By Steve Hubrecht
Planning consultants have completed a master plan to turn the Lake Windermere Resort (LWR) lands into Lakeside Waterfront Park.
The plan is extensive and eye-catching, including a lakeside gathering and nature play area; a bank swallow conservation area; a central lawn and amphitheatre; another non-lakeside nature-theme play zone and barbecue grove; sports courts; a small area of mixed retail development; a motorized pull-in boat launch; and a large paved parking lot and multi-use space near the boat launch.
The estimated price tag for all this is also extensive and eye-catching — in the neighbourhood of $25 million to $30 million.
Invermere council members told the Pioneer that as wonderful as the plan is, there is simply no way the District of Invermere will be implementing all of it any time soon.
“It is a very ambitious plan,” said councillor Kayja Becker. “But it doesn’t look at all realistic for us to do, unless we win the lottery.”
Becker added that council has asked district staff to check with the planning consultants — Urban Systems Ltd. — to see if the plan can be broken down into separate parts.
“How do we phase this in a way that’s digestible? And, if we can, what are the first steps?” she outlined.
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Councillor Gerry Taft concurred with Becker, wanting to know which initial steps can be feasibly taken in the plan. Taft noted that, given the astronomical costs, the entire plan won’t be completed for a very long time, and wondered if — in the interim — there is something relatively simple and inexpensive that can be done across the entire property so that large parts don’t continue to resemble a vacant lot for years to come.
“The potential costs were shocking. We don’t have that kind of money, and even if we did have that kind of money, we have other competing priorities,” added Taft. It would be hard to justify spending $5 million on a natural amphitheatre for the park, he opined, when the district’s water and sewer system is in the midst of desperately needing very expensive upgrades and when there is an affordable housing crisis. “Those need to take precedence,” he said.
“It (the plan) is a lot more elaborate than what I expected we would do down there. My vision was that it would not be so commercial-looking in parts, that it would be more natural in scope, with some opportunities for recreation,” said councillor Grant Kelly. He agreed that “the cost is indeed shocking. It’s quite a lot, even if we do spread it out over the long term.”
Invermere Mayor Al Miller said he likes what he sees in the plan, even though it does seem to him a tad “futuristic.” But he cautioned repeatedly that “this is a very long term plan. We bought the land to keep it public and to create more waterfront access, both for residents and for visitors . . . this plan is something we can work towards over a long time. The thing to keep in mind is that we have to bite it off one piece at a time to keep it reasonable.”
Cost breakdowns for the various elements of the master plan are: between $6.8 million to $8.1 million for the lakeside gathering and nature play area; $1.5 million to $1.8 million for the bank swallow conservation area; $4.8 million to $5.7 million for the central lawn and amphitheatre; $3.5 million to $4.2 million for the non-lakeside nature-themed play zone and barbecue grove; $1.6 million to $2 million for the sport courts; $1.3 million to $1.6 million for the mixed retail development; $2.6 million to $3.2 million for the motorized pull-in boat launch; and $2.9 million to $3.4 million for the large paved parking lot and multi-use space near the boat launch.
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