Tourism Kelowna - Queensway

[fz6adventure]

If you want to make educated comments about correct legal and illegal processes you can read the LGA.

Thanks for the link but I'll differ to the expert legal person who's is hot on the case.

[TMBOkanagan]

If you want to make educated comments about correct legal and illegal processes you can read the LGA.

Thanks for the link but I'll differ to the expert legal person who's is hot on the case.

Then maybe you should stop commenting with inaccurate information and let the experts talk.

[fz6adventure]

Then maybe you should stop commenting with inaccurate information and let the experts talk.

I appreciate the guidance, but I did not provide any inaccurate information.

[fz6adventure]

A recent letter to mayor and council.

I write to you with concerns on the Tourism Kelowna Visitor Centre currently under construction.

Firstly, I note that the building permit that was issued for the project, listed the value of construction at $1.8 million in comparison to the $2.8 million dollar value that every piece of information released by the City said the construction value would be. This gross differential in construction value is during a period when other information coming out of the City tells us that tenders are typically being received that exceed budgets due to the relative robust construction activity currently being experienced in the city. As you know, this structure will become civic property on conclusion of the lease. Why is the city allowing this project to move forward at a value that is approximately 36% less in value than committed to the Citizens of Kelowna?

Secondly, and perhaps a function of the reduced construction cost, I note that the Golder Associates geotechnical report advises that should construction of the project proceed without ground improvement, there is a poor chance of recovering the building to a condition suitable for occupancy in the event of a design earthquake event. Indeed, the geotechnical report provides that in event of a 2012 BCBC design earthquake event, liquifaction of the underlying soils is estimated to cause settlement in the order of 1.0 meters and lateral ground movements are estimated to be in the range of 5.0 to 10.0 meters. From my observation of the construction activities to date on the project site, it does not appear that any ground improvement has been performed on the soils between approximately 1.8 meters to 24.4 meters of depth underlying the structure. Why is the city allowing this project to proceed without ground improvement when the structure will ultimately become civic property?

I look forward to your responses at your earliest opportunity. As the foundations have yet to be constructed, there is still opportunity to execute ground treatment to offset the liquifaction potential. After all, there appears to be a further $1 million available in the Tourism Kelowna construction budget!

[WalterWhite]

If you want to make educated comments about correct legal and illegal processes you can read the LGA.

Thanks for the link but I'll differ to the expert legal person who's is hot on the case.

Then maybe you should stop commenting with inaccurate information and let the experts talk.

Hmmm - last time I looked, this was a discussion forum for anyone that chooses to abide by the rules set out to partake in discussions herein - not just for supposed experts (thank goodness).

[just popping in]

Thank you, Stan Macruger, got a good laugh on your letter to Editor.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#215023

Tourist information center
Contributed - Jan 1, 2018 / 4:00 pm | Story: 215023
Apparently, the ever important information center that is so critically necessary for attracting visitors, doesn't need to be open at all over the holidays.
I guess we don't get many tourists at Christmas or any other holidays here in Kelowna or Big White?
They will be open again on Jan 2 when it gets busy again! Good thing!
Stan Macruger

Edit to add: I sincerely hope you were not a tourist looking for information but if so you were able to enjoy your visit to our City, which apparently isn't open on holidays, we are only open for business Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

[dle]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... e-on-track

I know we have all had our say on the pros and cons of this construction (for the record I am on the cons side) but I just read this article and had to open up the proverbial can again.....

When it was first being pitched, we apparently 'NEEDED' to spend this astronomical amount of money on a tourism centre, and plunk a big ol' cement building front and centre in our park, right on the waterfront, to accommodate the hoards of people who come to Kelowna and use the tourism centre. Apparently our smaller, right on Hwy 97 downtown wasn't big enough, or well-placed enough, or fancy enough to be able to service the throngs of tourists that pass through it.

Well now, by their own admission, it seems no one even much uses a "tourism centre" anymore!!!

"Because of declining visitors coming through (the old centre), like many places in North America, we made the decision to go to where the customer was."

]They have, for the most part, already booked their accommodations etc - all they are looking for is a place to tell them what might be fun to do while in town so Tourism felt the need to spend over 2 Million dollars to do that????

[quote]"People are making their travel arrangements online and in advance, so people are arriving fully booked, they've got their hotels in place and now they are looking for things to do while they are here."[/quote]

So to me, this just goes to show we just spent a whole schwack of money, ie. a couple MIL, to build a huge single purpose use building right on our parkland, on our waterfront, for something that could EASILY and CONVENIENTLY, and much more ECONOMICALLY, accomplish the exact same thing, while protecting our waterfront, with strategically placed kiosks of brochures for the tourists walking around our city from their pre-booked hotels!!!! For some reason, Tourism decided they needed to CHASE down the people who might use it if it were right in front of their face. If all the tourists want is an idea of what to do, are not brochures and a nice free "What to Do in Kelowna" publication including maps, write-ups, suggestions etc a good way to do that?

Throwing our tax money down the drain and then upping it every year to collect more from us to waste on things like this is something our current council certainly excels at doing. We definitely have issues we need to throw tax money at but this was not one of them.

[Fancy]

...."Because of declining visitors coming through (the old centre), like many places in North America, we made the decision to go to where the customer was."

That new location is right on the waterfront and according to Ballantyne, more than 400 thousand people visit the downtown boardwalk every year.

"People are making their travel arrangements online and in advance, so people are arriving fully booked, they've got their hotels in place and now they are looking for things to do while they are here."

Hence the new visitor centre, right on the waterfront, actually in the same location as the old originally ferry landing and an even older sawmill. According to project manager, Gustav Van Niekerk building on the waterfront can be tricky.

"We did have some geotechnical issues which we had to mitigate, as we excavated for the foundation we actually found some of the original pilings for the ferry terminal."

Van Niekerk says they plan to donate some of the findings to the Kelowna Museum.....

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#226251

[Jflem1983]

I have not once stayed in a hotel that did not have a pile of flyers for local events and eateries . Etc. Tourism centre is not worth the money. Heck i got a tourist centre in my pocket. Hello google

[Anonymous123]

...."Because of declining visitors coming through (the old centre), like many places in North America, we made the decision to go to where the customer was."

That new location is right on the waterfront and according to Ballantyne, more than 400 thousand people visit the downtown boardwalk every year.

"People are making their travel arrangements online and in advance, so people are arriving fully booked, they've got their hotels in place and now they are looking for things to do while they are here."

Hence the new visitor centre, right on the waterfront, actually in the same location as the old originally ferry landing and an even older sawmill. According to project manager, Gustav Van Niekerk building on the waterfront can be tricky.

"We did have some geotechnical issues which we had to mitigate, as we excavated for the foundation we actually found some of the original pilings for the ferry terminal."

Van Niekerk says they plan to donate some of the findings to the Kelowna Museum.....

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#226251

Isn't the "old sawmill" site part of the Simpson Covenant?

[Fancy]

The building was realigned so it wouldn't encroach on the property set aside by the Simpson Covenant.

Appears that the realignment and the removal of the retail store satisfied the conditions of the Covenant.

[lineguy]

Should have put it in the underutilized Kelowna Yacht Club building...

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Or in the Park, but no, they wanted their "Clubhouse on the Beach "

[Bsuds]

A Kiosk in City Park with a few touch screens and internet access would have been more than adequate.

[HelenGE]

All over Europe there are TI (Tourist information) kiosks staffed by a handful of knowledgeable people. Mid size cities like Oslo, Florence and many others have several of these TI's dotted around their tourist areas. We've never come across massive, two-storied buildings to house TI's. In the not too distant future, city employees will be calling in the moving vans to speed up their transition from their "old" offices in City Hall to new and bright, state-of-the-art offices on the shores of our beautiful lake. Now I wonder where these visitors will park their big motorhomes while they run in to find a great place to have lunch out on a patio overlooking the lake or grab a quick game of golf? Would they not be able to find this same information on their IPhone or IPad?