Motivated by letters to the editor regarding the sale of our Centennial Park, I would like to add my voice in concern.
Do the people of Oliver not have a say in regards to a major decision like the fate of Centennial Park? Was the matter of commercial development not determined some years ago?
A petition of well over 400 signatures gave town council a clear message that we wanted to keep Centennial Park as it was.
Yes, Oliver needs a hotel, but why in Centennial Park when there are so many vacant locations available? It just doesn’t make commercial sense.
The Osoyoos Indian Band proposed a new hotel on the south end of Tucelnuit Lake. The Tee Pee Hotel was to be reconstructed on the old Fairview town site. What has happened to those ideas? Both would have been located near a golf course, an ideal place for a high end hotel. There is a big hole in the middle of Main Street, where the Oliver Hotel used to be. Why hasn’t it been rebuilt?
We see nothing wrong with having both the Centennial RV Park and a new hotel in some other location.
Perhaps the area immediately north of the Visitor Information Centre would be an appropriate location, as was suggested. There appears to be plenty of room and ample parking space there. We then have both types of accommodation for the tourists to choose from.
There is a possibility that the developer might back out of the deal as happened previously.
According to Town council’s plans, the RV park would be gone, leaving us with another hole in the ground. Like the site near Park Place of the time share condo development, which sat for years as a concrete foundation and still is not ready for occupancy from all accounts.
If a hotel is built on the centennial site and turns out not to be a profitable business, we end up with another dead elephant in Oliver.
Why is our Town council so intent on destroying a major tourist attraction like Centennial Park, when we have so few of them?
The two articles in the Oliver Chronicle, 2017-04-19 issue, clearly spelled out every justifiable reason for keeping Centennial Park. Please reread: “Once RV park gone, it’s gone,” and “RV park is an asset.” Those writers really said it all.
It would be a short-sighted, irreversible decision to demolish Centennial Park, sell it to private enterprise for a small sum, which may never materialize.
We feel that a public vote would be the proper, democratic manner in which to decide this issue once and for all. Please consider it.
James Demetrick, Oliver
