The Tranquille Tunnel Tours are getting ready for a new season of bringing the history of Kamloops to life with the story of Les King.
The story for 2015 “Cross Roads.” It is the tale of the closing of the King Edwards VII Sanatorium in 1957 after the discovery of a cure for tuberculosis.
King was facing the potential of losing both his job and his wife, who had contracted tuberculosis and was being transferred to Vancouver.
The battle for Tranquille’s future was also at stake with the debate ranging from turning it into a federal prison to an agricultural college, before settling on changing to a training centre for mentally ill patients.
“This year’s story is pretty cool. It’s a tremendous amount of tension,” said Tim McLeod of Tranquille Farm Fresh. “In 1957 when the cure for tuberculosis was discovered, there were over 100 people’s jobs that were suddenly in jeopardy. In Les’ case, with his wife being ill, it was further compromised because the question was, would they be split up?”
The production is written by Andrew G. Cooper and will be performed by actors from Chimera Theatre with sound provided by GK Sound.
The show will open on Friday, September 11th, and there will be three shows per night, three days per weekend, until the season closes on November 1st. Each show will last for approximately one hour.
“It’s very interactive so people, when they come, need to plan on being engaged, and dress warmly with good footwear,” McLeod said. “It’s outside and inside and never cancelled because of the weather because it’s all about story telling as real as possible.”
This year, a portion of the tunnels that was previously unavailable to the public will be open.
This is the third season for the Tranquille Tunnel Tours, which is a fun-filled entertaining way of telling the history behing the Tranquille On the Lake property.
“Each year is a different portion of the history and next year we’re already looking at something that might go back as far as the 1800s,” McLeod said. “The history here goes back for 6,000 years and it has had thousands and thousands of people’s lives played out on the landscape, so when we’re walking around we often talk about who was here before us and what their life was like.”
Tickets are available at the Kamloops Box Office. People are recommended to arrive at least 15 minutes early.
