Current Projects
Westside Multi-Use Pathway
News Release November 5, 2024
Peachland Receives Grant for Pathway to West Kelowna
The District successfully applied for a grant of up to $500,000 to fund construction of a new trail that will connect Peachland to West Kelowna’s Goat’s Peak when fully complete.
Phase I of the Peachland to West Kelowna Multi-Use Trail will be constructed in 2025 and the District is already applying for funding for Phase II.
When both phases are complete, the new trail will be 2.8 km long, starting just north of the intersection of Highway 97 and Buchanan Road and ending near the Seclusion Bay underpass in West Kelowna. It will provide a safe, protected multi-use pathway, allowing essential active transportation between the two communities.
This trail section will provide a critical link in a 250 km multi-purpose trail system that will span the Okanagan Valley. Three trail systems are close to connecting communities from Sicamous in the north to Osoyoos in the south with the Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail, the Okanagan Rail Trail and the Trail of the Okanagans.
A fully connected trail system is expected to have a profound economic impact for the region and communities along the route and would vault the trail system to one of international significance.
For more information, email info@peachland.ca.
Turner Park Upgrade
The Turner Park Upgrade project is well underway with more construction expected to begin this Summer in the upper tier of the park. Improvements completed to date include new player benches and upgraded baseball dugouts, upgraded backstop, and upgraded park fencing along Turner Avenue. The playing field has been seeded and is closed to the public as the turf takes hold to a degree allowing for competitive sports. Council agreed to apply some of the Growing Communities Fund grant it received to upgrade the playing field.
The remainder of the upgrade project will begin this summer and will include:
- New set of viewing bleachers for the baseball diamond
- Removal of the old playground and replacement with new (see note on the design below)
- Connection of the washroom to the sanitary sewer system
- Accessibility improvements to the washroom building
- Removal of the sports box asphalt and fencing and replacement with grass
- Improvement of the parking area
- Irrigation installation
- Accessible pathway installations
- Public benches, waste receptacles and accessible picnic tables
- Vegetation and shade structure installations
The Turner Park Upgrade project is funded through a portion of the $2.7 million received in April from the Province’s Growing Communities Fund and a Jays Care Foundation grant. Turner Park is expected to be fully open, with the field ready for competitive soccer, in the Spring of 2025.
The park is fenced to keep people and pets from entering the park and possibly damaging the turf which will be tended throughout this growing season by Operations staff, ensuring it is in prime shape for its first game!
Coordinated by the District of Peachland, the students of Peachland Elementary took part in a DOT-MOCRACY, voting by using stickers, on three potential designs for the new playground in Turner Park. Students overwhelmingly voted in favour of one design in particular (pictured below). Council enthusiastically supported the students’ playground style choice at its meeting April 9.
Project Background
The land for Turner Park, located at 6114 Turner Avenue, was acquired by the District of Peachland on March 30, 2021. The 3.34 hectare (8.26 acre) property was formerly owned by School District #23 and is one of the only remaining undeveloped properties able to accommodate athletic fields and other park amenities requiring flat land. The District of Peachland is looking to dispose of the lower site of the property fronting Princeton Avenue, which leaves a balance of 2.25 hectares (5.5 acres) available for parkland. The Turner Park Concept Plan will build on the findings of the 2018 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and the 2020 Community Park Concept Plan: Sanderson, Heritage and Cousins Park to:
- Assess community needs and desires for park space and amenities;
- Identify the need for future amenities relative to use trends, population growth, and demographics;
- Assess feasibility for park development;
- Create concept drawings (30% working drawings); and
- Provide recommendations for implementation including cost projections, phasing and potential funding sources. Infrastructure updates that have been completed are;