Regarding Not a suitable location, the enthusiasm of the Okanagan Summer Festival Society for the potential amphitheatre site at Okanagan College has proceeded from its location close to a major highway, its beauty and the slope down towards the lake. This combination of features is not found frequently.
We are aware of the concerns of neighbours with respect to traffic and parking as well as noise and light pollution. We are working to mitigate these but we cannot address all concerns at once. We are not a commercial developer with teams of experts and large resources.
After our open house in December, we determined that our top priority should be an acoustical engineering study which we hope will begin this summer. It is desirable to schedule onsite sound measurements during the summer so the atmospheric conditions will be comparable to those when the facility would be in use.
We hope to have funds available to start in May or June. Traffic studies and parking designs will have to come later when further funding is identified.
Our architect, Bill Chomik of Kasian Architecture, has produced an inspiring initial concept which is designed to leave much of the site in its natural state. The design includes significant solar power generation capacity and we are planning to collect run-off water for irrigation of the site.
Our charity has no ability to purchase other land for this purpose. We are proposing a charitable use for suitably-zoned land which has few alternate uses and which is not designated as agricultural or park land.
Diane Bond, Managing Director,
Okanagan Summer Festival Society
