“It can finally be said that Rory got his way.”
Penticton resident Rory McIvor most notably acted as the Penticton Library director for 27 years. According to a presentation to council by city planning manager Blake Laven on March 5 during the regular council meeting, McIvor also wore many other hats during his lifetime.
“Rory McIvor was a prolific public contributor. He sat on several non-profit boards, was a school trustee and served on city council for two terms from 2002 to 2008,” said Laven. “Mr. McIvor sadly passed away in November 2017.”
To honour McIvor’s contributions to Penticton, the city voted to rename the portion of Fairview Road adjacent to the Museum and Library complex Rory McIvor Way. Laven said this section of the road, which is between Martin and Main Street, was the library representatives’ preference.
Related: McIvor left a legacy of community building
“The Heritage Museum council advisory committee (also) considered the request and supported the name change, but suggested that the Gyro Park Link Road would be more appropriate than the portion of Fairview Road suggested by library representatives,” said Laven.
While the library and committee can provide suggestions and comments, the naming of streets resides under the city’s authority. Laven explained that for both road options, the process to rename is relatively easy and of little cost to the city.
“Council is the authorizing authority for new street names. For existing streets, notification is required to all affected properties,” said Laven. “But in the case of both of these proposals, there are no properties addressed from them.”
Coun. Judy Sentes said the committee preferred the Gyro Park Link Road naming option to avoid the confusion of “having a road that turns into another name.” Coun. Katie Robison said she supported the Fairview Road portion option as she did not “see a connection (to McIvor with Gyro Park Link Road) when he spent the majority of his life at the library.”
Related: Community builder praised in House of Commons
“Based on the years of service that Mr. McIvor gave to the library board – and to the city council and to the school board – the library is adjacent to (the Fairview Road) and I think it’s a great recognition of his service to the community and the library,” said Coun. Jake Kimberly. “Not only that, through his service to the library he literally grew the operation and it should be duly recognized.”
Coun. Julius Bloomfield said he believed the street name Rory McIvor Way was fitting as opposed to Rory McIvor Boulevard given McIvor’s experiences in the democratic system.
“I’d like to see it named Rory McIvor Way because when I talked to him when he was on council, he didn’t always get his own way. So it can finally be said that Rory got his way,” said Bloomfield to a roar of laughter and applause.
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