Tennis and pickleballs can start flying in Kelowna Friday, other Okanagan cities soon

Kelowna’s outdoor recreation facilities will start reopening on Friday, Mayor Colin Basran announced at a news conference today, May 13.

“For now, some restrictions will remain in place for the safety of our community,” Basran said, noting that there will be a gradual re-opening of city facilities. “As Premier (John) Horgan said in his statement last week, it won’t be the flipping of a switch. Shifting to the new normal will be bit by bit, one step at a time.”

First to open will be tennis and pickleball courts,  BMX and bike parks, skate parks and disc golf courses.

That same re-opening plan is being followed in other Okanagan cities such as Penticton, Vernon and West Kelowna, states a joint news release from nine government bodies in the Valley. Actual opening dates will be announced by each jurisdiction in the days or weeks to come.

What remains closed in this phase are playgrounds, indoor recreation facilities, aquatics facilities, arenas and theatres.

Recreation facilities such as Parkinson Recreation Centre could be opened progressively based on the recommendations from the province. Larger activity spaces could be used sooner than smaller spaces to ensure safe physical distancing.

Next to open will be things like basketball and volleyball courts, water parks, ball diamonds, playgrounds and limited use of indoor recreation facilities.

Basran explained that sports like tennis have less contact than basketball or volleyball, which is why they’re opening up sooner.

Modified summer recreation programs and summer camps will also be offered as long as they can be done safely.

Beaches were never closed but Basran encouraged people to keep their distance from others when using them.

The city is working with local and provincial sports and recreation groups to develop guidelines for further recreation openings but there is no time frame for that yet.

A regional economic recovery task force will hold its first meeting next week as it looks at ways to stimulate economic recovery and to have one voice speaking for all governments in the Central Okanagan.

One thing that is being looked into is closing sidewalks and streets to allow restaurants and bars to expand their seating by using public space.

“This is something I’ve been really passionate about and been having conversations about with our business organizations,” Basran said. “It’s too early, right now, to tell you which streets we’ll be closing and where and for how long but we are 100 per cent open to that and allowing those establishments to have some extra capacity when we know they’re going to be losing some due to safe distancing requirements.”

He said city bylaw officers responded to 368 COVID-related complaints between April 3 and May 11, the vast majority of which were questions about safe distancing while some were about what stores were allowed to be open.

Out of those, only four were referred to Interior Health for further investigation.

The number of calls has dropped to about six a day from a peak of 15 per day.

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