West Kelowna City Council has decided to defer a decision regarding the restoration of the Mount Boucherie Community Centre.
Talks of restoring the existing city hill building back to a community centre have been ongoing since early 2022.
The building will be reverted back once city hall moves to its new location on Old Okanagan Highway.
A staff report proposed a renovation of the existing building and the addition of a gym facility and day care centre.
Mayor Gord Milsom proposed the motion, citing several reasons including exploring more funding options for the proposed daycare center.
“It's been brought to my attention that there may be a removal of some of the limits as far as the amount of grant money available per application for child care,” said Milsom, adding that there may be more money available from the provincial government.
Milsom told council he believed it would be beneficial for staff to go back and check if more funding opportunities are available.
He added that it would also be a good idea to revisit the proposal to have a gym or not in the community centre.
“Perhaps we need to re-engage stakeholders, perhaps our residents, certainly I think council should have a workshop to really determine (if) this is the level of service that we want to include over and above just the renovation of the current facility,” Milsom said.
He added that it would be wise for council to consider other services that may be required or desired by residents in the neighbourhood.
The mayor concluded by saying that, with the amount of money involved, it would be important to wait and give the proposals for the new community centre more consideration.
Milsom’s motion was supported by an unanimous vote.
A new report is expected to be brought forward at a future meeting.
