This is regarding the first open house about the proposed Kalamalka Bowl amphitheatre project held Monday evening at Okanagan College’s Vernon campus. Our society is the sponsor of the proposal.
The purpose of the meeting was to hear questions and comments from the about 40 local residents in attendance and to initiate a dialogue.
Our society is in the early stages of designing and costing the proposed amphitheatre and now is the time to obtain constructive feedback.
The majority of those in attendance, who took time out at a very busy time of year to attend, provided excellent input and we are grateful to them.
There were comments and questions about preserving this beautiful and ecologically important site, about managing drainage issues, about possible parking overflow problems and about potential noise and light pollution.
It is the responsibility of the society to address these questions satisfactorily and this is what we plan to do over the next year.
It would, I think, be fair to say that most attendees simply wanted us to do our homework and get back to them.
Some volunteered to help, as with a very creative proposal to conduct distributed sound tests throughout the neighbourhood this summer.
Others came with minds made up. No matter what the benefit to the region, no matter what measures are taken to address concerns, they will not likely be in favour.
We have carefully researched alternative sites and settled upon the campus as the best option by far.
We believe the project will have a positive impact on Coldstream and Vernon on both an economic and cultural level.
It will be a source of pride for the region and will likely bolster property values as has happened in other Canadian cities which host major cultural venues.
Anyone who wants to help or ask a question should e-mail us at dbond@kalbowl.ca.
It will take some time to research all the queries we have received, so responses will be forthcoming in the new year.
Diane Bond,managing director,
Okanagan Summer Festival Society
