Downtrodden downtown in spotlight, Okanagan Falls ready for comeback, Part IV

Welcome to the Part IV in our series on the issues, the people and the potential revival of downtown Okanagan Falls. Today we begin at the region's only hotel -- a subject of much recent speculation.

When the OK Falls Hotel was closed and placed on the market in early 2018, the community felt the impact. Featuring the only pub in town, one of few remaining eateries, and of course guest rooms, it had been its unofficial social hub.

Two years later, it was still closed, still unsold, and still adding to the increasing emptiness of the main drag. So owner Greg Rhyason, who'd been at the helm since 2006, decided he'd reopen it.

But the pandemic had other plans. It hit just as the doors were set to open. So Rhyason figured he'd spend the ensuing shutdown wisely -- by renovating its bar, its bistro and its guest rooms.

On March 1st, the hotel's long-dormant Facebook page came alive with progress reports that continued through to the middle of the year. And an excited Okanagan Falls ate it up.

But the work, and the Facebook posts, stopped in June. There's been little news since, so we reached out for an update.

"A decision had been made," said a hotel representative, "to add the former liquor store space to the bar liquor license. This change required a structural change application with the BC Liquor Cannabis Regulation Branch, which (in turn) required a project building permit.

"Work was temporarily halted until the architectural drawings were updated and the scope of any additional work to be performed was provided."

By Labour Day, continued the rep, the plans had been okayed and work had resumed.

Judging by Facebook photos from spring and early summer, the renewed façade and the current coming and going of service trucks, the revamped hotel should add a stylish spark to a street that needs it.

"The infrastructure has been brought into the 21st century while preserving the history of this 70-year-old building," confirmed the representative. "The upstairs guest rooms have been completely remodeled, old tubs and fixtures removed, and complete electrical and fire safety upgrades installed and implemented."

So when will OK Falls get to patronize it? We're not sure. The hotel said the shutdown heavily impacted its renovation schedule and that it currently can't provide a definitive date. This is an important story and we'll try to keep you posted.

Across the street, however, there is a definitive reopening date. It's this Friday and fans of the unusual, the unique and the straight-up bizarre should note it on their calendar.

The shop is called "Raven's Oddities," and it's an antique shop with a difference.

"I didn't want to have a typical antique store," laughed owner Mike Arcand while showing us around the place. "I wanted unique things. Fossils, historical items, old tube radios, a canopy from a CF-100 that was found in an orchard in Kaleden."

But running an antique store-slash-museum wasn't Arcand's only impetus for buying the building at 1040 Main Street, and the empty lot next door, two years ago.

Arcand, a former aircraft engineer who lives in the upscale Okanagan Falls neighbourhood of Heritage Hills, had other ideas in mind. And through a variety of renovations, he's since turned the two-storey space into quite the multi-use complex.

These days, he rents the upper floor to a "nice young couple," and has developed the ground floor so it's capable of accommodating two or three businesses -- including his own.

He sees it as an "example" for all of Main Street.

"So what I did is just take one building and change it," he said. "A lot of the downtown businesses are now someone's house. And they shouldn't be. They should be businesses. So I'm setting an example for others to see."

Arcand's frustration is commonplace in Okanagan Falls, where the residential use of commercially-zoned addresses on the key main drag only exacerbates the strip's issues. Too often the shops of the past have become homes -- and rough-looking ones at that.

And this Friday, after a month-long break where Arcand moved his goodies, and the shop's entrance, to the front of the building, he's officially reopening Raven's Oddities. On a street that at times feels flat-out deserted, that's a step in the right direction.

As, potentially, is the latest from 837 Main, the high-profile structure at the prime commercial corner of Main and 9th where the local Royal LePage office once resided.

It became vacant earlier this year -- one more building sitting empty on the slumping retail corridor. But in yet another indication that the tide may be turning, it was purchased quickly and now seems ready for a future rebirth.

We can’t tell you what that rebirth will be. But suffice to say it's now owned by a party that says they'll use it to better the town. We'll update in a future article.

Just as optimistic yet just as non-committal was commercial property manager Lorne Dennis. Dennis works with Locke Property Management, the company that manages the OK Corral strip where Okanagan Falls' only grocery store, an IGA, once stood.

We asked if he had any late-breaking news.

"We can’t tell you anything about that," he said, "other than we are talking to people who are interested in setting up a grocery store there, and that we are hopeful."

"We've been talking to a number of different folks, some of whom are not likely to be successful, some of whom are. But we are hopeful there will be a grocery store there again in the relatively near future. There are a number of groups who are interested."

One of those "groups," we've since discovered, is the husband and wife team of Derek and Dahlia Millington. And they certainly seem serious about it.

How serious? They moved from Edmonton to Okanagan Falls to do it. They arrived just last Friday. And they're already eyeing an April 1, 2021 opening date.

"We came here last July, " said Derek Millington, a guy who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 13 and has since made it his life mission to "help people."

"We were looking for a town we felt good about, a town that needed help," he said. "When we got to Okanagan Falls, my wife and I looked at each other and said this is the place. Surrounded by so much beauty, so much nature, so much life."

They stopped by Ticklebery's ice cream shop and chatted with the owner, who told them the town needed a grocery store.

Both have experience in the grocery business, he at Save-on-Foods and she at Safeway, and they say they have numerous connections in the grocery supply chain.

"We don’t want to carry all the same products you can buy at the big box stores," Millington continued. "We're passionate about healthy food."

Beyond the basics, Millington talks about stuff like organic produce and cheese imported from Italy and France. He says there'd be a butcher on site, and a coffee shop too. And a healthy supply of dog food "because you have to go all the way to Penticton or Oliver to get dog food right now."

Whether they can make it in OK Falls when IGA apparently couldn’t is an obvious subject for conjecture.

"We're working on the finances now," said Millington. "There are all kinds of federal and provincial grants available. Hopefully by tomorrow, we should have everything together. We're projecting we'll have a very good outcome within three months."

Those interested in reaching the Millingtons can do so by emailing dmillington121@gmail.com.

And that brings an end to Part IV. The good news is that there will be a Part V. That'll come tomorrow.