The memory of a Shuswap businessman will be honoured with the donation of 43 acres of treed property along the Eagle River for a public park.
On Friday, Dec. 6, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District announced the Malakwa property has been donated in the name of Ken Ritchie by his family and Ritchie Land & Timber Ltd. It is to be retained in perpetuity as parkland.
“The park will be named Ken Ritchie Park, to mark the legacy of the man who operated a lumber mill in Electoral Area E (Rural Sicamous and Malakwa) for many years,” states a CSRD news release.
While there is no public access to the property by land, the CSRD suggests it could be an excellent stop for paddlers using the Eagle River. The CSRD has no immediate plans to develop park amenities on the property, but it will be considered as part of parks planning in Electoral Area E in the future.
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“I am excited, really happy about this donation,” said Electoral Area E director Rhona Martin at the Dec. 6 meeting of the CSRD board. “I am happy it will be named after Mr. Ritchie, I remember him very well. I’m also happy to hear the condition that it will never be sold. That was the family’s intention and that is the way it will remain.”
CSRD staff were directed to enter into a parkland donation agreement with the landowners, which will proceed in 2020.
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