The Penticton Marina building is about to get a facelift, if not reconstructive surgery.
Penticton council approved a proposal Monday from marina officials and the Penticton Yacht and Tennis Club to upgrade the building and expand services offered there.
According to city planning technologist Blake Laven, the proposal includes plans to expand the building’s floor area by 62 square-metres while conducting extensive remodeling and general improvements to the building’s esthetics. The plans also include new laundry services, expanded washroom facilities with showers and a general store, he added.
“In addition to these services, the proposal features the creation of eight bays for the use by individual businesses such as small machine chandlery, boat detailing, upholstery repair, propeller exchange,” said Laven, noting there are already several potential entrepreneurs interested in the spaces.
Laven said the roughly $86,000 proposal has no immediate cost to the city as the two clubs are willing to pay for it. However, he reported, because the lease agreement includes a clause which transfers surplus income made at the marina back to the city, and about 20 per cent of the cost for the project is coming out of that fund, the project “may have an effect on the amount of funds transferred to the city at the termination of the lease in 2015.”
Most on council said they liked the proposal because it would improve the look and usefulness of the facility.
Only Coun. John Vassilaki voted against the proposal, saying it was a waste of money considering the city is in the process of planning a complete overhaul of the area once the lease runs out.
“I believe that everything that is down in that location should be bulldozed and taken to the dump,” said Vassilaki.
However, the marina and the PYTC said that while they continue to request an extension to the lease, they are prepared to proceed with the project knowing that they may have to turn the facility over to the city in 2015.