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KELOWNA ROCKETS have high hopes for rookie prospect Dillon Dube, a top draft choice last year for the club. Dube has a skill set with a potential significant upside as his WHL career begins.
COLUMNIST Maxine DeHart offers some interesting business news this week: Winery and helicopter company combine on aerial tour package; a new sexy boudoir shop opens; and a restaurant that specializes in tasty South African dishes.
VANTAGE WEST Realty moves to larger quarters in Kelowna with a new business model intended to offer better service for home buyers and sellers.
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Dr. Michael Webster DMD & ASSOCIATES
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THURSDAY August 28, 2014 The Central Okanagan’s Best-Read Newspaper www.kelownacapnews.com
Saving part of Brigade Trail
▼ KELOWNA
Barry Gerding
Alistair Waters
Downtown hotel granted height variance
EDITOR
ASSISTANT EDITOR
An effort is underway to preserve the longest intact stretch of the historic Hudson’s Bay Brigade Trail on the west side of Okanagan Lake. The trail path is located in a designated recreation and trail area near Reid Creek on the Westside, north of the Okanagan Lake Resort and south of the Girl Guides’ Camp Mawata. Currently at this spot are the remnants of an old log cabin, root cellar and abandoned orchard. Peter Obstfeld is heading up the organizing of a meeting of area stakeholders and individuals interested in preserving a piece of the Okanagan’s history. Obstfeld, who operates Okanagan Stables, said his immediate goal is to create a stewardship group that would oversee the project, which would include trail enhancement and preservation, rebuilding the log cabin and securing funding for these and other ongoing trail projects. He said similar groups
A plan to build a 24-storey lakefront hotel in downtown Kelowna has crossed its final hurdle following city council’s decision to allow it to be higher than council’s current 19-storey limit for new buildings downtown. While there was little doubt the proposal to build the hotel at the foot of Queensway, by Edmonton-based Westcorp, would be approved given council had already said yes to other aspects of the project and has sold a portion of the yet-to-be closed Mill Street to the company to accommodate the development, the proposal still drew enthusiastic praise from the mayor and some of his councillors. Mayor Walter Gray, who led a round of applause by some on council after they voted to approve the height variance and other minor setback variances, praised Westcorp president Phil Milroy for his patience while waiting for his proposal to go through the process. “If there was ever an award for patience, Phil Milroy would get it,” said Gray referring to the fact the plan was in the works for more than 15 years and has gone through several variations. In the past, some of the variations were controversial, including one dubbed CD21 because of the development zone that would have been created to allow it, and another that included two large towers on the site. Long-time city councillor Robert Hobson said he felt the project is exactly what that end of Bernard Avenue has “always deserved,” and described the planned elliptical tower sitting on a four-storey podium building as a unique piece of architecture. “This will be iconic,” said Hobson. Coun. Andrew Blanleil noted there has been virtually no public opposition to the project, exemplified by the fact that, in his words, the city received no “flak” for agreeing to close Mill Street and sell a portion of it to Westcorp. The city received 57 letters of support for the project from a wide variety of local business groups and individuals.
WARREN HENDERSON/CAPITAL NEWS
WARM UP…Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender Carey Price (left) and Toronto Maple Leafs’
netminder James Reimer chat before a practise at Kelowna’s Prospera Place with about 15 other pro hockey players who are preparing for the start of their respective training camps in September.
See Variance A8
See Saving A8
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BANNISTER KELOWNA 250-860-7700
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2727 HIGHWAY 97 N.
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