I can just imagine the excitement my son would feel after spotting from the Bruhn Bridge a large, bright inflatable obstacle course floating in the water at Beach Park.
I think Sicamous council imagined something similar when Bounce the Shu’s Tyler Bartley pitched a commercial inflatable water park for two possible locations in Shuswap Lake off the shores of Sicamous Sands.
Coun. Malcolm Makeyev suggested the waterpark could be better than a billboard. Of course it would, especially with kids for whom the promise of such water play would spark immediate cries of, “Can we stop! Please, please, please!”
Bartley, too, emphasized the appeal of having the water park visible from the bridge, adding families from throughout the Shuswap would be drawn to Sicamous to make a day of the attraction.
From his presentation to council, Bartley appears to be covering his bases, from plans for public safety to the pursuit of necessary government approvals. The one thing he didn’t have, however, was approval from residents of Sicamos Sands. Coun. Jeff Mallmes was skeptical the two proposed locations would float with them.
“If you were trying to do this at the Beach Park, which the district has upland ownership of, you might have a chance… the first question someone should ask, be it Crown or whatever, is if you have the upland owners’ permission for this,” said Mallmes.
Conversation then shifted to the prospect of the waterpark at Beach Park.
Bartley said the 70-metre by 70-metre modular park could easily be made to fit into the public swim area.
Mallmes was more optimistic about this option, and district town manager Evan Parliament suggested the district could look at integrating the concept with the district’s master plan for Beach Park.
Council, in general, is eager to work with Bartley and not see Bounce the Shu bounce to another location in the Shuswap.
This brings me back the kid in the car asking to stop. Of course, the first challenge is finding parking. On most days it’s not difficult to find a spot in the lot off Silver Sands Road. Of course, signage would be needed, making it clear where this parking lot is, and that people should be using it. Or else Sicamous will see its existing summer parking problems worsen.
Even with signs in place, there will still likely be additional pressure on Finlayson St. and Riverside Ave.
Once parked, you have to pay the cost of waterpark admission – a (proposed) day rate of $25 for ages 7 to 17, as well as supervising adults, or $15 an hour for adults.
I suppose I might do this with my family as a one off; I certainly couldn’t afford to make it routine. And honestly, my son is already pretty happy visiting the public swim area as it currently is – public and free. Which brings me to a greater cost – giving up part of the last remaining public beach/waterfront Sicamous has to offer in the summer to a commercial enterprise. For years, people have expressed complaints and misgivings over the loss of public access to waterfront with the condo boom and other developments. Perhaps the public might want a say in whether or not it’s willing to see a portion of the swim area handed over to private interest?
Hopefully, council and Bartley will be able to find a publicly acceptable win-win solution that will keep Bounce the Shu anchored in Sicamous.