The Osoyoos Desert Society announced at their annual general meeting on Oct. 19 that their ambitious project to replace their 1.5 km boardwalk trail will be awarded to local company C3 Industries Inc.

“Tours along the boardwalk trail are an integral part of the Osoyoos Desert Centre’s (ODC) Experience. It provides an immersive and up-close look at the extraordinary and endangered antelope brush habitat without disturbing it. After 23 years. It is definitely on its last legs,” said Jayme Friedt, the society’s managing director.

C3 Industries Inc. is a landscape and property maintenance company based here in Osoyoos which is run by Martin and Trish Hahn.

“As long-term community members, we are thrilled to work with such an important and worthwhile organization as the Osoyoos Desert Society. Being able to give our team year-round employment in a typically seasonal business is very rewarding, especially when that work is so firmly entrenched in the spirit of community development,” said Trish.

Earlier this year, the centre was awarded with a provincial grant to replace this boardwalk. This funding was provided under the destination development stream of the Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program. The grant was also made to help bolster the recovery of B.C. tourism and provide economic stimulus to B.C. communities impacted by COVID-19.

“Our new boardwalk trail will be constructed out of a composite decking material chosen for its durability, low maintenance, weather resistance, non-slip, and long lasting lifespan. And it will see many, many more visitors in the years to come,” said Friedt.

MP Richard Cannings was also present at the AGM and spoke about his own involvement and interest in the society.

“This has been such an important project, such a long project; I’ve been involved very peripherally with the Desert Centre since before it began. And so I’ve been involved enough to know how hard the work has been to do everything, and peripheral enough that I didn’t have to do any of it,” joked Cannings.

“Over the years, it’s been such an important part of this community, such an important part of conservation…And so to be here, educating our kids, educating our visitors, and most importantly, in our educating the residents of the South Okanagan about how special this place is, (I think a lot of us know that intuitively) but it’s so important to have the Desert Centre here, carrying that message on,” said Cannings.

The construction for the boardwalk begins on Oct. 20, as they start to pull out the old wood. The work will continue throughout the winter to get the new boardwalk ready for spring 2022 when the ODC reopens for the season.

Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff was also present to express her support for the centre and the boardwalk project. “Tourism, of course, is one of the foundations of our town. And the Osoyoos Desert Centre is definitely one of the key draws for tourists in our town when they come here.”

McKortoff also mentioned some recent concerns that were raised in an Osoyoos council meeting last month about the wood disposal costs for the old boardwalk.

Desert Society mia culpa on treated wood disposal

“There have been a few concerns about this. And that is that the boardwalk, which is going to be taken out and replaced with the wood and all of the parts that go with it, something has to happen with them. And they cannot just be all taken up and thrown in the landfill because we don’t want that. You guys stand for conservation and so do we. So we don’t want it going to the landfill unless parts are absolutely necessary,” said McKortoff, who emphasized the importance of finding ways to reuse the wood rather than disposing of it as a first option.

For now, the old wood will be stockpiled in the ODC parking lot for the winter as the construction team pulls out the old boardwalk. The wood (much of it is still very functional) will also be offered to citizens who may want to use it for personal projects.

This cost of wood disposal was estimated then to be around $257,000 but has been more accurately recalculated since, according to Larry Stone, volunteer project manager for the ODC.

When the original estimate was done, the weight of the boards was calculated as if they were new boards which would weigh about four pounds per foot, said Stone. However, with the boardwalk being 23 years old with around 10,000 visitors walking it every year, the condition of the wood along with the weight has decreased significantly.

“I did a detailed takeoff, I know exactly how many boards are here. And the weight of the board came up between 1.4 and 2.02 pounds, so it’s less than half of what a new board would weigh because it’s so dried out and rotten,” said Stone who added that this will bring down the cost significantly.