integrity of the park’s grandstands has not yet been completed by the Town of Osoyoos.
Barry Romanko, the Town’s chief administrative officer, said council will have to re-explore the grandstand study plan because of its increasing costs.
He said $5,000 was budgeted for the study but it will cost a great deal more to have the assessment completed.
Scheffler said at least another year or two of work is needed to bring the park fully back to life.
He added that immediate needs for the facility include raising the heights of rails bordering the racetrack, acquiring more construction equipment such as tractors and backhoes and tree planting.
But Scheffler is encouraged by the progress so far.
People living near the park are happy with the slow-but-steady transformation taking place, he said, and partnerships are being forged with other community groups and equestrian associations to ensure the park’s future.
What Desert Park really needs is more volunteers, Scheffler said.
Right now, about five or six people are behind the renovation work at the facility.
SIREC officially signed a half-year, month-by-month lease for the park with the Town last month but a deal was worked out this winter where the organization could begin working on restoring the park, which has sat mostly unused for several years.
Scheffler was the group’s president, but he passed those reigns to former Osoyoos councillor Allan Carswell because, Scheffler said, Carswell has good diplomatic skills and a closer connection to the Town.
Scheffler will stay on as a director and he said the group has committed about $50,000 to revitalizing the park.
The group is hoping to secure a long-term lease for the park, Scheffler said, and plans are underway to bring fair-like events to the park in the fall as well as music festivals.
Mayor Stu Wells said the Town intends to put out a request for proposals for groups interested in running the park on a long-term basis sometime this summer.
[email protected]
