The Save Skaha Park group is planning another public event to keep the pressure on Penticton’s City Hall over a deal that will see a portion of the park leased to a private developer.
On Sept. 27 at 2 p.m., the group is asking Penticton residents to join hands in Skaha Lake Park to form a human chain around the land where developers are planning to build a waterslide. The event will be photographed and filmed from a helicopter hovering above the park.
According to their press release, organizers of the event are hoping for hundreds of people to turn out to encircle the trees that will be lost to the development, each of which will be tagged with a yellow ribbon.
“Viewers will see the green space that Penticton will lose when the 60’ tower with four plastic multi-coloured waterslides is built in order to make a profit for private enterprise,” reads the release.
On June 29, Penticton city council gave the go ahead to a lease agreement with Trio Marine Group for Skaha Marina and a portion of the park. Trio plans to continue to operate and upgrade the marina, along with building new amenities, including a restaurant and a commercial waterslide complex on the area of the park now occupied by the children’s splash pad.
The group is concerned that council has continued on with the deal, despite opposition from almost 5,000 residents and 2,820 non-residents who have signed petitions requesting a referendum on the waterslide, along with two rallies that drew hundreds of people, both protestors and supporters of the development, to the steps of city hall.