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Kamloops council has decided the future for the former golf course at McArthur Island Park.
Council voted 5-3 to turn the park space into an 18-hole disc golf course with natural areas.
Councillor Sadie Hunter acknowledged the planning has been a tug-of-war between the Kamloops Naturalist Club and Kamloops Disc Golf Club.
“I don’t see there being a need for there to be a divide, because it really is inclusive of both parties. You’ll have younger families – who might not be able to afford to take their kids to the Wildlife Park, or might not have a vehicle to have access to some of the trails that are in Tranquille – that will have access to park space.”
Hunter adds the new uses for the 7.5-hectare piece of land will cater to a lot of people.
“It does provide accessible recreation and passive use of the space for people using strollers or wheelchairs or walkers. The pathways will allow for that and allow people to get further into the park,” she says.
“I think that this is really vital especially at a time when so many kids are attached to electronics and computers and their phones. So I think that will still get people out, at the same time it offers people an affordable form of recreation.”
The project is expected to be done within three years and cost just over $1 million. The first phase, to begin this year, will cost $198,000.